(*Martin Luther King quote*) - "I have a dream." If you are at all interested in knowing about the American Civil Rights Movement as it clearly stood (on shaky ground) in the early 1960s, then this first-rate, PBS documentary called "The March" will certainly be worth your while to watch.Featuring plenty of excellent archival footage, along with interviews with those involved - "The March" carefully chronicles the events that inevitably led up to (what is considered to be) one of the greatest marches for racial equality in American history.It was on August 28, 1963 that over 200,000 people (black & white) peacefully showed up in droves in Washington, DC (from many states) in order to be part of this powerfully moving, historical event.

This documentary is called The March it was released on 27 August 2013 and directed by John Akomfrah. John Akomfrah is a civil rights advocate and directs political films dealing with racial identity and immigration. Because of his background, on the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington he made a detailed and fact based documentary on the March itself and the events leading up to it. The film starts out by giving you an overview of what was going on in this time period and the segregation the black Americans faced. It details the names of people who would go on to play a key role in the March on Washington (such as Bayard Rustin) and the events that would lead up to one of the biggest and most influential peaceful assemblies in American history. The film then details the Kennedy administration and the pressure from black Americans to make something happen about segregation in America. The governor of Alabama refused to admit black students into the university of Alabama this forces Kennedy to take a stance on the situation. Kennedy makes a speech and proposes a bill to congress which would go on to become the civil rights act of 1964. After a lot of preparation work and announcements/advertisements, the day of the march comes and around 250,000 people show up to peacefully protest and listen to Martin Luther King. After the famous I have a dream speech and the march ended the leaders of the movement went to the white house and met with Kennedy. One year later the bill Kennedy proposed was passed and became the civil rights act of 1964, the march had accomplished its goal. The significance of this remains in the fact that this event changed the course of history and politics all because these people had the freedom to assemble and they came together with presidential support and relevance of celebrities to make their point known. This movement just shows the power that the right to peaceful assembly holds and the change that it can make. When you have so many organizations coming together for one cause, and they are able to craft a protest as large as this one, change will be made. The black civil rights movement was able to rise up gaining the support of the president and support of hundreds of thousands and channel that into one peaceful march that would change the lives of millions. Overall this documentary is one of the best on this subject. It is detail oriented, fact based and well produced. It really gives you a sense of what was going on in that time and what it was like to witness the march as it happened. This film is an essential part of understands or researching the march on Washington and the significance it's had on American history.

Made on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington (itself held on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation) - this one hour film is a tremendously intelligent detailed and moving exploration of what led up to that march - the planning, the controversies, the personalities, the compromises, the politics, the passion - that culminated in Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech -- one of the rare pieces of oratory that helped change the very course of history. But while most of us know King's speech, and it's powerful effect on America, few, myself included know the history of how the march came together, and the many other heroes besides King - from famous leaders to simple office staffers - who gave so much to help make it happen. Director Akomfrah (a long under known and undervalued film-maker) does a terrific job combining archival footage (much of which was new to me), very nicely shot modern reminiscences of those who were there and part of making that day happen, and beautiful images that aren't so much 're-creations' as poetic capturings of the spirit of those people and that moment (a tremendously striking shot of a seagull soaring free amidst the towers of a modern city sticks in my mind). A wonderful educational piece for younger people who might not know about "The March" and it's impact, but with a great deal to offer even those of us old enough to grow up with memories from that time. I didn't realize how much I didn't know, and that's one of the best things you can say about any historical documentary.