The March by John Akomfrah

In today's class, we took a field trip to the first floor theatre to watch The March by John Akomfrah.

One of the most captivating moments of the movie took place in the beginning with a 1963 speech from MLK. In it, he mentioned having to explain to his children the system of segregation, and how they can't go certain places because of the color of their skin.

The segregation movement gained ground in Birmingham, Alabama. King and his partner Philip Randolf were afraid the movement was losing its window in history, and planned to take a risk and protest at the Birmingham jail. Another eye-opening moment in the film occurred when these peaceful protesters were thrown in jail, had tier gas thrown at them, and were sprayed by high powered water hoses.

After the protest at the Birmingham jail, MLK toured the country before organizing the famous march on Washington with Philip Randolf and many more. The march began with loads of busses, taking protesters to the Washington Monument. Performers sang songs like "We Shall Overcome" to fuel the protesters and set a powerful message to the public. By lunch time, 150,000 had assembled, and more were coming. By late afternoon, 200,000 people gathered at the monument. This was the first time many Americans heard a King speech. In his speech, he spoke about the emancipation proclamation one-hundred years ago and how blacks still are not free to this day.

Ten hours after the first busses arrived at the Washington Monument, the leaders of the black civil rights movement met with the Kennedy administration at the White House. A year later, the civil rights act of 1964 was passed, segregation was ended, and America became the place that Dr. King had dreamt about.