The definitive story of the Civil Rights era from the point of view of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations are felt today.

CIRC # 280A, CIRC # 280B, CIRC # 280C. Special feature: Disc 1. Interview with Henry Hampton.

Disc 1.Disc 2. Disc 3. produced and directed by Judith Vecchione ; produced and directed by Judith Vecchione -- produced and directed by Orlando Bagwell ; produced, directed and written by James A. DeVinney, Callie Crossley -- produced and directed by Orlando Bagwell ; produced, directed and written by Callie Crossley, James A. DeVinney. -- Awakenings, 1954-1956 / -- Fighting back, 1957-1962 / -- Ain't scared of your jails, 1960-1961 / -- No easy walk, 1961-1963 / -- Mississippi : -- Is this America? 1962-1964 / -- Bridge to freedom, 1965 / Disc 1: Awakenings (1954-1956) -- Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. Rare reflections open the door to understanding America's struggle for equality. Key witnesses describe the extraordinary role ordinary people played in shaping the civil rights movement. -- Disc 1: Fighting back (1957-1962) -- Little Rock, "Ole Miss", the 1954 Supreme Court decision. Unforgettable images of the battle lines drawn in the South come to life through the eyes of those who were on the front lines. See states' rights loyalists and federal authorities collide in the struggle to integrate schools. -- Disc 2: Ain't scared of your jails(1960-1961) -- Sit-ins, SNCC, Freedom rides. See young people unite to overcome segregation. Exclusive interviews with student activists, community leaders, and government officials reveal the remarkable human drama behind lunch counter sit-ins, nationwide boycotts, and the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Black and white freedom riders, organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), travel together to protest bus segregation. -- Disc 2: No easy walk (1961-1963) -- Georgia, Alabama, and the March on Washington. Discover the power of mass demonstrations with the emergence of MLK Jr. Recollections of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) members help chronicle the anti-segregation movement in Albany, Georgia, the violent reaction to the Children's March in Birmingham, Alabama, the triumphant March on Washington, D.C., and President Kennedy's proposal of the Civil Rights Act. -- Disc 3: Mississippi: Is this America? (1962-1964) -- Medgar Evers, Freedom Summer, and the Civil Rights Act. Mississippi becomes a testing ground for constitutional principles as activists focus on the right to vote. Key participants recount the states resistance to the movement and the equally strong determination of black and white organizers to bring the blacks into the political process. NAACP leader Medgar Evers is assassinated and three civil rights workers are murdered. Amidst the horror, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is passed. -- Disc 3: Bridge to freedom (1965). -- Selma, Montgomery, and the Voting Rights Acts. Eyewitness accounts illuminate the events of 1965 focusing on a decade of lessons learned and the role of television in the civil rights movement. --