EYES ON THE PRIZE II: AMERICA AT THE RACIAL CROSSROADS {EPISODE 8}: BACK TO THE MOVEMENT 1979-1983 (TV)
Summary
The final program in this series of documentaries that examines the African-American civil rights movement. This program chronicles the continuation of the civil rights movement in the 1980s, and includes a brief concluding segment for the series. The first of two segments focuses on the death of Arthur McDuffie in Miami, Florida, who was killed by two policemen. The officers were found not guilty, a verdict which led to the Overtown/Liberty City riots of 1980. Describing the Overtown community and the riots are Dewey W. Knight Sr., Dade County welfare director and deputy county manager; Lonnie R. Lawrence, an Overtown resident and police officer; Clyde Killens, a nightclub owner; Dr. John O. Brown, project director for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Dorothy Graham, an Overtown resident; Georgia Jones Ayers, a community activist; Jessie J. McCrary Jr., a lawyer; Captain Dale P. Bowlin of the Dade County Public Safety Dept.; and Frank Legree, homeowner. Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. appears in a film clip in which he addresses children about the meaning of the civil rights movement. Those appearing in film clips or interviews about the death of Arthur McDuffie include Eula McDuffie, his mother; Frederica Watts McDuffie, his wife; Louis McDuffie, his brother; and Dr. Ronald Wright, chief deputy medical examiner of Dade County. Those who discuss or appear in film clips about the trial that triggered the riots include Janet Reno, Dade County state attorney; Charles R. Veverka, police officer; Mark Meier, police officer; Philip Carlton, a lawyer; Maurice A. Ferre, mayor of Miami; and Otis Pitts Jr., director of the Belafonte TACOLCY Center. Film clips of President Jimmy Carter meeting with Miami citizens and former Gov. Ronald Reagan speaking in Mississippi illustrate the importance of the riots in the election year of 1980. The second event profiled is the 1983 election of Harold Washington as Chicago's first African-American mayor. Those who appear in interviews about the grass roots campaign include Renault A. Robinson of the Afro-American Patrolmen's League; Nancy Jefferson, chairman of the Midwest Community Council; Marion Stamps, director of the Chicago Housing Tenants Organization; Lu Palmer of the Chicago Black United Communities; Edward G. Gardner, chairman of Soft Sheen Products; Joseph Gardner of Operation PUSH; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; and Rosie Mars. Includes film clips of mayoral campaign highlights and comments by Mayor Jane Byrne; Clifford Kelly, alderman; Slim Coleman, editor of All Chicago City News; and Walter Fauntroy, District of Columbia delegate to House of Representatives. The program concludes with a review of the series, featuring clips of Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, the Reverend C. T. Vivian of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Father George Clements. Eleanor Holmes Norton, professor of law at Georgetown Univ., comments on the continuation of the movement, and Mayor Unita Blackwell of Mayersville, Miss., notes that in 1964, she was prohibited from participating in the Democratic Convention, while in 1984, she addressed the convention from the podium. Acquisition and cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: March 5, 1990 9:15 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:17572
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Blacks - Politics and suffrage; Blacks - Politics and government; Black power; U S - Civil rights; Blacks - Civil rights; Blacks - History; Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Riots; Demonstrations - United States; U S - Elections - 1980; Black Muslims; African-American Collection - News/Talk
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1990
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Henry Hampton … Executive Producer, Created by, Developed by
- Alison Bassett … Coordinating Producer
- Jacqueline Shearer … Producer
- Thomas Ott … Producer
- Madison Davis Lacy, Jr. … Producer, Director, Writer
- James A. DeVinney … Producer, Director, Writer
- Dale S. Rosen … Associate Producer
- Judy Richardson … Associate Producer
- Eric Neudel … Closing Segment Producer
- Steve Fayer … Writer
- Bernice Johnson Reagon … Music (Misc. Credits), Theme music produced by
- Julian Bond … Narrator
- Georgia Jones Ayres
- Unita Blackwell
- Dale P. Bowlin
- John O. Brown
- Jane Byrne
- Philip Carlton
- Jimmy Carter
- George Clements
- Slim Coleman
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Walter Fauntroy
- Maurice A. Ferre
- Edward G. Gardner
- Joseph Gardner
- Dorothy Graham
- Fannie Lou Hamer
- Jesse Jackson
- Nancy Jefferson
- Clifford Kelly
- Clyde Killens
- Dewey W. Knight, Sr.
- Lonnie R. Lawrence
- Frank Legree
- Malcolm X (Malcolm Little; El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz)
- Rosie Mars
- Jessie J. McCrary, Jr.
- Arthur McDuffie
- Eula McDuffie
- Frederica Watts McDuffie
- Louis McDuffie
- Mark Meier
- Norton, Eleanor Holmes (See also: Holmes, Eleanor)
- Lu Palmer
- Otis Pitts
- Ronald Reagan
- Janet Reno
- Renault A. Robinson
- Marion Stamps
- Charles R. Veverka
- C.T. Vivian
- Harold Washington
- Ronald Wright