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Thursday, August 15, 2013

We Were There: The March on Washington – An Oral History Debuts

We Were There: The March on Washington – An Oral History Debuts
Friday, August 23 at 10:00p.m. ET & PT

As the nation prepares to reflect upon the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, CNN will premiere a new documentary that captures the first-hand accounts of people who witnessed the momentous event.  We Were There: The March on Washington – An Oral History will be hosted by CNN’s Don Lemon and will debut on Friday, August 23 at 10:00p.m., 1:00a.m., and 4:00a.m. on CNN/U.S.  All times Eastern. 
Of the leaders of the “Big Six” civil rights organizations who spoke at the original event on August 28, 1963, only U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), then-chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), remains alive.  In his extended interview for the documentary, Lewis recounts details of a White House meeting including African American labor union president A. Philip Randolph, the leader of the March on Washington, then-President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.  Randolph announced the effort for a national nonviolent demonstration – as the Deep South convulsed during the hot 1963 summer of segregationist turmoil and violence.
Throughout the hour, witnesses to the March and people who played vital behind-the-scenes roles organizing the event discuss what it meant to the progress of American civil rights.  Rachelle Horowitz describes how she and other non-African-American young people were drawn to their involvement in the Movement, and later the March.  Years before, she had begun volunteering with civil rights organizations following an accidental meeting with the charismatic Ella Baker and Bayard Rustin at just 17-years old.  By the time of the March, Horowitz played a key role in arranging transportation for demonstrators coming from around the country to Washington, D.C. – and Horowitz helped to recruit her friend, now- U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) to become a March organizer. 
What was it ultimately all for?  Norton was also inspired by Rustin, who was now Randolph’s chief aide for the March.  She puts it this way:
“It [The March] was about the fact that each and every one of us was denied basic rights simply because of the color of her skin.  And we needed somehow to demonstrate that to the country.  Make them do something about it.”
But, Lewis also describes the obsessive concern from the Kennedy Administration regarding the March – and specifically his planned remarks.  Originally, Lewis planned to include a call to continue marching “through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did” and wanted to demand, “which side is the federal government on?” 
Fears that Lewis’ speech would incite violence and offend the Kennedys, however, led to an urgent, last-minute conversation with Randolph and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – intended to persuade Lewis to amend and soften his remarks:
“And, Mr. Randolph said, ‘John, we've come this far together.  Can you change this?  Can you delete that?  Let's stay together.’”
International actor and singer Harry Belafonte leveraged his celebrity to heighten awareness to the struggles and violence happening in the South, raised funds for civil rights actions, and recruited other celebrities to participate in the March.  Belafonte attributes the multicultural, multi-faith, multidisciplinary legacy of the March as the reason why the achievement continues to inspire younger generations – and people all over the world. 
Senior producer James Polk and producer David Matthews explore several other eyewitness stories in an in-depth feature about the March on Washington on CNN.com.  Video excerpts from the documentary will also be available online. 
We Were There: The March on Washington – An Oral History will encore on CNN/U.S. on Sunday, August 25 at 8:00p.m., 11:00p.m., and 2:00a.m.  All times Eastern.  

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you guys hear about the changes coming to the CNN website ? When CNN says multiple platforms does that mean TV,mobile,social media, internet will all sync up and give us the breaking news and updates at the same time. It would be totally cool if CNN would automatically go to split screen on TV when there is an update. No mater what device you choose. Samsung just came out with a 55 inch OLED curve TV. I am sorry but CNN needs to do a complete graphics overhaul. CNN in HD is not good. But that is true for all 3 . Especially when you look at CNBC or Bloomberg in HD. The network evening news on ABC,CBS & NBC look good. CNN has to do something about how CNN looks on TV. Develop a hipper, cooler more digital look for TV too. It has to look smooth. Will we see TV, social media internet on the screen all at once on the TV screen. If CNN does this, it gets them more viewers. The TV will be the only device you can see it all because of the larger screen. It would be a unique viewing experience only available on CNN. I also think they should have reporters,anchors and staff giving us updates in realtime. Some local TV markets are really staring to push on now/realtime. They don't care if it is local,national or international. They put talent on camera. do updates with a single line banner and post on social media all at the same time. CNN is late coming to the party. That is a major league problem for cable news. Sometimes they are 2 or 3 days late to a story that is old news. Unless the story is continuous or a constant moving situation. Most tories are old news in a few hours.

