"The March" (2013)

 "The March" (2013)

"The March", narrated by Denzel Washington is the retelling of the events leading up to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  A lot of the prior events, struggles, and discussions leading up to the March on Washington were not fully covered because of the sheer mass and impact the March itself had, so this documentary shined a great light on what it actually took to put such a large peaceful protest together at such a prominent location like the Lincoln Memorial.  This documentary showed rare footage that reveals the context to the March itself that showed how opposed political leaders like President John F. Kennedy and J. Edgar Hoover actually were for fear of inciting violence and causing mass chaos not only in the Washington D.C. area but around the country.  Among the 250,000 civilians who attended the protest were famous people like Josephine Baker, Harry Belafonte, James Baldwin, Jackie Robinson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Lena Horne, Judy Garland, James Garner, Robert Ryan, Paul Newman, Joanna Woodward, Rita Moreno, Bobby Darin, and Burt Lancaster (Wikipedia).  Director John Akomfrah said that the march was "one of the few unsullied utopian moments of the 20th century" (The Wrap), and it also was the pivotal moment for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s career as a speaker.