Signpost to Freedom: The 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott (2004)
Details
Collection:LPB
Genre: Documentary
Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority
Date Issued: 2004-11-16
Duration: 00:56:46
Subjects: Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, Baton Rouge, La., 1953 | Civil Rights | Segregation | African Americans | VOTING RIGHTS | Civil rights demonstrations | Discrimination | BOYCOTTS | Jemison, T.J. (Theodore Judson) | United Defense League (Baton Rouge, La.) | Parks, Rosa, 1913-2005 | King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 | Montgomery Bus Boycott, Montgomery, Ala., 1955-1956
Contributors:
- Melton, Christina Producer
- Crews, Keith Photographer
- Crews, Keith Editor
- Melton, Christina Writer
- Richard, Charles Writer
- King, Chris Thomas Composer
- Joseph, James A. Narrator
- Freeman, Veronica Interviewee
- Fairclough, Adam Interviewee
- Doherty, Lewis, III Interviewee
- Young, Andrew Interviewee
- Thompson, Horatio Interviewee
- Jones, Johnnie, Sr. Interviewee
- Freeman, Hazel Interviewee
- Badger, Anthony Interviewee
- Jemison, T.J. Interviewee
- White, Martha Interviewee
- Brinkley, Douglas Interviewee
- Williams, Juan Interviewee
- Reed, Willis Interviewee
Description
A 2004 documentary focused on the 1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, the nation’s first large-scale bus boycott challenging segregation. This program explores: segregation in Baton Rouge; the grassroots activism of the African American community during the 1940s and 1950s, especially in the area of voting rights; the events that led to the boycott of the Baton Rouge Bus Company; the 8-day bus boycott and subsequent compromise with the City Council; the leadership of Reverend T.J. Jemison of the Mount Zion First Baptist Church and the United Defense League throughout the boycott; the impact of the successes and failures of the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott on Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956; and the importance of the bus boycott to the evolution of non-violent, grassroots civil rights activism during the Civil Rights Movement. Narrator: James A. Joseph