HBO Presents 'The Road to Freedom'

Three main events gave birth to the Civil Rights Movement: the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education, the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, and the leadership of the Montgomery bus boycotts by Rev. Martin Luther King who attacked and helped dismantle segregationist policies in the United States. Still, there is one forgotten name that preceded milestones in our history, and it is Vernon Johns.

As we begin celebrating African American History Month, I would like to share with you my recent discovery of a made for television movie, The Vernon Johns Story: The Road to Freedom, starring James Earl Jones and Mary Alice. Produced by HBO, this inspiring and educational film tells the saga of the iconoclast minister who served as the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama from 1948 to 1952, before a young Dr. King acquired that position.

The film is based on material from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Parting the Waters, by Taylor Branch. The viewer is treated not only to a survey of the activities, character, and impact of Vernon Johns' spiritual leadership, but is also given an insight into the intimate mechanisms and politics of one of the most powerful and important cultural institutions in the African-American community, the church.

Director Kenneth Fink and writers Kevin Arkadie and Leslie Lee present a very human portrait of a man ahead of his times, while at the same time never permitting us to forget the unpleasant and overbearing presence of the racism that once permeated American society. Nonetheless, compliance with the system of segregation began to crumble and unravel in the mid twentieth century with the assertive wills of isolated individuals within the Black community, and certainly the pastorate of Dr. Vernon Johns at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.

As narrated by one of John's three daughters, Baby D (an incandescent performance from young actress Nicole Leach), the film begins by creating the illusion of being your standard documentary. Each dramatic segment is framed by authentic black-and-white photographs from the period. These give way to the unfolding story of Johns and Dexter in living color. However, Dexter was not just any Black church in America. Instead of being a democratic house of worship governed by the majority voice of its entire congregation, Dexter sets itself apart because of the elite class of its membership, which relegated their governing muscle to a selected group of church deacons.

In 1948 Dexter's Head Deacon, R. D. Nesbitt, hired Rev. Vernon Johns to assume the pulpit, and as Taylor Branch states "he became the most exquisite agony he had ever known." Already reputed to be "one of God's most brilliant preachers," he was also a noted scholar. The film chronicles his efforts - many unsuccessful - to ignite the fight for civil rights long before it became fashionable. In addition, he used the bible as a spiritual source of reference to motivate his congregation to combat racism, and he lived by the motto: "If you ever see a good fight, get in."

James Earl Jones stars as Vernon Johns. Jones offers one of his best and most subtle film performances by allowing himself to be transformed by the qualities of Johns' personality as opposed to imposing his virtuosic acting gifts upon the role. But neither Jones nor Johns acted alone, and it is with the partnership of Mrs. Johns, brilliantly played by actress Mary Alice, that we encounter his human fountain of sustenance and durability.  Alice never surrenders to a passive interpretation; instead, she imbues the role with dignity, silences, and an acceptance of the inevitable nature of the man she married.

African American History Month is dedicated to passing on the legacy of Black history to our children and grandchildren, a responsibility that today, sadly, many Black families neglect to fulfill. The Vernon Johns Story narrates a largely unknown piece of the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. In a year in which Barack Obama is a leading candidate for the presidency of our country, this film presents us with a powerful reminder from whence we have come, and how far we still have to go.