The Civil Rights Documentary Film Series, Eyes on the Prize,

premiered on public television in January, 1987.

I was in the ninth grade at the time.

I knew about the civil rights movement, but I didn't know much,

just what I had learned from family members.

You see, in grade school, my teachers had

barely broached the subject. Eyes on the prize hooked me from the beginning, from the opening

montage. The black and white archival footage of the desegregation crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas

was spellbinding. The rendition of

Go Tell It on the Mountain sung by Fanny Lou Hamer was soul-stirring, and the velvet voice of

narrator Julian Bond radiated truth. I watched every episode absorbing as much movement history as I could. I was especially

taken by the activism of members of the student nonviolent coordinating committee. I was excited by

Diane Nash's bravery during the Nashville sit-ins. I was moved by John Lewis's courage during the Freedom Rides,

and I was inspired by Bob Moses's determination during Freedom Summer.

Three years later, when I was a senior in high school, Eyes on the Prize 2 aired.

The news series picked up where the first left off,

with the transition to black power,

ushered in by SNCC activists in Lowndes County, Alabama.

I had known about black power, and I had known about the Black Panthers,

but I hadn't known about their Alabama roots. I had known about Black Power and I had known about the Black Panthers, but I hadn't known about their Alabama roots.

I would not forget.

In 1997, I was in my third year in graduate school, teaching in Atlanta and thinking about a dissertation topic.

...