Eyes on the Prize: 2america's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965

This liberally illustrated companion volume to an upcoming six-part PBS-TV series, produced by black filmmakers, offers a detailed account of the Civil Rights movement. Assisted by the film's production team, Washington Post national correspondent Williams singles out from the main political events, demonstrations and legal actions the stories of little-known activists, some of whom lost their lives fighting for political, social, economic and educational rights. Quotes from the students involved in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and Little Rock cases are recorded, as are those of a woman whose son was lynched and those of both black and white participants in sit-ins, Freedom Rides and marches, some of whom were badly beaten and jailed. An epilogue traces the lives of the movement's leaders and other activists since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 75,000 first printing; 60,000 ad/promo; BOMC and QPBC alternates; author tour. (January 26)