Tucson, Arizona - August 13, 2013 – Arizona Public Media will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington, a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement that helped usher in sweeping civil rights legislation and a sea change in public opinion, with several special programs that will air on PBS 6 and the UA Channel.
On PBS 6, Tuesday, August 27:
“In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” at 9 p.m. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, PBS 6 will present an encore broadcast of “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement.” This special program features songs from the Civil Rights Movement as well as readings from famous Civil Rights speeches and writings. Guest artists include Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama and the Howard University Choir. Guest speakers are Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah.
“The March” at 10 p.m. This special film reveals the dramatic story behind the event through the remembrances of key players such as Jack O’Dell, Clarence B. Jones, Julian Bond and Andrew Young. Supporters and other testimonials of the March include Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte and Diahann Carroll. Additional interviewees include Roger Mudd, the CBS anchorman who reported from the March, Clayborne Carson, founding director of Stanford’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute and a participant in the March, and Oprah Winfrey, whose life was transformed by watching the March on television along with millions of other Americans. Also featured are the remembrances of ordinary citizens who joined some 250,000 Americans who thronged to the capital on that momentous day to peacefully demand an end to two centuries of discrimination and injustice.
The UA Channel will broadcast the following specials during the week of the anniversary:
“Building the Dream” - Monday, August 26 at 8 p.m. Building the Dream offers unique insight into the challenges faced - and overcome - in the twenty-seven year effort to create a national memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr. Interviews with Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, Andrew Young, John Lewis, John Warner, Connie Morella, John Sarbanes, King family members, and others tell the story of the Memorial from conception to completion. Building the Dream recounts the origins of a bold idea for an MLK Memorial which originated at a small, informal gathering of King’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity brothers in 1983. Alpha Phi Alpha takes up the cause, eventually creating the MLK Memorial Foundation to broaden the effort including corporate and private partners in the cause.
American Masters: “James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket,” Tuesday, August 27 at 8 p.m. The life, works and beliefs of the late writer and civil rights activist are recounted: what it is to be born black, impoverished, gifted, and gay in a world that has yet to understand that “all men are brothers.” James Baldwin tells his own story in this emotional portrait. His close friends and colleagues — even critics — illuminate the narrative, among them writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka and William Styron, plus entertainer Bobby Short.
“The March,” Wednesday, August 28 at 8 p.m. (see description above)
Independent Lens: “The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights”, Thursday, August 29 at 8 p.m. This documentary follows Whitney Young as he shuttles between the streets of Harlem and the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, tying the needs of Main Street to the interests of Wall Street. The film shows the pivotal events of the civil rights era — Brown vs. Board of Education, the March on Washington, and the Vietnam War — through the eyes of a man striving to change the established powers in a way no one else could: from within.
Live from Lincoln Center: “Audra McDonald in Concert: Go Back Home,” Friday, August 30 at 8 p.m. Join five-time Tony Award-winner and series host Audra McDonald as she takes a turn as the featured performer, singing songs from her new album and other favorites in a special spring concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.
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