OPRAH'S MASTER CLASS: CIVIL RIGHTS SPECIAL (TV)
Summary
One in this biographical interview series, hosted by Oprah Winfrey, celebrating various individuals who are "masters" in their given fields. This special edition, which features clips from past installments, focuses on the history of the civil rights struggle, as depicted in the film "Selma," produced by and starring Winfrey.
Diahann Carroll explains that she grew up in diverse New York City and did not experience segregation until later in life, and Sidney Poitier relates a story of encountering racism while work as a department store delivery man and raising the ire of the Florida Ku Klux Klan. Condoleezza Rice explains that she had a very different experience growing up in Birmingham, though Lionel Ritchie states that he lived in a "bubble" on the Tuskegee Institute campus in Alabama and had his first real encounter with racism while traveling with The Commodores. Lenny Kravitz explains that he was unaware of the significance of his parents' different races until entering school, and Ritchie relates a "defining moment" in which his father opted not to fight back against a bigoted man reacting to his using a "whites only" water fountain. Poitier recalls a harrowing experience in which his life was threatened by white policemen for merely hitchhiking, and Carroll recalls her mother's sense of embarrassment when they were forced to move to a segregated car on a train to Washington D.C.
Rice explains that she knew one of the young girls, Denise McNair, killed in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, as did Ritchie, though he explains that his parents told him that Cynthia Wesley "moved away." He recalls wondering as a child "whose side God was on," and Poitier recalls his angry retort to being called a racial slur, explaining that the man was "classifying" him as something less than human. Jay-Z discusses drawing inspiration from Muhammed Ali's bold self-confidence, and Berry Gordy explains that boxer Joe Louis was a hero to many black people for his exceptional athletic talent. Robin Roberts comments on her parents' humble, hardworking natures, and Carroll recalls marching on Washington alongside James Garner and Marlon Brando, as captured in the famous photo. Maya Angelou discusses her devastated reaction to the death of her friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated on her birthday, and Berry explains that while he did not put images of black faces on his first several hit singles, he soon decided that "all people are beautiful." Carroll recalls being disinvited to a private party celebrating her Broadway show "No Strings" because of her race and opting to throw her own event instead, and Cicely Tyson recalls a reporter's bizarrely offensive questions about her character's romance in the movie "Sounder" (1972).
Morgan Freeman states that he has lost out on several acting jobs for questioning the movies' unbalanced racial depictions, having decided that he will not participate in projects that "denigrate people." Rice states that America is still suffering the "birth defect" of slavery and is still working to improve its race relations, and Kravitz recalls feeling forced to "choose" a race rather than honoring his mixed heritage. Jay-Z asserts that hip-hop has had positive influences on cultural relations and united its many diverse fans, and Tyson shares her views on racial and gender-based "ladder" of society, particularly in Hollywood. Vanessa Williams recalls the emotional significance of winning an NAACP Image Award for her 1988 album "The Right Stuff," and the program concludes with comments from the late Angelou about her high hopes for positive change, as "nothing human can be alien."
Details
- NETWORK: OWN
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:42:39
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 121999
- GENRE: Talk/Interview
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - News/Talk; Talk/Interview; Education/Information
- SERIES RUN: OWN - TV series, 2011-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jonathan Sinclair … Executive Producer
- Oprah Winfrey … Executive Producer
- Jon Kamen … Executive Producer
- Justin Wilkes … Executive Producer
- Annetta Marion … Co-Executive Producer, Director
- Andrew Flakelar … Producer
- Rachel Garza … Producer
- Sheila McNaughton … Producer
- Matt Morrison … Producer
- Kathryn O'Kane … Producer
- Michael Bonfiglio … Co-Producer, Director
- Christina Adams … Archival Producer
- Kelsey Field … Associate Producer
- Jen Isaacson … Associate Producer
- Elizabeth Garrett … Line Producer
- Stephanie Connors … Post Producer
- Matt Caruso … Post Producer
- Jen Helm … Post Producer
- Kim Rudolph … Post Producer
- Jeremy Lubman … Story Producer
- Emelia Brown … Story Producer
- Joe Berlinger … Director
- Bruce Sinofsky … Director
- Q Department … Music by
- Drazen Bosnjak … Music by
- Oprah Winfrey … Host
- Diahann Carroll … Interviewee
- Sidney Poitier … Interviewee
- Condoleezza Rice … Interviewee
- Lionel Ritchie … Interviewee
- Lenny Kravitz … Interviewee
- Jay-Z … Interviewee
- Berry Gordy … Interviewee
- Robin Roberts … Interviewee
- Maya Angelou … Interviewee
- Cicely Tyson … Interviewee
- Morgan Freeman … Interviewee
- Vanessa Williams … Interviewee
- Muhammed Ali (see also: Cassius Clay)
- Marlon Brando
- Commodores, The
- James Garner
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Joe Louis
- Carol Denise McNair
- Cynthia Wesley