WKTV will present a new film by award-nominated writers/directors/producers Bayer Mack and Frances Presley Rice that is designed to help gain insight into the significance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s role in the civil rights movement and to develop a better understanding of the movement itself.
“In the Hour of Chaos” will air three times on WKTV Channel 25, noon Wednesday, Nov. 2; 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5; and 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8.
The main characters featured in the documentary “In the Hour of Chaos” are Martin Luther King, Sr (Daddy King), Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, Murray M. Silver and Malcolm X.
The story is presented in six parts and is set against a backdrop of sociopolitical intrigue, as well as racial and labor unrest, stretching from late 19th to early 20th century America,
The first part recounts the intriguing, but contentious relationship between Daddy King and Coretta, the woman his son (Martin, Jr.) chose to be his wife and who influenced his son’s decisions in the fight for black civil rights.
The second part brings to light Daddy King’s formative, impoverished childhood years in the violent backwoods of Georgia, which shaped his world view and forged his internal fortitude that served him well in his decades-long civil rights struggle. It also includes how he went from being a teenage runaway in the sinister rail-yards of Atlanta, as well as his efforts to re-invent himself through faith, education and his courtship and eventual marriage to Alberta Williams.
The third part features Daddy King’s activism in Atlanta and how his work with black church leaders sparked nationalism.
The fourth part details Daddy King’s involvement in national politics and how Communism taints the civil rights movement that’s also altered by the radical idealism of Malcolm X which conflicts with the approach of Daddy King and his protégé, his son Martin, Jr.
The fifth part documents how Daddy King was affected by the deaths of his two sons (Martin Jr. and Alfred) and his wife (Alberta), as well as the unintended consequences those deaths had on race relations in America.
The sixth part focuses on Daddy King’s joining forces with Murray M. Silver and destroying the political career of arch segregationist Lester Maddox, which ushered in a new day in the old South.
The idea for this documentary was conceived by Rice, executive producer of Block Starz Music Television LLC. Block Starz’s CEO Mack, joined Rice and they coordinated in the production of this historic documentary.
Block Starz Music Television LLC is an American independent film and television company based in Sarasota, Florida. The studio is best known for its documentary film “Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood” that was nominated for a Black Reel Award as the “Outstanding Independent Documentary” by the Foundation for the Advancement of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF).
