Eyes on The Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965

Wonderful history lesson
Wonderful history lesson

Rattlesnakes Don’t Commit Suicide
Rattlesnakes don’t commit suicide is a very effective line from this documentary. It deals with the knowledge of an enslaved and oppressed people, knowing that their oppressor will never willingly set them free. Thus begin this very thought provoking series that chronicles the 30 year span of the Civil Rights Movement from 1954 through 1984. However, this is not a thoroughly comprehensive piece because far too many figures were either omitted or appear all too briefly, chiefly, Thorogood Marshall, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Malcolm X. Nor would I have you believe that the movement started in 1954, because this struggle dates back to the 16th century and was sucessfully contained and controlled until the mid 20th century. There are fine, in fact, excellent documentaries that deserve to be seen along with this one, most notably are: Africans In America; A Journey Through Slavery, ( 2 ) Reconstruction: The Second Civil War and ( 3 ) Citizen King, worthy of a look. But for the period this film covers, it is unsurpassed in what it reveals. A warning however should be noted that this is a stark, violent document that often show scenes that are very disturbing, but a necessary element to illustrate the brutality inflicted upon a people who were forcibly taken from their homes and enslaved in the new colonies, purportedly built on the principles and concepts of Freedom. This journey begins with the Supreme Court ruling in the Brown-vs-The Board Of Education. From there we are swept along to the mobilization of the Mobile bus boycott and introduces us to the young Dr. Martin Luther King. It is my opinion that the speeches of Dr. King, alone make it a must have in every home. Far too many young people of today think that black history is what was atop the Hip-Hop charts a year ago. This is why this item should be in every home, should be viewed by everyone you know, should be recommended to every American regardless of race, because blacks alone did not overcome the situation in America. This is a truly remarkable piece to own. And in the words of Dr. King “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Failing to view or purchase this DVD set would be a true injustice. Aubrey D. Bowman

This powerful and moving series of films is careful and fascinating and very gripping. This is an important story, an unfinished story. The films are beautifully produced and filled in many gaps in my understanding of this time and these events. I’ve watched the series three times so far, and will watch it again.

At last the first part of this wonderful series is available on DVD albeit on American Region 1 thus requiring a multi player. First shown in 1990 and also in its entirety on the BBC this series became mired in copyright issues and has been subject to all sorts of wrangling prior to DVD release this year. This has been a frustrating hiatus since this is a monumental documentary covering in full the key Civil Rights years in the US and potraying in huge detail all the key participants. Not least is the giant shadow cast by Dr Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) but also key players like Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, James Meredith’s 1962 challenge to segregation at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and of course that activist force of nature Miss Fannie Lou Hamer of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. We await the release of later episodes which carries you through the years to the rise of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, and then into the fascinating origins of the Black Panthers under the leadership of Huey Newton and the journey of activists like Stokely Carmichael and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from “Freedom Now!” to the doctrine “Black Power”.The programmes speak for themselves and build a turbulent story which has not ended. What is clear is that following the reconstruction after the civil war ended in 1865 in effect a second civil war needed to fought in America particularly following that period where unrealized goals of economic and racial justice were laid bare by racist Jim Crow laws (first introduced in 1876). Similarly we see the growth of the outrageous doctrine of “separate but equal” status for Black Americans which in effect mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in numerous states enforced in law by Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which allowed state-sponsored segregation. It was not until the State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education led by the immense figure of Justice Earl Warren that that legal force combined with moral authority to produce years of radical activism in which blacks and whites together were assaulted, beaten to a pulp, attacked by dogs, mown down by fire hoses and murdered in places such as Selma, Montgomery, Greensboro and throughout Mississippi. The sheer bravery of the freedom riders screams out of this series as does the sheer terror that civil rights activist endured. There are episodes when you watch this series that you will literally fume and rage in anger at the appalling ignorance and stupidity of a section of white southerners whose many comments are too offensive to repeat here. Any one watching Mayor Joseph Smitherman of Selma, Alabama in 1965 and his infamous television aired mis-pronunciation of King’s surname will witness a society where blatantly racist speech and attitude infused everyday life and culture. Likewise witnessing one of the key episodes on Birmingham it is hard not to hate Eugene “Bull” Connor the Public Safety Commissioner of Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s, and a infamous symbol of bigotry. The story of a range of Southern governors particularly the contradictory figure of George Wallace squaring off with the US president John F Kennedy and his brother and Attorney General Bobby Kennedy is a fascinating political dual.And all the while the figure of King and the trails and tribulations he suffered, but also the victories he achieved and the strength of character that he and other leaders displayed are at the forefront. Those words King uttered on the night before his assassination at the Lorraine motel in Memphis on April 4th 1968 remain infused with huge poignancy but also hope, as he stated “And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”. You also fully understand that by the time of Kings assassination that the moral authority of the non violent movement was beginning to dramatically wane as a more more militant and confrontational form of black activism emerged particularly with the Black Panthers who moved toward Maoism and led the hugely controversial FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover to call the party “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country”.The driving force behind Eyes on the Prize was Henry Hampton (1940-1998) who won many awards for this remarkable series in which he set out to tell “the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today”. The experience of watching this series is itself a journey from early idealism to hard edged revolutionary politics. On times it is a deeply disturbing, uncomfortable and tragic viewing experience. Yet wherever your sympathies lie on this tapestry of black activism you will recognise that fundamentally “Eyes on the prize” is non fictional tale of “human drama” which touches your basic humanity and tugs at your soul creating genuine admiration for a generation who literally put their lives on the line.

Ordered for Black History Month. No issues.