The March

In class today, we watched a documentary called The March by John Akomfrah. The focus of the film was to share how the March on Washington was organized and completed by the leadership of a few brave African Americans. The blacks knew that if they wanted to achieve their goal of integration, it would have to be done with maximum effort from everyone. Dr. Martin Luther King did not want The March to have hundreds of thousands of people, but hundreds of thousands.

The leaders of The March knew that the need for integration has been long overdue. They look at a city such as Birmingham, Alabama, the most dangerous and segregated city in the nation. They discuss the number of negro murders and church bombings that went unsolved. Even the police commissioner, Ugene "Bull" Connor was going to do everything in his power to keep segregation, even if it meant telling his police force to exploit violence.

One of the most interesting parts of the documentary is when Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy spoke in the garden of roses at the White House. JFK had always supported the Civil Rights Movement, but he told Dr. King that the FBI was on his back because two of Dr. King's fellow leaders had been targeted as Communists. JFK told MLK that he needed to dispose of these two men out from the movement. It was a crucial time and important decision for Dr. King. He either had to turn his back on two of his greatest friends and leaders through this entire movement or lose the support of the government, which has supported him for years.