Testimonials
"Let me say how moved I was as I watched your powerful documentary. One of the things I learned in recent years as I have travelled the country is that our young people are not being taught our history. That is partially because 85 per cent of the teachers in this country are white, and don’t themselves know the history. But I have also found that many of our Black teachers don’t know that history either. Your documentary would help fill that void, and help also facilitate a much needed conversation, again our young people need armor to face the challenges ahead. And your documentary is a layer of that armor."
Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Journalist & Former NPR & PBS Correspondent
"Unglossed, well-documented, vividly shocking and very poignant, Passage at St. Augustine captures an inhumane part of American history commonly untold. It was sobering unlike any other documentary I have seen before about "the Movement".
Na'eema Stanton, Brooklyn, NY
"With artful use of archival materials, exclusive original interviews, newsreel footage and narration, filmmaker Clennon L. King condenses multiple storylines into a compelling narrative. His strong, authoritative voice helps tie together disparate narratives involving real-life heroes and villains of American race relations."
Roberto Mighty, Award-winning Boston-based Filmmaker
“This film is one of the most moving and accurate documentaries I’ve seen on the St. Augustine Movement. It brought back memories of what turned out to be one of the most violent and dangerous experiences of the entire Civil Rights Movement.”
Rev. C.T. Vivian, Atlanta, GA
"It's quite powerful to see this story about the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement stand on its own."
Callie Crossley,
Oscar-Nominated Producer, "Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954-1965"
"We had you and Mimi Jones come to Wellesley College several years ago to show Passage to St. Augustine, and you and Mimi both spoke. It was wonderful program."
Dr. Robbin N. Chapman
Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
"We had you and Mimi Jones come to Wellesley College several years ago to show "Passage at St. Augustine", and you and Mimi both spoke. It was wonderful program."
Dr. Robbin Chapman, Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
"Taking his camera to St. Augustine to interview people on both sides of the 50-year-old conflict, King crafts a stirring, thought-provoking portrait of a town whose racial divide finally exploded in one bloody summer - and continues to this day."
Dennis Perkins
Portland Press Herald
"The result is an hourlong film that uses talking-head interviews and historical media to tell how local activists ignited a campaign that ultimately attracted international attention, prompting President Lyndon B. Johnson once to worry: “Our whole foreign policy and everything else will go to hell over this.”
Malcolm Gay
Boston Globe
"The film gave me a profound education on American history, and was moving beyond words."
Victoria Marsh, Sr. Programmer
WGBH/The World Channel
Boston, MA
"Passage at St. Augustine was riveting and fabulous. I knew about St. Augustine, but not at all in depth. So grateful for your work."
Maggie Jones, New York Times Magazine, New York, NY
“I've watched our students on loads of occasions, and they gave your film a kind of attention that I don't often see. If someone can hold the attention of 200 teenagers on a Friday morning, it is very impressive. So, thank you for coming, and for making the film.”
Kristin Dawley, History Teacher, The Putney School, Putney, VT
"From a storytelling standpoint, Passage at St. Augustine is an amazing accomplishment. It amasses an amazing amount of archival material and first-person interviews that covers a great deal ground in an hour that never feels rushed or padded. The film does a wonderful job documenting an important piece of history."
Bob Petts, National Educational Telecommunications Association
“To think that I grew up in Florida, have taken my children to St. Augustine for the historical aspects, and had absolutely no knowledge of this historical incident. Passage at St. Augustine needs to be seen.”
Lisa Rogers, Springfield College Screening Audience Member
"Nobody knows this story ... Congratulations on making an impactful, thoughtful film about the St. Augustine Movement."
The Honorable Shirley Clarke Franklin, UT Austin Professor & Former Mayor of Atlanta
"Passage at St. Augustine is a compelling documentary about a campaign that's both important and been long-neglected."
David Harris, Managing Director Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice Harvard Law School
"The emotion and artistry of the documentary is extraordinary—truly a gift to all who experience it."
Allen White
Boston, Massachusetts
"Thank you so much for the gift of your superb film --it was truly mesmerizing. The conversation afterwards was compelling, illuminating, and inspiring."
Diane Simpson, Cathedral Church of St. Paul & St. John the Evangelist, Boston, MA
"A superb journalistic triumph! Passage at St. Augustine is quite an example of that.”
Professor Martin Dobrow
Springfield College, Springfield, MA
"Excellent retro-reporting! I'd run across this incident from time to time in Civil Rights Movement material, but you've done yeoman's work in bringing it before the general public. Swimming pool photo is really chilling."
JKie, Reader
Boston Globe
"Incredible! It was riveting from the first minute to the last."
James Thompson
Washington, DC
"What an amazing film! My parents and I have reviewed it and we’re very impressed. My Dad said he learned a few things he never knew. The film was very moving and certainly makes me proud and hopeful that some of that moral courage has rubbed off on my generation."
Payson Peabody (Grandson of Mary Parkman Peabody)
Washington, DC
"I greatly admire the achievement of the film – the footage on the heroism and courage of the Black community and the nearly uncontrolled violence of the Klan and those who sought to maintain segregation – and I warmly congratulate you on it. The narrative structure of the film also beautifully captured the pivotal role that the protests in St. Augustine played in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
Professor Owen Fiss
Yale Law School