Remembering MLK
Forty years after the assassination of Martin Luther King at age 39, veteran journalist Tom Brokaw is taking viewers on an unprecedented journey back in time and forward to today with “King,” a History Channel special airing Sunday evening at 8.
The two-hour special goes beyond the legend to delve into the man, the questions, the myths — and, perhaps most important, the relevance of King’s message in today’s world.
Among the program’s highlights: King’s son, Martin Luther King III (in a rare television interview) shares his memories and thoughts about his father and describes how he carries the torch today by leading a new campaign against poverty called Realizing the Dream.
Some of King’s closest confidants also draw viewers inside his mind, while a host of celebrities and politicians (including former President Bill Clinton, Harry Belafonte, Chuck D, Forest Whitaker, Rep. John Lewis, Bono, John Legend, former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) speak about his indelible influence on their lives.
“King” also covers a myriad of other turning points in the life of the Noble Peace Prize winner: his decision to join the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., the fateful march in Selma, his incarceration in Birmingham, the March on Washington and his tragic death in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
Other King-related specials airing this weekend:
• TV One’s MLK: A Dream Deferred — An hourlong documentary exploring the state of black America after the civil rights movement, will be rebroadcast at noon today.
The special, which premiered last night, focuses on whether black life has improved since the time of King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. The documentary also moves beyond his historical significance and addresses the impact of his legacy on American society.
• MLK: The Making of a Holiday — An inspiring one-hour documentary highlighting crucial moments in King’s life and the popular movement to make his birthday a national holiday, follows at 1 p.m.
Hosted by actors LeVar Burton (“Roots”) and Marla Gibbs (“227,” “The Jeffersons”), the 1988 film features key leaders in the King holiday movement — including King’s widow, the late Coretta Scott King; Rep. John Conyers and the great Stevie Wonder. Also featured is the story behind Mr. Wonder’s 1980 hit, “Happy Birthday,” which energized the national holiday movement.
The program has been updated with a new segment featuring tributes to King by John Legend, Wyclef Jean, LL Cool J, Russell Simmons, Robin Thicke, Joss Stone, Garth Brooks and, of course, Mr. Wonder.
• Boycott — The 2001 made-for-cable movie with Emmy- and Tony-winning D.C. native Jeffrey Wright as King (at 8 tonight on BET), recalls the Montgomery, Ala., boycott against that city’s public bus system in the 1950s. Terrence Howard co-stars as trusted King aide Ralph Abernathy, and Carmen Ejogo (Mr. Wright’s real-life wife) portrays Coretta Scott King.
• The Night James Brown Saved Boston (VH1, 9 p.m. tomorrow) chronicles the Godfather of Soul’s sojourn to Beantown in an effort to quell tensions — as he did here in the District — the day after King’s assassination.
According to the special, there was trouble in Boston’s Roxbury ghetto the night before and the city’s then-mayor, Kevin White, struggled to keep the fragile peace. Reportedly, he had planned to cancel Mr. Brown’s long-scheduled concert at the Boston Garden. But calls from one of the city’s most influential R&B disc jockeys and Boston’s lone black city councilman advised him of the danger of that decision.
From the beginning
HBO will air all four episodes of its acclaimed “John Adams” miniseries back-to-back starting at 6 tonight. The seven-part series continues Sunday with its fifth installment (titled “Unite or Die” at 9 p.m.), which covers the struggle between now Vice President Adams (Paul Giamatti) and President George Washington (David Morse), Adams’ election to the presidency and his mounting family problems.
• Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse from staff, Web and wire reports
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