Celebrating the Best of Montgomery County

By Ann Guthrie Hingston

The film Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in his Own Words opens in theaters around the country on January 31, 2020.

Although Justice Thomas has served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 27 years, a great deal about him is still unknown to the public.  He seldom speaks from the bench, having chosen instead to express himself through 600 Supreme Court opinions, 30 percent more than any other sitting justice.

That situation will change on January 31, 2020 when the documentary Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words opens in theaters around the country.

This film will finally provide nationwide audiences with an opportunity to become acquainted with Justice Thomas and fully appreciate the challenges he has faced as he tells his life story in his own words. The film will be shown at the AMC Theater in Georgetown, DC. 

This critically acclaimed documentary reveals the pain, stoicism and grit that has characterized Clarence Thomas’s achievements as he traveled the road from the extreme poverty of his birthplace in Pinpoint, Georgia, to a Catholic seminary, the Civil Rights movement, Yale Law School and eventually to Washington, D.C.  In the film narrated by Justice Thomas, he also explains the development of his personal and judicial philosophy.   

Justice Thomas and his wife, Ginny chose to tell his remarkable story to Michael and Gina Pack of Manifold Productions, Inc. Residents of Montgomery County for some 30 years, the Packs are conservatives who have written, directed and produced numerous award-winning, nationally broadcast documentaries, principally for PBS including RICKOVER: The Birth of Nuclear Power narrated by Joan Allen (2014); Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton hosted by Richard Brookhiser (2011); God and the Inner City, narrated by Phylicia Rashad (2003); Rediscovering George Washington, hosted by Richard Brookhiser (2002) and The Fall of Newt Gingrich narrated by Blair Brown (2000).

Michael Pack has served as president of the Claremont Institute and an appointee of Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush at WORLDNET, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the National Council on the Humanities. 

One hopes that this film will change the way that Justice Thomas is understood for the rest of his life, how he is remembered by history and become part of the educational curriculum of African American history month.

This is the first in a series of periodic articles, showcasing the nationally recognized accomplishments of Montgomery County Republicans, who are engaged in advancing good governance and conservative ideals.