The Education of Shelby Knox

Marion Linschutz and Rose Rosenblatt <br> <i>InCite Pictures. 76 minutes</i> <br> <i>Airs on PBS’s P.O.V. June 21.</i>

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Lubbock, Texas, is the birthplace of Buddy Holly, a crucible of conservative Christianity, and a city with some of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs in the country. But Lubbock, we learn from this stirring documentary, is also home to a remarkable teenager named Shelby Knox, who, in the course of filming, evolves from a compliant 15-year-old girl to a tough, compassionate young woman committed to social change.

Early in The Education of Shelby Knox, we watch Knox take a vow of “sexual purity” in front of her parents and her pastor. But she realizes that many of her classmates are sexually active and soon finds her calling: promoting comprehensive sex education in the “abstinence-only” Lubbock public schools. Her platform is a seat on the Lubbock Youth Commission, a city-funded group headed by her rival, a slick, budding politician named Corey Nichols. Directors Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt follow Knox as she tangles with Nichols and takes on the town’s officials and religious leaders, challenging them with increasing fervor from the bedrock of her own Christian beliefs.

Knox also must deal with her loving but worried parents, and their family discussions are the emotional heart of the film. When Knox makes common cause with a group of gay and lesbian students—“I think God is a forgiving God,” she says—she further strains her most intimate relationships. But by then it’s clear nothing will stop Knox from struggling toward her own truths—and maybe taking some of the skeptics along with her. At one point, a new gay friend says joyfully, “If there were more Christians like you, we’d be in heaven.” To which one can only say: Amen.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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