OPRAH WINFREY SHOW, THE: MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE (TV)

Summary

One in this talk show series hosted by Oprah Winfrey. In this episode, Winfrey pays tribute to iconic Civil Rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on what would have been his sixtieth birthday. Winfrey welcomes a panel of King's personal friends and fellow activists, including historian Lerone Bennett, Jr., Southern Christian Leadership Conference Educational Director Dorothy Cotton, Reverend C.T. Vivian and former SCLC President Ralph Abernathy. The conversation touches on such topics as: their memories of their first encounters with King in his role as a preacher; Vivian's early interest in King's work and writing of an article about his efforts; Cotton's involvement with Virginia protests and work with Wyatt Walker, later Chief of Staff to King; a fellow black person's insult towards Cotton for her activism and its profound effect on her; Bennett's memories of the "serious, sober, brilliant" student King at Morehouse College in Atlanta; King's friends' lack of awareness at the time of his future fame and significant historical impact; how King "rose to the occasion" and motivated others with his charismatic leadership and non-violent stance; the importance of teaching young people about his work and legacy to foster their sense of "somebody-ness"; Abernathy's inspiration from his hardworking deacon father; comments from activist Diane Nash, present in the audience, about participating in upsetting "role-playing" scenes in order to practice ignoring harassment from racists during protests; Bennett's sense that King's work also "freed white people," particularly white women; King's interest in creating a "new relationship" between blacks and whites, in reaction to which economic and political change would then arise; his skillful ability to "dramatize action" while still only in his late twenties; and their sense that the holiday is not about "glorifying" King individually but about honoring and continuing his work. Winfrey then reads out a letter from a five-year-old viewer, who then takes the stage and expertly recites King's "drum-major instinct" final sermon from February 4, 1968. Scenes from the 14-hour documentary "Eyes on the Prize," which aired between 1987 and 1990, are also interspersed throughout the program. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: Syndicated
• DATE: November 30, 1999 4:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:44:22
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 122061
• GENRE: Talk/Interview
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - News/Talk; Talk/Interview; King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
• SERIES RUN: Syndication - TV series, 1986-2011
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Debra DiMaio … Executive Producer
• Mary Kay Clinton … Producer
• Dianne Hudson … Producer
• Alice McGee … Producer
• Ellen Rakieten … Producer
• Angela Thame … Producer
• Rudy Guido … Associate Producer
• Sally Lou Oaks … Associate Producer
• Jim McPharlin … Director
• Oprah Winfrey … Host
• Lerone Bennett Jr. … Panelist
• Dorothy Cotton … Panelist
• C.T. Vivian … Panelist
• Ralph Abernathy … Panelist
• Diane Nash … Guest
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Wyatt Walker