South features MLK exhibit
by Chris Taylor, managing editor

     Eyes on the Prize: America at the Racial Crossroads, the award-winning PBS documentary series that traced the African-American Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s to the 1980s will show on South Campus as part of RetroFest.
     The eight-episode series will show Fridays at 11 a.m. Sept 29-Nov. 17 in the Jenkins Garrett Library classroom (LRC 230).
     The documentary contains many eyewitness accounts from men and women who fought for equality in what was called the country’s “second civil war” and shows how the movement affected America today. The episodes will show in the following order:
     Sept. 29—Episode 1—The Time Has Come (1964-1965) Malcolm X articulates the sense of urgency and anger in the black communities in the north.
     Oct. 6—Episode 2—Two Societies (1965-1968) Explores Civil Rights Movements first attempt at organizing in the north. Martin Luther King Jr. and Southern Christian Leadership Conference come up against political machinery of Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago. Also looks at 1967 uprising in Detroit.
     Oct. 13—Episode 3—Power! Out of the ashes of urban rebellions, blacks look to take control of their communities. Explores the political path to power of Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of a major city. Describes founding of Black Panther party and struggle to improve education.
     Oct. 20—Episode 4—The Promised Land (1967-1968) In the final year of Martin Luther King’s life, he and his staff searched for a strategy to effect an economic redistribution of wealth. Also, shows the assassination of King in Memphis.
     Oct. 27—Episode 5—Ain’t Gonna Shuffle No More (1964-1972) Covers the black consciousness movement throughout the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. Discusses Muhammad Ali’s political battle over the Vietnam War. Explores the rise of black politicians and activists.
     Nov. 3—Episode 6—A Nation of Law? (1968-1971) Anger in poorer urban areas over charges of police brutality was smoldering. In Chicago, Fred Hampton forms a Black Panther party chapter. Inmates at New York’s Attica prison took over the prison in an effort to publicize intolerable conditions.
     Nov. 10—Episode 7—The Keys to the Kingdom (1974-1980) Examines relationship between law and popular struggle. In Boston, Black parents organized to improve their children’s education.
     Nov. 17—Episode 8—Back to the Movement (1979-mid 1980s) Contrasts the situations of the Black communities in Miami and Chicago in the early 1980s and explores the themes of power and powerlessness. Describes grassroots organizing effort leading to Harold Washington’s election and continuing coalitions that evolved.
     Also in the South Campus Jenkins Garrett Library main lobby is a display consisting of 40 posters portraying the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s to the present day.