Purdue's Black Cultural Center to commemorate 50th anniversary of March on Washington

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the Purdue University Black Cultural Center will show the "Eyes on the Prize" series on Wednesday (Aug. 28), starting at 8:30 a.m. and continuing throughout the day in the BCC student lounge area.

At 5 p.m., Purdue graduate student Kadari Watson Taylor will share personal reflections on her trip to Washington, D.C., where thousands of people gathered on Saturday (Aug. 24) for a daylong commemoration of Wednesday's 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

"Eyes on the Prize" is an award-winning, 14-hour television series produced by Blackside Inc., and narrated by Julian Bond. Through interviews and historical film footage, the series covers all of the major events of the civil rights movement from 1954-85.

Series topics range from the Montgomery bus boycott in 1954 to the Voting Rights Act in 1965; from community power in schools to "Black Power" in the streets; from early acts of individual courage to the growth of a mass movement and its eventual split into factions.

The series won six Emmys, an Academy Award nomination, the George Foster Peabody Award and the top DuPont-Columbia award for excellence in broadcast journalism.

BCC's fall theme is Gullah Folklore. Research  tour participants will stay at the historic  Penn Center on St Helena Island where Dr. Martin Luther King drafted his famous I Have A Dream speech.

News Service contact: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu