Birth of a Movement

In 1915, Boston-based African American newspaper editor and activist William M. Trotter waged a battle against D.W. Griffith’s technically groundbreaking but notoriously Ku Klux Klan-friendly The Birth of a Nation, unleashing a fight that still rages today about race relations, media representation, and the power and influence of Hollywood. Birth of a Movement, based on Dick Lehr's book The Birth of a Movement: How Birth of a Nation Ignited the Battle for Civil Rights, captures the backdrop to this prescient clash between human rights, freedom of speech, and a changing media landscape.

Full Cast of Birth of a Movement

Danny Glover as Narrator

Danny Glover

as Narrator

Danny Lebern Glover (born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is best know...

Spike Lee as Self

Spike Lee

as Self

Spike Lee was born Shelton Lee in 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Geor...

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as Self

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

as Self

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. is an American historian, literary critic, filmmaker and public intellectual who curren...

Reginald Hudlin as Self

Reginald Hudlin

as Self

Reginald Alan Hudlin is an American writer and film director.

Crew of Birth of a Movement

Discover the backstage crew of Birth of a Movement →