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Synopsis:
The
Vernon Johns Story is the inspirational saga of the man who preceded
Martin Luther King Jr. as pastor of a
Montgomery, Alabama Baptist Church. Described as "one of God's most brilliant preachers,"
Johns campaigned tirelessly for
Civil Rights long before the cudgel was taken up by the "mainstream." Before leaving his post, Johns passed the torch to young
Reverend King, who is but a minor character in this positive, uplifting
TV-movie.
James Earl Jones curbs his tendency to ham it up as Vernon Johns, delivering an understated and most effective performance.
Vernon Johns:
Vernon Johns (April 22, 1892 -- June 11,
1965) was an
American minister and civil rights leader who was active in the struggle for civil rights for
African Americans from the
1920s.
He is considered by some as the father of the
American Civil Rights Movement, having laid the foundation on which
Martin Luther King, Jr. and others would build. He was
Dr. King's predecessor as pastor at
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama from
1947 to
1952, and a mentor of
Ralph Abernathy,
Wyatt Walker, and many others in the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Background:
Johns was born in
Darlington Heights,
Prince Edward County, Virginia, the grandson of slaves. He graduated from
Oberlin Seminary in
1918 and attended the
University of Chicago's graduate school of theology. He died of a heart attack in
Washington, D.C. on June 11, 1965 at age 73.
In Prince Edward County, Virginia, the
Robert Moton School was the scene of a student strike for better conditions in 1951. One student leader,
Barbara Rose Johns was the niece of Vernon Johns. Though he was in
Montgomery at the time of the student strike, many report that he was influential in giving advice. His wife was a former teacher in the Robert Moton
High School, and he still had numerous familial ties in the community of
Farmville and the surrounding area. The Johns family knew the social politics of the area. The local
NAACP chapter saw an opportunity to push for change and helped the students continue the fight after the ten day strike was over. This case,
Davis v.
County School Board of
Prince Edward County, would be combined into others and brought to the
U.S. Supreme Court as
Brown v. Board of
Education.
Legacy:
A television film was made in
1994 called
Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story, written by
Leslie Lee and
Kevin Arkadie, based on an unpublished biography by
Henry W.
Powell of The Vernon Johns
Society. The motion picture was directed by
Kenneth Fink and stars James Earl Jones in the title role. Former
NBA superstar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has long expressed an interest in
African-American history, was the film's co-executive producer.
David Anderson Elementary School in
Petersburg, Virginia, was renamed 'Vernon Johns
Middle School' several years ago. In 2009 it became the junior high school for the city school system.
PS: I don't have any rights for that video. I uploaded it on Youtube to share and educate people.
- published: 23 Mar 2013
- views: 534885