OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS: LEGENDS WHO PAVED THE WAY (TV)

Summary

This televised special, hosted by Oprah Winfrey, features her two-day gala event honoring the many trailblazers of the Civil Rights Movement, key events of which are depicted in the film "Selma." Winfrey explains that she hosted a "Legends Ball" in 2005, honoring a number of prominent African-American women, and decided to create a similar event to celebrate Civil Rights figures, many of whom are depicted in "Selma," produced by and starring Winfrey. She provides brief biographies of her fourteen honorees, starting with Congressman John Lewis, who led the first voting-rights march and was arrested forty-five times throughout his life before becoming "the conscience of Congress." C.T. Vivian, praised for his talents as a preacher by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., maintained his non-violent status even after his infamous assault by Sheriff Jim Clark. Diane Nash led a silent march in Nashville, which prompted the mayor to desegregate the town's lunch counters.

Winfrey then discusses planning the prestigious gala, held at the Bacara Resort and Spa, with the help of event planner Colin Cowie and personal chef Sonny Sweetman, explaining that she is serving a vast number of rare and expensive truffles to her many guests. Gayle King is placed in charge of the guest list, which soon proves to be an exasperating task. Returning to the biographies, Winfrey highlights Juanita Jones Abernathy, who worked alongside husband Ralph Abernathy, best friend to Dr. King, and enrolled her children in an all-white school as a statement against segregation. Andrew Young, also known for his non-violent protests, eventually became the mayor of Atlanta as well as a United Nations representative. Marian Wright Edelman attended Yale Law School after observing the lack of legal representation for poor blacks, and later went on to create the Children's Defense Fund. At the Arlington Theatre in California, Winfrey hosts a private screening of "Selma," and many of the honorees react with strong emotions to seeing their younger selves portrayed onscreen by actors.

A number of high-profile guests, including Tyler Perry and Common, who performs "Glory," the Oscar-winning original song from the movie, arrive on the red carpet for the gala event, commenting on the historical significance of the weekend. Winfrey then highlights Myrlie Evers-Williams, activist and widow of Medger Evers, whose death she personally witnessed. Julian Bond was one of six students in Dr. King's sole university class, a philosophy course at Morehouse College, and eventually became the first black person to be nominated for Vice President in 1968. Preacher John Lowery crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge along with King and thousands of other protesters on "Bloody Sunday" in March 1965, and later delivered the benediction at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. Before the gala begins, Winfrey calls the honorees aside for a "private moment" and presents them with gifts, diamond cufflinks and earrings, before taking a group photograph. Actor David Oyelewo, who portrays Dr. King in the film, speaks onstage at the gala, and President Obama sends a taped message to the guests.

Over dinner, the guests view the biography clips, which continue with Reverend Jesse Jackson, who was present at Dr. King's assassination and later went on to found the Rainbow Push Coalition. Comedian Dick Gregory used humor to highlight the racial disparities in society and published a bestselling autobiography in 1964, also enduring over 150 arrests and many hunger strikes. Music producer Berry Gordy was the mastermind behind Motown music, which became the "soundtrack" of the movement, while at the same time Quincy Jones created the soundtracks for such memorable films as "In the Heat of the Night" (1967) and has received a record-setting seventy-nine Grammy nominations so far. Sidney Poitier, star of "Heat," became the first African-American to win an Oscar for "Lilies of the Field" in 1964, even before the Voting Rights Act. At the gala, the cast of "Selma" performs an original poem written by Pearl Cleage, and everyone takes to the dance floor as the O'Jays perform a number of their greatest hits. On the following day, Winfrey hosts a "gospel brunch" at her home, noting that she "just happens to have" an amphitheater structure in her backyard, and Reverend Bernice Albertine King, daughter of Dr. King, leads the guests in an introductory prayer. BeBe Winans then performs a number of songs, inviting such guests as Smokey Robinson, Babyface and even John Lewis to sing along, and Angela Bassett then recites Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise." Bill Withers' daughter Kori brings a number of guests to tears with her performance of "I Am My Father's Son," and Chef Art Smith describes the various dishes prepared for the brunch as guests including "Selma" director Ava DuVernay, Rashida Jones, Niecy Nash and Lorraine Toussaint comment on the memorable nature of the "church service" event. Ledisi, who portrays Mahalia Jackson in "Selma," sings "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" as Winfrey imagines Dr. King enjoying the event as an elderly man alongside his many friends and associates. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: OWN
• DATE: 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:06:04
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 122005
• GENRE: Education/Information
• SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - News/Talk; Education/Information; Civil Rights
• SERIES RUN: OWN - TV, 2015
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Tara Montgomery … Executive Producer
• Andrea Wishom … Executive Producer
• Brian Piotrowicz … Co-Executive Producer
• Jill Frank … Senior Supervising Producer
• A. Chris Gajilan … Producer
• Brad Opperman Pavoné … Producer
• Julia Dilday … Associate Producer
• Corinne Gilliard … Associate Producer
• John Strolia … Supervising Technical Producer
• Harpo Sounds … Music by
• Oprah Winfrey … Host
• Colin Cowie … Guest
• Ava DuVernay … Guest
• Gayle King … Guest
• Sonny Sweetman … Guest
• David Oyelowo … Guest
• Bernice Albertine King … Guest
• Benjamin "BeBe" Winans … Guest
• Smokey Robinson … Guest
• Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds … Guest
• Angela Bassett … Guest
• Art Smith … Guest
• Common … Guest
• Tyler Perry … Guest
• Rashida Jones … Guest
• Lorraine Toussaint … Guest
• Niecy Nash … Guest
• The O'Jays … Performer
• Ledisi … Performer
• Kori Withers … Performer
• John Lewis … Honoree
• C.T. Vivian … Honoree
• Diane Nash … Honoree
• Juanita Jones Abernathy … Honoree
• Andrew Young … Honoree
• Joseph Lowery … Honoree
• Julian Bond … Honoree
• Marian Wright Edelman … Honoree
• Myrlie Evers-Williams … Honoree
• Jesse Jackson … Honoree
• Berry Gordy … Honoree
• Quincy Jones … Honoree
• Sidney Poitier … Honoree
• Dick Gregory … Honoree
• Ralph Abernathy
• Pearl Cleage
• Mahalia Jackson
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Barack Obama
• Bill Withers
• Jim Clark