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Citizen King

Citizen King
A Back to Black Film Festival Presentation

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Science Center 199

The story begins on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963, when a 34-year-old preacher galvanized millions with his dream for an America free of racism. It comes to a bloody end almost five years later in Memphis, Tennessee. In the years since, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has become a mythic figure, a minister whose oratory is etched into the minds of millions of Americans, a civil rights activist whose words and image are more hotly contested, negotiated and sold than almost anyone else's in American history.

Citizen King, a documentary by Orlando Bagwell and Noland Walker, offers insights into topics in American history including the Southern black church, leadership, race relations, definitions of freedom and citizenship, civil rights, regional political differences, federal government intervention in the states, and more.

Film Discussant: Darryl Smaw, Associate Dean for Multicultural Affairs

Sponsored by Black Studies, the Swarthmore College Library, and the Dean’s Office for Multicultural Affairs