This was published 9 years ago
TV previews: The March traces the steps that led to Martin Luther King's 'dream' speech
By Melinda Houston
***1/2
Famous words: Martin Luther King addresses marchers in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963.
Sunday 9.30pm, SBS One
There's a reason this is called The March and not The Speech, even though it all leads to Martin Luther King's famous words. Like most people – especially those outside the US – pretty much all that sticks in the mind about the 1963 march on Washington was the fact that it culminated in Dr King declaring that he had a dream. But of course that speech is part of a much larger story – great moments never happen in isolation - and it's that complex and intriguing tale this engrossing documentary unpicks. For a start, the march was the climax of a host of events that started at least two years before when the black population in America's south began seriously agitating for change, especially an end to apartheid. Television itself played a part: for the first time, the educated whites in the north could see first hand appalling footage of (just for instance) law enforcement in Alabama setting the dogs on to peaceful protestors, including women and children. King was central to events, but he was just one of a number of brave, educated, articulate black men and women who advocated, agitated and organised, and it's wonderful to meet them here. And in another first that was to become an established part of social justice movements across the Western world, Harry Belafonte had the genius idea of recruiting some of his famous friends – including Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Natalie Wood – to bring glamour to the event, attract media attention, and convince an uneasy middle class that the cause was a good one. Perhaps what's most inspiring though, are the interviews with all the regular folk – black and white – who worked on the ground raising funds, organising transport, and mobilising their neighbourhoods to ensure a good turnout. It was their work as much as anything that resulted in 250,000 people gathering in Washington that day – and ensured that America's black population finally made real progress toward "freedom, and jobs".