Memphis, TN (04/28/07) – Odom-Booker Entertainment’s The 23rd Psalm screened Friday at the National Civil Rights Museum to a standing room only crowd. Additional chairs had to brought into the theater to create makeshift aisles and rows. And when there were no more chairs to be found, moviegoers lined the walls and stood for the remainder of the film.
The event culminated with a standing ovation for the film’s lead, Markhum Stansbury, Jr., and the film’s Director/Writer, Christopher C. Odom. The National Civil Rights Museum is located at and incorporates the “Lorraine Motel” which is the actual assassination spot of the the slain Civil Rights Leader and Nobel Peace Price Winner, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christopher C. Odom’s grandfather, the late Pastor Edward J. Odom, Jr. is the former Secretary of the Church Department for the NAACP. During his time there, he had marched arm and arm with Dr. King. Unbeknownst to Christopher before making The 23rd Psalm, Cornelius Booker III’s (Producer, The 23rd Psalm) grandfather, Pastor Dr. Cornelius Booker Sr., had also worked worked at the NAACP during the same time as Christopher’s grandfather and they did in fact know one another. In response to the obvious synergies between Odom, Booker, the grandfathers and Dr. King, one moviegoer hailed the evening as “divine providence” that The 23rd Psalm would screen at The National Civil Rights Museum.
The next screening of The 23rd Psalm will be held, Sunday, May 6, 2007 at 8:30 during the Berlin Black Cinema International Film Festival. To stay up to date with the latest news about The 23rd Psalm, visit the film’s official website at http://www.psalm23movie.com .