To celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, three members of the award winning WGBH documentary series Eyes on the Prize gathered to commemorate one of the civil rights movement’s most important leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr.  Co-producers Callie Crossley and Judy Richardson and senior producer Judith Vecchione were on hand and ready to share personal stories about King and the movement he helped lead.  Each introduced segments from the documentary, illustrating some of the key moments in King’s career as an activist, starting when he was an apprehensive 26 year-old called to organize a bus boycott and leading up to his metamorphosis into a national leader.  As producer Judy Richardson commented, King’s dream was to “make America be America for all citizens.” 

Though King’s life has been meticulously examined and criticized for over forty years, all three speakers were in full agreement that King was a great man.  Even with that acknowledgment, however, the producers of Eyes on the Prize did not forget what made their documentary series so special:  “it focused on more than just one man, Eyes on the Prize was locally based,” Callie Crossley stated.  “It was about the community and how the grass-roots movement changed everything for that time.”  What helped make this movement so special, as Judith Veccione pointed out, was that everyone was welcome to join: “whether you were atheist, agnostic, religious, or whatever, if you have our moral commitment, we will let you come.  That was what really mattered.” 

Regardless of the lack of religious qualifications needed to join the civil rights movement, the central role of religion is often overlooked, especially in the life of King.  [Though, this has recently been corrected by the work of historians like David L. Chappelle and Charles Marsh.]  Wondering why this was often the case, one rather handsome, pale-skinned red-haired boy asked the speakers (feel free to award extra bonus points for asking a question) “if they felt that the importance of religion in Martin Luther King’s life was overshadowed by the work he accomplished in the civil rights movement, considering how every speech he gave was filled with religious references, especially from the sermon on the mount?”  The answer to that question, unsurprisingly, was “yes.”  To explain this, at least where Eyes on the Prize was concerned, Callie Crossley mentioned “that it was because there wasn’t enough time in the shows to really highlight the importance that faith played in King’s life.” 

As unsatisfying as that answer may have been, all three speakers did agree that King’s Christian faith is something that does often get lost amidst his great legacy.  Yet despite this exclusion Callie did mention that an upcoming special series is in production that will deal exclusively with the importance of faith in the lives of civil rights leaders from the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s.  That should be enough to satisfy those wondering why King’s faith and devotion to God do not receive the attention they are due.