Photo credit: Leigh Vogel-Getty Images
“Stories from the Road to Freedom” is not easy viewing, but it is important,” said Dr. Libby O’Connell, Chief Historian and SVP, Corporate Outreach at The History Channel. Tuesday night was the world premiere and private VIP screening at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
2013 is a significant year since it marks 2 important anniversaries – 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington.
“This documentary skillfully weaves archival films from a number of collections, both private and public, into a stunning visual narrative. Some of the footage has never been broadcast before. The voices of witnesses and participants in the historic struggle for African American equality and justice do the story telling, threaded together by Deon Cole’s moving and Spartan narration.” Production notes
Dr. Libby O’Connell chats with actor Deon Cole, narrator of “Stories from the Road to Freedom”
“There are no scholarly interviews,” she added. “This is not a biopic of the great leaders – Marcus Garvey is not highlighted. The Double Victory movement isn’t analyzed- this is not a text book account. But the words of the Pullman porters and the black soldiers and domestic workers and everyday African-Americans carry the story foreword, with grace, insight, anguish, and righteous anger.
As you will see, it starts with the first days of freedom from slavery and ends almost 150 years later, but it focuses on that long stretch from the 1870’s to the 1970’s, that included moments of cultural celebration along with the brutal struggle for freedom.”
“Stories from the Road to Freedom” premieres this Saturday, February 16th at 10 PM on The History Channel.
