History

Eyes on the Prize

EYES ON THE PRIZE tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Narrated by political leader and civil rights activist Julian Bond (1940-2015).

The Keys to the Kingdom (1974-1980) | Promo

30s

In the 1970s, anti-discrimination legal rights gained in past decades by the Civil Rights Movement are put to the test. In Boston, some whites violently resist a federal court school desegregation order. Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, proves that affirmative action can work, but the Bakke Supreme Court case challenges that policy.

  • Back to the Movement (1979-mid '80s) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Back to the Movement (1979-mid '80s) | Promo

    S2 E8 - 30s

    Power and powerlessness. Miami's black community -- pummeled by urban renewal, a lack of jobs, and police harassment -- explodes in rioting. But in Chicago, an unprecedented grassroots movement triumphs. Frustrated by decades of unfulfilled promises made by the city's Democratic political machine, reformers install Harold Washington as Chicago's first Black mayor.

  • The Keys to the Kingdom (1974-1980) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Keys to the Kingdom (1974-1980) | Promo

    S2 E7 - 30s

    In the 1970s, anti-discrimination legal rights gained in past decades by the Civil Rights Movement are put to the test. In Boston, some whites violently resist a federal court school desegregation order. Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson, proves that affirmative action can work, but the Bakke Supreme Court case challenges that policy.

  • A Nation of Law? (1968-1971) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    A Nation of Law? (1968-1971) | Promo

    S2 E6 - 30s

    Black activism is increasingly met with a violent and unethical response from law enforcement agencies. In Chicago, two Black Panther Party leaders are killed by police acting on information supplied by an FBI informant. In the wake of Nixon's call to "law and order," arrests push the poor conditions at Attica to the limit; an inmate takeover calling attention to the conditions leaves 43 dead.

  • Ain't Gonna Shuffle No More (1964-1972) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ain't Gonna Shuffle No More (1964-1972) | Promo

    S2 E5 - 30s

    A renewed push for unity galvanizes Black America. Cassius Clay challenges America to accept him as Muhammad Ali. Howard University students fight to bring the Black consciousness movement and African heritage inside the Black institution. Black officials and activists organize the National Black Political Convention in an attempt to create a unified Black response to growing repression.

  • The Promised Land (1967-1968) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Promised Land (1967-1968) | Promo

    S2 E4 - 30s

    Martin Luther King, Jr. stakes out new ground for himself and the fragmenting Civil Rights Movement. King opposes the war in Vietnam. His SCLC embarks on the Poor People's Campaign. In the midst of organizing, King detours to support striking sanitation workers in Memphis, where he is assassinated. His death and the failure of his final campaign mark the end of a major stream of the movement.

  • Power! (1966-1968) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Power! (1966-1968) | Promo

    S2 E3 - 30s

    The call for Black Power takes various forms across communities in Black America. In Cleveland, Carl Stokes wins as the first Black mayor of a major American city. The Black Panther Party, armed with books, programs, and guns, is born in Oakland. Substandard teaching practices prompt parents to gain control of a school district but lead them to a showdown with New York City's teachers' union.

  • Two Societies (1965-1968) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Two Societies (1965-1968) | Promo

    S2 E2 - 30s

    Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC come north to help Chicago's civil rights leaders in their nonviolent struggle against segregated housing. In Detroit, a police raid in a Black neighborhood sparks an uprising, leaving 43 people dead. The Kerner Commission finds that America is becoming "two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal" - President Lyndon Johnson ignores the report.

  • The Time Has Come (1964-1966) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Time Has Come (1964-1966) | Promo

    S2 E1 - 30s

    After a decade-long cry for justice, a new sound is heard in the Civil Rights Movement: the call for power. Malcolm X takes an eloquent nationalism to urban streets as a younger generation of Black leaders listens. In the South, Stokely Carmichael and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee move from "Freedom Now!" to "Black Power!" as the fabric of the traditional movement changes.

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