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Documentary series · PBS

Eyes on the Prize

American civil rights movement documentary TV series

Verification status: Imported automatically from public Wikidata and Wikipedia records; not yet reviewed by an editor. Fields we could not find are marked “Not verified”.

Research date: 2026-11-08

Synopsis

Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Movement is a 14-hour American television series documentary about the civil rights movement in the United States. The series originally aired in two parts on PBS (episodes 1-6 aired weekly beginning in January 1987, and episodes 7-14 aired weekly beginning in January 1990); the series 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.

In 2025, HBO broadcast a different, six-part series, Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest.

The first six episodes, 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 premiered on January 21, 1987, and concluded on February 25, 1987. The second eight episodes, 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 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 initial 14-hour documentary series was made widely available to educators on VHS tape, and re-released on DVD in 2006 by PBS.

Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Key facts

Official title
Eyes on the Prize
Alternative titles
Not verified
Original release
1987-01-21 – 1990-03-05
Country of production
United States
Language
English
Genres
documentary television program
Seasons
2
Episodes
14
Directors
Not verified
Producers
Not verified
Production company
Not verified
Official website
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/eyesontheprize/
Official trailer
Not verified

Streaming

Listed service
PBS
Original or licensed
Original — public records list PBS as the original network or distributor (PBS).
Available now in UK
Not yet checked
Available now in Ireland
Not yet checked
Available now in US
Not yet checked
Past availability
Not verified

Episodes, events and timeline

Episode titles, summaries, running times, key events and a timeline have not been researched for this series yet. We'll add them only once they can be checked against reliable sources.

Sources