On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, The March looks at the day in 1963 where Martin Luther King made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech and the march almost didn’t happen. The program airs Tuesday, Aug. 27 at 9/8 p.m. on KET.

Unprecedented in size, the Aug. 28, 1963 massive demonstration for racial and economic equality issued a clarion call for racial justice that would help usher in sweeping civil rights legislation and a sea change in public opinion. The event, which will forever be remembered for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s stirring “I Have a Dream” speech, endures today as a symbol of unity and monumental impact.

Deploying remarkable rare archival footage, The March recounts the dramatic events that took place not only in front of the cameras but behind the scenes, revealing how one of the most important events in the Civil Rights Movement almost didn’t happen, told by those who refused to back down and whose lives it forever changed.

In addition to the broadcast of The March, PBS will honor the 50th anniversary with a full week of special online programming and events. PBS Black Culture Connection website will unveil The March @50, a new web series that asks if America has delivered on the original demands of the marchers for jobs and freedom.

PBS member stations, including KET, will be sparking community engagement with Memories of the March, a series of video vignettes featuring first-person accounts from those who were present at the event or whose lives were impacted by the March. In KET’s two vignettes, host Renee Shaw sits down with former state senator Georgia Davis Powers, the first woman and the first African American elected to Kentucky’s state senate, and with Raoul Cunningham, president of the Louisville NAACP, who participated in the March on Washington in 1963. KET’s vignettes, in addition to those from other PBS stations, will be available to watch online at www.pbs.org/black-culture/home

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, serving more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.

Contact:

Todd Piccirilli
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
859-258-7242
tpiccirilli@ket.org