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Remembering the life of great civil rights movement leaders

A documentary over Howard Thurman, one the historic leaders of the civil rights movement.

ABILENE, Texas — As the day comes to celebrate the life of one of the civil rights movement’s greatest leaders, Martin Luther King Jr., we also celebrate those who inspired his journey.

It was people like Howard Thurman, a man of many hats.

A documentary over Thurman’s life was created called, ‘Backs Against the Wall,’ by Martin Doblmeier, to keep the memory of Thurman alive.

"He was born the grandson of slaves and then becomes this really prolific writer, thinker, intellectual of the 20th century,” says director Doblmeier.

Thurman was paving the way for many great leaders.

"Martin Luther King Jr. used to go to church just to listen to the preaching of Howard Thurman and he would sit in the class and take all these notes about everything that Howard Thurman was saying,” says Doblmeier.

The film was shown at a free screening at ACU, hosted by the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action. The center brought Doblmeier for a panel discussion after the screening.

The film will start airing on public television starting February.

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