Martin Luther King, Jr.

29 min 38 sec. One of the first in-depth televised interviews given by Martin Luther King, Jr., this program was first broadcast on October 27, 1957, on the NBC News show Look Here. Filmed only a year after he had reached national prominence during the Montgomery bus boycott, the 27-year-old King offers host Martin Agronsky invaluable insights into his goals, his philosophy, and his unshakable dedication to equality and civil rights.

n April 3, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Mountaintop" speech to 3,000 sanitation workers at the Mason Temple. He ends his speech with "Mine eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord."

A part of the series America in the 20th Century. Anyone who thinks the civil rights movement began and ended with Martin Luther King Jr. will discover a new, eye-opening view of history in this program. It reveals a long-running struggle for racial equality starting with Civil War– and Reconstruction-era events, moving through the blight of Jim Crow and the formation of the NAACP and other groups, and depicting the drama of King’s movement in varied, evolving phases. The work of Malcolm X, the rise of the Black Power movement, and the future of America’s ongoing equality battles are also examined. (84 minutes)

Produced by Blackside, 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. Winner of numerous Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America. The 14-part series recounts the fight to end decades of discrimination and segregation.It is the story of the people— young and old, male and female, northern and southern—who, compelled by a meeting of conscience and circumstance, worked to eradicate a world where whites and blacks could not go to the same school, ride the same bus, vote in the same election, or participate equally in society.

This documentary examines Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. Filmed in Atlanta on the first federal holiday in his honor, an impressive group of distinguished public figures is interviewed, including former President Jimmy Carter, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Julian Bond, Senator Edward Kennedy, Andrew Young, and Bill Cosby, among others. Archival footage recounts highlights of Dr. King’s actions and accomplishments in the civil rights movement: being fingerprinted after his arrest during the Montgomery bus boycott; his 1963 “I have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial; and his 1964 acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. (57 minutes)

To mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in 2005, PBS NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Brown speaks with civil rights author Nick Kotz and Roger Wilkins, history professor at George Mason University. (10 minutes)

Five years after the assassination John F. Kennedy, presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy announced the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. at a scheduled campaign stop in Indianapolis. After discarding his campaign speech Kennedy called for love, wisdom, compassion, justice, and unity in the face of violence. (8 minutes)

This historical film packages nine short segments on Martin Luther King, Jr., for February’s Black History Month. Stories include “King Holiday,” “MLK/Wreath-laying,” “Jackson/MLK,” King/Civil Rights,” “Reagan/Kids,” “MLK Bust/Capitol,” “Andy Young Reflects,” “MLK Celebration/Atlanta,” and “MLK Celebration/Washington, D.C.” From the National Archives and Records Administration. (20 minutes)

Martin Luther King had long known that racial equality was inextricably linked to economic equity—fairness for all, including working people and the poor. In the last year of his life, Dr. King announced the Poor People’s Campaign to demand an “economic bill of rights” for all Americans, regardless of color. But nearly a half-century later, that dream is still a dream deferred. In this edition of Moyers & Company, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch and author and theologian James Cone join Bill to discuss Dr. King’s vision of economic justice…and why so little has changed for America’s most oppressed. Also on the show, poet Kyle Dargan, whose poetry provides a window into the humanity that Branch and Cone say is essential to get people working towards justice, visits Bill to talk about and read from his work. Broadcast date: April 5, 2013. (57 minutes)

This video, produced by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions, is about obtaining perspective on Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, then and now.

As a member of both the African American and LGBT communities, filmmaker Yoruba Richen is fascinated with the overlaps and tensions between the gay rights and the civil rights movements. She explores how the two struggles intertwine and propel each other forward — and, in an unmissable argument, she dispels a myth about their points of conflict. A powerful reminder that we all have a stake in equality. (18 minutes)

No one grasps the connections between social activism, electoral politics, and racial issues better than Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), perhaps the most prominent living veteran of the American civil rights movement. In 2007, he received the Robert J. Dole Leadership Prize from the University of Kansas and, in conjunction with the award, granted this in-depth interview before a live audience. Rep. Lewis discusses an epic range of topics, including his childhood in segregated Alabama; his first meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the backstage dilemma over his speech at the finale of the March on Washington; his role in the attempted march from Selma to Montgomery; the ongoing need for social activism today; and more. (58 minutes)

In this edition of Moyers & Company, two icons of the ’60s civil rights era—John Lewis and Bill Moyers—meet to share experiences and revelations related to the momentous March on Washington, which they both attended 50 years ago. Their discussion takes them to the spot in front of the Lincoln Memorial where Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, Roy Wilkins, and others famously spoke about freedom and justice, creating critical momentum for both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Representative Lewis (now a 14-term congressman) shares new insight into how the event unfolded, while Bill (who at the time was deputy director of the newly created Peace Corps) shares his own memories of the day. He concludes with an essay about how the pursuit of equal rights and opportunities for all Americans—so championed at the March on Washington—continues to be thwarted. Broadcast date: July 26, 2013. (57 minutes)

Produced for the U.S. Information Agency’s Worldnet Today television series, this 1987 episode spotlights Dr. Benjamin Lawson Hooks, executive director of the NAACP, who discusses the continuing evolution of the American civil rights movement, the ebb and flow of discrimination in the United States, the NAACP’s contributions to racial equality via the American legal system, and the effects of Martin Luther King, Jr., on the civil rights movement. From the National Archives and Records Administration. (49 minutes)

On picket lines, in organizational meetings, even in police wagons and jail cells, songs of protest and inspiration helped drive the civil rights movement. Showcasing many of those songs, this stirring documentary explores the history of the era through archival footage, interviews with key civil rights activists, and performances by contemporary artists assembled specifically for the film. Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, former NAACP chairman Julian Bond, freedom rider Hank Thomas, civil rights organizer Jim Lawson, former King aide Dorothy Cotton, and music legend Harry Belafonte are among those interviewed. On-camera performers include John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots. Featured songs: “Wade in the Water,” “This May Be the Last Time,” “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round,” “We Shall Not Be Moved,” and more. (82 minutes)