Eyes on the Prize

Synopsis

The story of the US civil rights movement from 1954 to 1965, when the struggle for social justice became a mass movement that transformed American society. The films use news footage and interviews to explore such topics as race relations in the South at mid-century, educational desegretaion, the rise of the mass movement, and the struggle for voting rights.
1: Examines the two events that helped focus the nation’s attention on the right of black Americans - the lynching of Emmett Till and the 1955/56 Montgomery, Alabama, boycott.
2: Examines the law as a tool for both change and resistance to change, particularly in the field of education.
3: Depicts the changing focus of black protests during the early 1960s through court challenges to specific laws.
4: Shows how three cities indelibly linked with the civil rights movement - Albany, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and Washington, DC - tested the strategy of its beliefs and convictions during this period.
5: How black citizens who were denied the right to voty by laws and the right of history. Economic pressure and terror intervened to demand a place in the political process.
6: Ten years after Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man and 20 years after the Supreme Court decreed that ‘separate but equal’ was unconstitutional, black Americans were still fighting.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Video; Videocassette. VHS. b&w/col. 6 x 60 min.

Year of production

1988

Availability

Sale; 1995 sale: £22.99 each part, £122.00 set (inc. VAT +p&p)

Notes

Broadcast on BBC2 from 10/1/88.

Subjects

History

Keywords

civil rights movements; United States of America

Credits

Producer

Orlando Bagwell

Writer

Steve Fayer

Sections

Title

Awakening, The (1954-56)

Synopsis

1: Examines the two events that helped focus the nation's attention on the right of black Americans - the lynching of Emmett Till and the 1955/56 Montgomery, Alabama, boycott.

Title

Fighting back (1957-62

Synopsis

2: Examines the law as a tool for both change and resistance to change, particularly in the field of education.

Title

Ain’t scared of your jails (1960-61)

Synopsis

3: Depicts the changing focus of black protests during the early 1960s through court challenges to specific laws.

Title

No easy walk (1962-66)

Synopsis

4: Shows how three cities indelibly linked with the civil rights movement - Albany, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and Washington, DC - tested the strategy of its beliefs and convictions during this period.

Title

Mississippi - is this America? (1962-65)

Synopsis

5: How black citizens who were denied the right to voty by laws and the right of history. Economic pressure and terror intervened to demand a place in the political process.

Title

Bridge to freedom (1965)

Synopsis

6: Ten years after Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man and 20 years after the Supreme Court decreed that 'separate but equal' was unconstitutional, black Americans were still fighting.

Production Company

Name

Blackside Inc.

Distributor

Name

African Video Centre

Email

info@africanvideocentre.co.uk

Web

http://www.africanvideocentre.co.uk External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7732 5460

Fax

020 7732 6897

Address

92 Peckham High Street
London
SE15 5ED