Eyes on the Prize
| Eyes on the Prize | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Eyes on the Prize I Eyes on the Prize II Eyes on the Prize III |
| Genre | Documentary film |
| Directed by | Orlando Bagwell Sheila Curran Bernard Callie Crossley James A. DeVinney Madison D. Lacy Louis Massiah Thomas Ott Samuel D. Pollard Terry Kay Rockefeller Jacqueline Shearer Paul Stekler Judith Vecchione |
| Narrated by | Julian Bond |
| Opening theme | "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Henry Hampton |
| Production location | United States |
| Editors | Lillian Benson Betty Ciccarelli Daniel Eisenberg Jeanne Jordan Thomas Ott Charles Scott |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Blackside |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBS |
| Release | January 21, 1987 – March 5, 1990 |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | February 25, 2025 – March 2025 |
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement is an American television series documentary about the civil rights movement in the United States. The documentary originally aired on the PBS network, and it also aired in the United Kingdom on BBC2. Created and executive produced by Henry Hampton, and narrated by Julian Bond, the series uses archival footage, stills, and interviews by participants and opponents of the movement. The title of the series is derived from the title of the folk song "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize", which is used as the opening theme music in each episode.
The series won a number of Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award.
A total of 20 episodes of Eyes on the Prize were produced in three separate parts. The first part, Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, chronicles the time period between the United States Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. It consists of six episodes, which premiered on January 21, 1987, and concluded on February 25, 1987. The second part, Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads, chronicles the time period from the national emergence of Malcolm X in 1964 to the 1983 election of Harold Washington as the first African-American mayor of Chicago. It consists of eight episodes, which aired from January 15, 1990, to March 5, 1990. The third part, Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest, chronicles those who work for racial justice from 1977 to 2015. It premiered on February 25, 2025, on HBO. The documentary was made widely available to educators on VHS tape. 14 hours were re-released on DVD in 2006 by PBS.