Martin Luther King by Trevor McDonald, 50 years after assassination

On the anniversary of Martin Luther King's death,TV3 will broadcast an eye opening documentary ‘Martin Luther King by Trevor McDonald’ tomorrow night, Thursday 29th March at 10pm.

Starting with the monumental ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech in Washington, the documentary sees Trevor McDonald discover how Martin Luther King became a Civil Rights leader almost by accident.

He visits Alabama and the cities of Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma, where Martin Luther King was met with the ugly face of bigotry and violence. He also visits Martin Luther King’s first married home, and to the motel in Memphis, Tennessee where he was assassinated.

Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s death in April 1968,  Trevor interviews Martins key allies, veteran singer Harry Belafonte, Congressman John Lewisand Ambassador Andrew Young. He tracks down rarely interviewed women who helped Martin behind the scenes such as his assistant Willie Pearl Mackey King – who typed up the address that became known as the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. He finds the child protestors and young students who risked their own lives to support their hero as he fought for Civil Rights.

Trevor uncovers new sides to the story. He reads chilling excerpts from the Georgia Code Book of 1933, a book that included petty rules governing the segregation of every aspect of black lives, when Martin was growing up. He also discovers the words ‘I Have A Dream’ were off the cuff, never intended to be in the speech. 

Martin Luther King by Trevor McDonald airs on TV3 tomorrow night,  Thursday 29th March at 10pm.