Customer Reviews

Eyes on the Prize Box Set: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 (6 Video Set) [VHS]

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I've just been able to see most of these six episodes in a public screening at a college. They cover the civil rights movement from about 1955-1965. (There's an Eyes on the Prize II that I haven't seen, containing another six episodes about the movement after 1965.)

I came to watch the first episode with a bit of trepidation, lest the series should turn out to be a bit of white-bashing propaganda. Instead I discovered that it was a very moving, well-edited, evenhanded, and highly absorbing documentary-- one of the best I've ever seen on any subject. There's not too much voice-over narration; instead the series relies on actual video of the movement and interviews with the participants on all sides to recreate the era. The video clips are amazing and speak for themselves: rallies in churches, picketing of segregated stores, black students being dragged away from whites-only lunch counters, intense and rhythmic speeches by Martin Luther King and many others, freedom rides on segregated buses, funerals of slain marchers, tense confrontations between protesters and Southern sheriffs, news footage of smoothly racist white politicians, and footage of black (and occasionally white) activists who were beaten, sent to prison, and sometimes even killed in the fight for civil rights. Tear gas, clubs, fire hoses, police dogs, and guns all were used on peaceful protesters-- we know that's no exaggeration because it's all on tape.

I love the fact that the documentary strives to tell the story of the movement through the words of those who were there, and does not layer any commentary or bias on top. You're free to draw your own conclusions, and be inspired by the courage and committment of the non-violent protestors. This work will pull you in, even if you don't think you're interested in the civil rights movement. Watch for the mother of a college-aged protester, who laughs and cries while relating what her son said in his phone call from jail: "Be cool, mother." And the black Freedom Rider who was put in jail, where another black inmate beat him up on the order of white deputies: "There were tears on his face. It hurt him more than it hurt me."

One warning about the first video, which deals with the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till. He was beaten and shot in the head, and then the body was dumped in a river where it decomposed for several days. During footage of the funeral, we see a closeup of a picture of smiling, happy, Emmett Till in life-- and then the camera cuts immediately to the horrible, horrible sight of his face in death. The shot only lasts a second, but it was much too much for me (I'm fairly sensitive). In 1955, pictures of Emmett Till's body were printed all over the nation, and it was an image that galvanized blacks into action. One can see why. The rest of this documentary would be wonderful for older children to see, but stand in front of the TV during that second!

This is in my view the best documentary about Black History there has ever been on TV. It is moving, inspirational, accurate, objective and makes the point of the movement and the people wonderfully well. It should be for everyone, Black, White, Chinese. I would like this documentary on DVD in order to pass this on to my nephews and nieces. Anyone interested in history needs this documentary.

This movie starts with the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement and ends in the mid-1980's. It is really detailed and in depth. It starts the Civil Rights Movement at B.M. (Before Martain Luther King Jr.) and continues through his life and work, into the mid-1980's. I think that if you are an educator, parent, or just like history you will love this video. If you are an African-American parent, teacher, etc. and want to give your children, students, etc. a sense of history (their history) then this would be a great gift. In today's society when we take things like voting or simply the place where we sit on the bus for granted, we can look back and really appreciate what the leaders of the Civil Rights Movements have done for us. I think that this video shows that the struggles that African-American's went through to gain the simpliest freedoms show that one month just isn't enough. That Black History should be taught all year around. END

This is an excellent source of information on the origins of the Civil Rights Movement and how it progressed from Martin Luther King Jr. to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. A must for anyone interested in the Civil Rights Movement, Black History or history in general.