Ken Burns on the Activism of Jackie Robinson
Ken Burns discusses his new documentary film "Jackie Robinson," which he describes as a multi-generational love story of an African American family during the seminal years of the civil rights era. It explores the life of a remarkable athlete and a fierce integrationist.
"We produced this film...because we wanted a mroe complex view of him that wasn't just this slice of the historic, turn the other cheek, Christ-like '47 season, which is in and of itself remarkable. But who was this person born in Jim Crow Georgia in 1919 all the way through to his post-baseball career as a civil rights leader."
When asked about his personal experience as a white man making films that are largely about race and history, Burns said:
"I think if you are going to examine American history and not necessarily report back the sanitized Madison Avenue, “Morning Again in America” version of American history that we like to play back to ourselves endlessly, like failed anthems, you begin to understand that race is not something you put in February, our coldest and shortest month, but is actually at the center of the American narrative."
→ Hear more: You can see Ken Burns in conversation with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Michel Martin at BAM on Wednesday, March 16. Click here for more details.