Anonymous said...

Something is in the water with regards to cable
news ratings. We are at the midpoint of August
2013.FNC has a demo issue. CNN just has issues.
MSNBC has been sliding for 4 months straight.
Things are about to get interesting when AJ gets
into the mix If the demos start to slide, it will
eventually affect viewership numbers. Cable news
is dropping viewers this month.

Anonymous said...

CNN could make a huge change at 9 PM. Hire Jacob Soboroff & Cara Santa Maria and bring Take Part to CNN. 360 & Take Part are compatible shows. PMT is just oh so boring.

Anonymous said...

Come on CNN. If CNN really got mobile, the weather bug would not be on New Day. Game over. Mark Zuckerburg has destroyed old media. They still don't get the television is visual and content is their greatest weapon. Pundits and politicizing the news has played out. Like there is only a left or right to every story. Let's see I can access news al day anywhere anytime but when I turn on TV I see pundits who don't know the facts and do everything to distract from the real news. 20 minutes of 360 was a joke last night . i am so not going to miss CNN. AJAM can't come fast enough. There is a ton of buzz about us being able to have real news content. You the excitement for AJAM definitely not Crossfire. Jon Stewart will be back soon.

Anonymous said...

Anyone want to take the bet that Strombo will be quietly dropped and not renewed after the current run of shows?

Anonymous said...

@5:49AM: I have just viewed Strombo, and he needs to BE dropped, right on his staccato intonation, head.
I realize he's from Canada and from what I remember, having visited half a dozen times, they speak English there, don't they?
His pronunication and rattling diction, almost drove me right out of my chair.
And the set....looked as though it was straight out of the latest in Salvation Army decor, large red chairs that two of him could easily occupy. How big are his guests??
Please, this guy is either very high strung or on something most of us don't want to know about.

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to the documentary on "A March On Washington," having lived through the era.
According to USA Today, Dr.King's original speech did NOT include his famous "I have a dream," portion. He looked at his huge audience that day, and went off the text, so much so, that nobody has his original speech with the dream portion written in verse.
Interesting.

Anonymous said...

I'm also interested in the March on Washington documentary, it may not do well in the ratings, but it's a great historical subject to cover.

I haven't watched Strombo yet so I can't judge, but his guests haven't been anyone I've been interested in seeing. I'm curious as to what's going to happen to him and his show though, there doesn't seem to be much buzz about it.

Anonymous said...

On the contrary, I think "The March On Washington," will do quite well as far as ratings.
Especially since the Trayvon Martin case and Oprah's movie, which cashed in this past weekend.
This is a very timely subject right about now and racism is still, unfortunately part of the American landscape.

Anonymous said...

The Today Show is doing a very smart thing by offering and introducing a new book club for viewers each month or so.
Oprah did well with this idea, and they will to.
Adults like to read, especially adults who are retired and the population of Boomers are hitting their stride right about now, with a lot of free time and money to do what they want.
Reading novels and nonfiction will not only improve Today's ratings, but help the publishing industry which is at a cross roads as far as e-readers versus print editions.

Anonymous said...

It will be very interesting to hear Martin Luther King doing Meet the Press, 50 years ago, this Sunday.
TVN has a clip in black and white, which is fuzzy, the way television used to be, back in the day, and the tone, Dr King uses, very precise, is even more endearing.
It's as though, he's speaking English, but is so very careful about pronunciation, diction, and mannerisms, and peering directly into the camera, it's almost unreal.
Racism may not have come along way, but transmission over the air waves certainly has, and for the better.