Posted on February 16, 2016 at 9:37 pm
The landmark documentary series about civil rights in America, Eyes on the Prize I and II as well as a special new 30 minute episode Eyes on the Prize: Then and Now are being shown on public television’s WORLD Channel (available over the air and on cable nationwide).
The series kicked off last month and continues weekly through the Spring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giGIE13Wx0A
Posted on February 18, 2014 at 8:00 am
Every family should observe Black History Month and movies like these are a good way to begin discussions and further study.
1. “Glory” The true story of the US Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of their own Union army and battling the Confederates, with brilliant performances by Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar), Morgan Freeman, and Matthew Broderick as the white officer who truly believed all men were equal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWGt9Yr2bCw2. “Something the Lord Made” The obstacles to education and professional advancement kept Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) from medical school, but he was a pioneer in heart surgery.
3. “Roots” Writer Alex Haley told the story of his own family going back to the capture of one of his ancestors from Africa to be sold into slavery in this historic miniseries.
4. “Amistad” A slave rebellion led to an historic Supreme Court case that addressed fundamental notions of personhood and inalienable rights.
5. “With All Deliberate Speed” This documentary about the Brown v. Board of Education case that transformed American schools and culture has interviews with lawyer Thurgood Marshall (who later became the first black Supreme Court justice) and others involved in the case.
6. “Malcolm X” Denzel Washington is mesmerizing in this story of the incendiary leader and his journey from complacency to activism to understanding.
7. “Eyes on the Prize” This PBS documentary covers the Civil Rights movement from the murder of Emmett Till to the march in Selma. There is also an excellent sequel.
8. “The Rosa Parks Story” Angela Bassett stars as the Civil Rights activist whose refusal to give up her seat on the bus electrified the nation.
9. “The Loving Story” The name of this history-making couple was really Loving. Their inter-racial marriage led the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the laws against miscegenation in 1967.
10. “A Great Day in Harlem” This documentary tells the story of photographer Art Kane’s 1958 iconic photograph of all of the great jazz musicians of the era.
Posted on January 17, 2011 at 8:00 am
A+| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Profanity: | None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Smoking, drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Historical violence |
| Diversity Issues: | The theme of the series |
This is the story of the civil rights movement, from 1952-1965. Interviews and archival footage tell the story of the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that declared school segregation unconstitutional and the Montgomery bus boycott that forced the South to begin to allow equal access in public accommodations. As momentous as those events were, they were even more significant in what came next — decades of social, legal, and cultural upheavals that would lead to the Civil Rights Act, the 1967 Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia abolishing the laws that prohibited inter-marriage, and, a generation later, the country’s first African-American President. The bigotry is shocking to us today, which is all the more reason we need this documentation. And the heroes are here: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and more.
The PBS series, its sequel, and the companion volumes by Juan Williams are an indispensable reminder of our past and inspiration for our future. The struggle continues.
I’m not where I want to be.
I’m not where I’m going to be.
But thank God, I’m not where I was.
