I've always loved Joan Baez' beautiful voice and in particular certain of her songs, like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," have haunted me with such purity. I am now filled with admiration for the woman because I saw how she used her talent and her fame to lend support to so many causes that were important. I was blown away by a review of that period of history that I lived through (I'm only eight years younger than she) in that I have almost forgotten, really sort of buried how horrible the Civil Rights movement was and how tenacious and brave the leaders and followers of that activism had to be in order to prevail against such hatred.
Most valuable to me was the personal epiphany I got at some midpoint of the film where I realized that there truly are only two kinds of people... yeah, I know the old joke: The kind of people that think there are only two kinds of people and the kind that don't. But, seriously, watching this documentary put me in touch with what I felt was a universal truth: There are people who believe in the humanity and brotherhood of all human beings, like the beautiful Ms. Baez, and there are people who only care about the humanity and rights of people who look or act exactly like they do. This fundamental difference leads to every way in which people treat (or fail to treat) others with dignity and respect. Thank you, Joan Baez, for dedicating your life and your lovely voice to illuminating that principle.