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).

Bridge to Freedom (1965)

56m 15s

A decade of lessons is applied in the climactic and bloody march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. A major victory is won when the federal Voting Rights Bill passes, but civil rights leaders know they have new challenges ahead.

Episodes

  • Bridge to Freedom (1965): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Bridge to Freedom (1965)

    S1 E6 - 56m 15s

    A decade of lessons is applied in the climactic and bloody march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. A major victory is won when the federal Voting Rights Bill passes, but civil rights leaders know they have new challenges ahead.

  • Mississippi - Is This America? (1963-1964): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Mississippi - Is This America? (1963-1964)

    S1 E5 - 56m 15s

    Mississippi’s grassroots Civil Rights Movement becomes an American concern when college students travel south to help register black voters and three of them are murdered. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenges the regular Mississippi delegation at the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City.

  • No Easy Walk (1961-1963): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    No Easy Walk (1961-1963)

    S1 E4 - 56m 15s

    The Civil Rights Movement discovers the power of mass demonstrations as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. emerges as its most visible leader. Some demonstrations succeed; others fail. But the triumphant March on Washington, D.C., under King’s leadership shows mounting national support for civil rights. President John F. Kennedy proposes the Civil Rights Act.

  • Ain't Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ain't Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961)

    S1 E3 - 56m 14s

    Black college students take a leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement as lunch counter sit-ins spread across the South. Freedom Riders also try to desegregate interstate buses, but they are brutally attacked as they travel.

  • Fighting Back (1957–1962): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fighting Back (1957–1962)

    S1 E2 - 56m 14s

    States’ rights, loyalists, and federal authorities collide in the 1957 battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School, and again in James Meredith’s 1962 challenge to segregation at the University of Mississippi. Both times, a Southern governor squares off with a US president, violence erupts - and integration is carried out.

  • Awakenings (1954-1956): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Awakenings (1954-1956)

    S1 E1 - 56m 15s

    Individual acts of courage inspire Black Southerners to fight for their rights: Mose Wright testifies against the white men who murdered young Emmett Till, and Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.

Extras + Features

  • Ain't Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961) | Freedom Riders: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Ain't Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961) | Freedom Riders

    S1 E3 - 1m 3s

    James Farmer, the director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), explains the step-by-step procedures for the Freedom Riders from Washington, D.C. through America's South to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961. From Eyes on the Prize: Ain't Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961).

  • Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Elizabeth Eckford: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Clip | Elizabeth Eckford

    S1 E2 - 32s

    Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine students, arrives at Arkansas's Central High School for the first day the school is desegregated in its history but is met by an angry crowd to a bus stop. From Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back (1957–1962).

  • Fighting Back (1957–1962) | The Little Rock Nine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Clip | The Little Rock Nine

    S1 E2 - 33s

    Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine students, shares the police's plan to escort them to safety on the day they were to attend Arkansas's Central High School. It was the school's first day of desegregation but instead an angry crowd surrounded the student and school. From Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back (1957–1962).

  • Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Promo

    S1 E2 - 30s

    States’ rights, loyalists, and federal authorities collide in the 1957 battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School, and again in James Meredith’s 1962 challenge to segregation at the University of Mississippi. Both times, a Southern governor squares off with a US president, violence erupts - and integration is carried out.

  • Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Minnijean Brown: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fighting Back (1957–1962) | Clip | Minnijean Brown

    S1 E2 - 1m 9s

    Melba Patillo Beals and Ernest Green recall when fellow Little Rock Nine student Minnijean Brown retaliated against the harassment by white students at Arkansas's Central High School. From Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back (1957–1962).

  • Awakenings (1954-1956) | The Bus Boycott: Women and Allyship: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Awakenings (1954-1956) | Clip | The Bus Boycott & Allyship

    S1 E1 - 1m 11s

    Donie Jones opens up about her experience boycotting Montgomery, Alabama's buses, and the assistance she received from white women after a day of protesting. Activist Virginia Durr, who supported Rosa Parks, speaks about the necessary relationship between white women and Black women. From Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings (1954-1956).

  • Awakenings (1954-1956) | Montgomery Bus Boycott: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Awakenings (1954-1956) | Clip | Montgomery Bus Boycott

    S1 E1 - 55s

    Jo Ann Robinson, the president of the Women’s Political Council, prepares for the one-day Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott on December 5, 1955 - the day Rosa Parks would be tried in municipal court after her arrest for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man. The community-wide effort pays off as witnesses attest. From Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings (1954-1956).

  • Awakenings (1954-1956) | Promo: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Awakenings (1954-1956) | Promo

    S1 E1 - 30s

    Individual acts of courage inspire Black Southerners to fight for their rights: Mose Wright testifies against the white men who murdered young Emmett Till, and Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.

Schedule

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