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Martin Luther King and the March on Washington

Documentary commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington, speaking to the people who organised and participated in it as well as many others.

Documentary commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington, a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

The film tells the story of how the march for jobs and freedom began, speaking to the people who organised and participated in it. Using rarely seen archive footage the film reveals the background stories surrounding the build up to the march as well as the fierce opposition it faced from the JFK administration, J Edgar Hoover's FBI and widespread claims that it would incite racial violence, chaos and disturbance. The film follows the unfolding drama as the march reaches its ultimate triumphs, gaining acceptance from the state, successfully raising funds and in the end, organised and executed peacefully - and creating a landmark moment in the struggle for civil rights and racial equality in the United States.

Including interviews with some of the key actors: members of the inner circles of the core organizational groups such as Jack O'Dell, Clarence B Jones, Julian Bond and Andrew Young; Hollywood supporters and civil rights campaigners including Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll and Sidney Poitier; performing artists at the march such as Joan Baez and Peter Yarrow; JFK administration official, Harris Wofford; the CBS Broadcaster who reported from the march, Roger Mudd; Clayborne Carson, the founding director of Stanford's Martin Luther King Jr Research and Education Institute and a participant in the march; as well as those who witnessed the march on TV and were influenced by it, such as Oprah Winfrey, and most of all, the remembrances of the ordinary citizens who joined some 250,000 Americans at the capital on that momentous day.

1 hour

Last on

Wed 4 Apr 2018 22:45

Clip

Music Played

  • Miles Davis

    So What - Original

  • Miles Davis

    All Blues

  • Mahalia Jackson

    I've Been Buked

  • Gaudi

    Chant Thermique

Credits

Role Contributor
Narrator Denzel Washington
Director John Akomfrah

Broadcasts

The TV BAFTA Award Nominations 2014

Martin Luther King and the March on Washington is one of this year's nominated films.

MLK: The Assassination Tapes

MLK: The Assassination Tapes

Reassembled footage surrounding the assassination of Martin Luther King.