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Must-See. 50 Years Ago Today Dr. Martin Luther King Gave His ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech. That Evening, Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin and Four Others Went Into a D.C. TV Studio and Had This Remarkable Discussion

Aug 28, 2013  •  Post A Comment

It was 50 years ago today, on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1963, that about 250,000 people participated in a landmark event of the American Civil Rights movement, the March on Washington, D.C. Once there, they heard one of the most famous speeches ever delivered, Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Click here to watch a video of the complete original speech. (It’s a little over 15 minutes long.).

Later that evening, actors Sidney Poitier, Marlon Brando and Charlton Heston, singer Harry Belafonte, author James Baldwin and writer-director Joseph Mankiewicz took part — with moderator David Schoenbrun — in a candid discussion about race relations that was filmed in a Washington, D.C., studio. They had all participated in the March on Washington that day. Though Schoenbrun was then a correspondent for CBS News, the luminaries had not come together for a CBS broadcast. It was filmed by the United States Information Agency (USIA), and was later broadcast on TV stations in countries around the world.

Here is that must-see historic roundtable discussion:

2 Comments

  1. Thanks very much for posting this. Well worth watching.

  2. I watched the whole thing and they were all insightful and prophetic in their analysis. An excellent panel discussion with no screaming or name calling. Not bad for a bunch of “Hollywood Elites”. Too bad intelligent discussion has gone the way of the dodo bird.

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