American playhouse; The Meeting; Part 1

thumbnail of American playhouse; The Meeting; Part 1
Please note: This content is only available at GBH and the Library of Congress, either due to copyright restrictions or because this content has not yet been reviewed for copyright or privacy issues. For information about on location research, click here.
This record is featured in “Exploring Public Media in the Peabody Awards Collection.” This record is featured in “Peabody Awards Collection.”
Series
American playhouse
Episode
The Meeting
Segment
Part 1
Producing Organization
Yagya Productions
KCET (Television station : Los Angeles, Calif.)
Hillard Elkins Entertainment
Contributing Organization
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip-526-zs2k64c43n
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip-526-zs2k64c43n).
Description
Episode Description
"THE MEETING dramatizes a fictional encounter between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., two of the most charismatic and important black civil rights leaders of the 1960's, each of whom ended up victims of assassins' bullets. Set in a room at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem, on Valentine's Day 1965, one week before the assassination of Malcolm X, the play offers a challenging and fascinating view of what could have occurred had the two men met to discuss ideology and purpose. It is also an intimate drama of two human beings, who beneath the public persona, had moments of doubt, of fear and of anguish. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. were powerful orators with the ability to move thousands with their choice & delivery of words. In writing THE MEETING, Mr. Stetson was very much aware of the power of their words and the need for authenticity. Stetson researched the backgrounds of these men and utilized much of their actual dialog in the play, Stetson succeeds in making both points of view equally clear. It's not about who's wrong or right. The play simply gives a clear understanding of the difference in their philosophies, and fulfills the need for American youth & leadership to remember Malcolm and Martin. As such, it's an important document about American civil rights. Weaved throughout the play are also events that actually happened. Through a judicious use of archival footage, the production gives a palpable and accurate historical context, and gives history a more active presence in the play. But the play is also more than just a debate about Civil Rights in the '60's - it is about issues of human rights in anytime, issues that are very much with us today, in America, in South Africa, in Chile. Whether social change comes about through violence or non-violence is a debate that echoes in the psyche not only of Black Americans but all human beings.The program is a television adaptation of a stage play that imagines what would have happened if Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X had been able to meet and discuss their ideas. The first scene begins with Malcolm X waking up from a nightmare after his family's home was bombed a week before he was assassinated. He talks with his bodyguard as he prepares for his meeting with King. His finds a bug in his hotel room and flushes it down the toilet. We see the spies, a detective from the NY police and an FBI agent, as they talk about their jobs. After Malcom plays chess with his bodyguard, King arrives. They discuss King's policy of nonviolent protest. Malcolm proposes unity as a solution to the problems they face, but his definition of unity differs from King's. They arm wrestle, and Malcolm wins. Malcolm talks about the dream he had, in which both he and King were dead, and they had been forgotten, and they argue. King refuses to change his methods, and he talks about the anger that he feels that makes him want to prove hate wrong. Malcolm expresses his fear that the black community will turn against itself and that integration will give white people even more power. They arm wrestle a second time, and King wins. King offers Malcolm his protection and help, and Malcolm rebukes him and his methods of nonviolence. King prepares to leave, and both confess that they let the other win at arm wrestling. King gives Malcolm a doll, a gift from King's daughter to Malcolm's daughter. They share a moment and talk about their daughters, and they step out onto the balcony. The spies see them, and one of them convinces the other that it's not Dr. King on the balcony with Malcolm. Malcolm's bodyguard talks to someone on the phone, planning Malcolm's assassination. King and Malcolm arm wrestle one last time, ending in a draw, and King leaves. Malcolm prays for God to protect King, and calls his wife, asking her and the whole family to be at his next speech. He steps out onto the balcony again, and the program ends. "When the play premiered in Los Angeles in 1987, it received a Louis B. Mayer Award for outstanding achievement in playwrighting, along with eight NAACP Theater Awards. Reviews for the television adaptation have been enthusiastic as well. Critics have described the program as compelling, powerful, impressive and thoughtful."--1989 Peabody Awards entry form.
Broadcast Date
1989
Asset type
Episode
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
01:00:06.870
Credits
Producing Organization: Yagya Productions
Producing Organization: KCET (Television station : Los Angeles, Calif.)
Producing Organization: Hillard Elkins Entertainment
AAPB Contributor Holdings
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia
Identifier: cpb-aacip-3193a9d3033 (Filename)
Format: U-matic
Duration: 1:15:59
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
Citations
Chicago: “American playhouse; The Meeting; Part 1,” 1989, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed June 30, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-zs2k64c43n.
MLA: “American playhouse; The Meeting; Part 1.” 1989. The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. June 30, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-zs2k64c43n>.
APA: American playhouse; The Meeting; Part 1. Boston, MA: The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-zs2k64c43n