Benjamin Chavis, the renowned civil-rights leader and author of "The Transatlantic Slave Trade" featured in HBO-production, based on iconic documentary series

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, February 27, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- During the week of February 24-28, the HBO-produced documentary series “Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015” will be released for streaming on the Max platform. “Eyes on the Prize III” is a follow up to Henry Hampton’s seminal, 1987 documentary series “Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement” and “Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads 1965–1985.”

The earlier iterations of this ongoing exploration of the civil rights movement in the United States focused on the period starting with the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 through the Selma to Montgomery Marches in 1965 in the first series; while “Eyes on the Prize II” chronicled a period starting with the rise of Malcolm X in the mid-sixties to the election of Harold Washington, the first African-American mayor of Chicago in the mid-eighties.

“Eyes on the Prize III” covers a period from the late-seventies up until 2015, profiling the individuals and issues which characterize the continuing, and evolving, struggle for racial justice in this nation in more recent years. Episodes in this six-part part series cover a variety of topics including: “the Million Man March,” the criminal justice and the penal system, fair housing, environmental justice, affirmative action, and this nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama.

Featured in two of the episodes will be Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the acclaimed civil rights leader, author, and former Executive Director of the NAACP. Episode 3: “Million Man March 1995” highlights Chavis’s involvement as National Director and a key organizer of the Million Man March, perhaps the most important civil right demonstrations of that decade. More recently, Dr. Chavis has been leading the movement of “environmental justice,” and he has been cited as the originator of the term “environmental racism.” In the foreword which he contributed to Confronting Environmental Racism by R. D. Bullard, Dr. Chavis writes:

“Environmental racism is racial discrimination in environmental policymaking. It is racial discrimination in the enforcement of regulations and laws. It is racial discrimination in the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste disposal and the siting of polluting industries. It is racial discrimination in the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in communities of color. And, it is racial discrimination in the history of excluding people of color from the mainstream environmental groups, decisionmaking boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies.”

Episode 4: Spoil the Vine 1982-2011 from “Eyes on the Prize III” will again feature Dr. Chavis on these very timely environmental concerns.

In light of the political climate in the United States, and across the world, it is a good time to reassert the concerns of black and brown people. Everything that millions have fought and died to achieve in the struggle for civil rights is now in jeopardy. Benjamin Chavis’s most recent publication with Stacy Brown, The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Overcoming the 500-Year Legacy (SelectBooks, 978-1590795699) is a stark reminder of what the struggle is all about. The Transatlantic Slave Trade examines how systemic social demonization, racial enslavement, geopolitical imperialism, and ethnic cleansing were meticulously crafted and perpetuated over centuries.

The legacy of the transatlantic slave trade is a brutal scar on the face of humanity, a monstrous crime that tore millions of Africans from their homeland, dehumanized them, and built the so-called American dream on their blood, sweat, and tears. It is a legacy that we must never forget.

As Chuck D of Public Enemy, who also wrote an impassioned foreword to The Transatlantic Slave Trade notes, “This book isn’t just about the past. It’s about the living, breathing legacy of that past. The chains of slavery may have been broken, but the shackles of systemic racism are still very much intact. From police brutality and mass incarceration to economic disparity and educational inequality, the echoes of the slave trade reverberate through every facet of American life. If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.”

The HBO Original six-part documentary series “Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015” debuted on Tuesday, February 25 (9:00 p.m-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO with two episodes airing back-to-back. Episodes three and four will debut the following day on Wednesday, February 26 followed by episodes five and six on Thursday, February 27 at the same time on HBO. All six episodes will be available to stream on Max beginning Tuesday, February 25. The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Overcoming the 500-Year Legacy is available for sale now and is available wherever books or e-books are sold.

Kenichi Sugihara
SelectBooks, Inc.
+1 973-342-6198
email us here

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