PBS Announces First Ever Documentary On John Lewis
Source: PBS
PBS has announced a forthcoming documentary on iconic civil rights leader and United States representative John Lewis.
Titled John Lewis – Get in the Way, the documentary will chronicle Lewis' life from being born as the son of a sharecropper to becoming the civil rights leader he will forever be known as. But what makes Get in the Way truly special is that Lewis serves as the narrator throughout the documentary, recounting stories of his youth and leading the Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama.
"Atlanta and the state of Georgia have played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement," Teya Ryan, CEO and President of Georgia Public Broadcasting, said in a statement. "Through the years we've shared the stories of many of the movement's greatest heroes with Georgia ties, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Andrew Young. We are thrilled to bring a film that so eloquently captures the legacy of John Lewis to a national audience through PBS."
Other civil rights activists also make an appearance in the documentary including Andrew Young; C.T. Vivian; Juanita Abernathy; and Bernard Lafayette. Lewis' congressional colleagues Eleanor Holmes Norton; Nancy Pelosi; Harry Reid; Emanuel Cleaver; and Amory Houghton are also featured in the film.
The announcement comes at the right time, in which Lewis' name has been in headlines recently for statements made against President-elect Donald Trump.
"I don't see this President-elect as a legitimate president. I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said in an interview with NBC News this past Friday. He also added that he would not be attending Trump's inauguration on January 20.
Following Lewis' remarks Trump then took to Twitter to respond to Lewis, saying that the civil rights leader was "all talk, talk, talk – no action or results." Trump received plenty of backlash for his remarks, considering they were made towards a prominent figure in America’s civil rights movement, during Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
John Lewis – Get in the Way will premiere on February 10, 2017, as a part of PBS' Black History Month programming. Check out a trailer for the documentary below.
