PBS NewsHour Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

 

PBS NEWSHOUR anchor and managing editor Gwen Ifill leads a series of conversations commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the historic March on Washington on the PBS NEWSHOUR through the month of August.  The 1963 March, a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement, featured the Rev. Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and helped usher in sweeping civil rights legislation.   For perspective on the historic event and its impact today, Ifill interviews march participants, many of whom are now local and national leaders, and historians.

Wednesday, August 14   William P. Jones, author of “The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights” offers an overview of how the march came to be in the months and years that preceded it. 

Wednesday, August 21   Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton reflects on the historic day and the role she and other women played in the march and larger civil rights movement.

Monday, August 26          Cleveland Sellars and his son Bakari Sellars discuss the impact of the march on their lives then and now.  Cleveland was involved in the Orangeburg, SC protests, sit-ins and was in DC for the March. Bakari is now a South Carolina state lawmaker running for lieutenant governor. 

Tuesday, August 27          Historian Peniel Joseph and director Bonnie Boswell Hamilton discuss the march, the fight for civil rights and Boswell’s documentary: “THE POWERBROKER: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights,” which tells the story of her uncle, a march participant.  The documentary re-airs that night on PBS.

Wednesday, August 28   To commemorate the actual anniversary of the historic day, Gwen Ifill interviews Rep. John Lewis, the only surviving speaker from that day.                                                 

ONLINE –Watch events LIVE on the day of the anniversary from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. PBS NewsHour will live stream the “Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action Ceremony” beginning at 1 p.m. EDT August 28.   

Thursday, August 29        Gwen Ifill discusses the legacy and impact of the march in a joint interview with historian Taylor Branch and filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman, whose month long PBS web series “The March@50″ and Google hangouts begin that week. 

Jeffrey Brown previews PBS NewsHour’s special coverage and discusses the relevance of the march today with historians Ellen Fitzpatrick of the University of New Hampshire, presidential historian Michael Beschloss, George Chauncey of Yale University and Kenneth Mack of the Harvard Law School Program on Law and History.

PBS NEWSHOUR’s conversations are part of a week of special programs on PBS celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington.