While Denzel Washington is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished actors of our time, I firmly believe that he is an even greater director. He has an incredible ability to choose stories that are directed in a manner that simultaneously inspire as they entertain.

"The Great Debaters" is one of those movies. Watching this film produced feelings in me similar to those experienced when I listen to a speech by Bobby Kennedy back in 1968 or Barack Obama today. While I clearly know that I am being manipulated to an extent, I don't care. They both have the capacity to make me believe in the inherent goodness of mankind, and Washington's "The Great Debaters" does likewise.

While "The Great Debaters" is based on a true story about a debate team at a small black college (Wiley College) in Texas in 1935, it is also an important historical drama concerning southern society at that time. Young black kids are trying to pursue educational dreams in an environment where blacks are being lynched for the crime of simply being black.

Importantly, before any of you cavalierly claim that there is no need for affirmative action relating to college admissions in today's world, this movie serves as a reminder of the fact that blacks were relegated as a matter of law as second-class citizens as recently as the United States Supreme Court's groundbreaking ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Do you really think that the effects of 300 years of institutional prejudice has magically disappeared in 50 years?

The struggles of the Wiley College debate team is both powerful and moving. Denzel Washington is customarily superb as the professor who leads the debate team by day while he labors at night trying to unionize black and white sharecroppers. The four young actors who play the members of the Debate Team are a joy to watch.

In addition, Forest Whitaker follows his academy award winning performance in "The Last King of Scotland" with a quietly dominating performance as a local minister who is forced to confront the realities of society outside the walls of his church. In particular, a scene where he is confronted by two armed white farmers who extort money from him while he is driving his family on an outing serves as a powerful metaphor for what blacks went through on a daily basis in the Old South.

As simple entertainment, this movie is excellent. But what makes this movie so compelling is the fact that Washington not only succeeds in teaching his debate team hard lessons of life, but the audience becomes his pupils also. Like he did with the underrated "Antwone Fisher", you leave the theater with the feeling that you have just had the privilege of listening to one of the great critics of social history of our age. And again like "Antwone Fisher", "The Great Debaters" should be required viewing as part of our secondary school curriculum in this country.

All kids, and particularly African Americans in our urban areas, need to be reminded of the struggles of our ancestors. White or black, life is going to throw a lot of roadblocks in our way. This movie demonstrates not only what a small group of black students achieved in 1935 after being given the chance to debate white students, but it is a reminder that the key to any type of success in this life lies with education.

Simply put, this movie means something. It's a film that is meant to be felt as much as seen. You could watch it with your eyes closed and still be fighting back tears of unapologetic joy.

Go......