The journey toward civil rights for all Americans winds its way through rural courthouses and bus stations, southern schools and jail cells, and churches that organized a courageous movement that ended segregation. Some of these important landmarks still exist and form the basis for Trail of Hope – The Journey to Equality. 

Many of the communities served by Raycom Media television stations were ground zero for the civil rights struggles of the 1950’s and 60’s. TV journalists were on the front lines of change, filming the protests and the violence, and hearing the voices that cried out for equality.

Segregation was enforced by local laws, police and sheriffs, and acts of vigilante terror. In southern states where African Americans were forced to take literacy tests designed to keep them from voting, there were voter registration drives and public protests.

More than a half-century later, this important American story is told through the first hand accounts of the people who took those brave first steps to all-white lunch counters and public buses, and children who walked past hate-filled crowds through the front doors of segregated schools. This is a story of tragedy and triumph in the South that redefined America.

Trail of Hope – The Journey to Equality will air February 2018 on all Raycom Media Stations and OTT Platforms.