Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story Debuts Nationally on Public Television’s WORLD Channel on Friday, February 8 at 9:00 PM ET And on Public Television Stations Throughout February As Part of Black History Month Programming Portrait of Influential African American Theologian, Preacher, Writer and Civil Rights Leader by Award-Winning Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier ExPlores the Life of the Man Who Inspired Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesse Jackson, Vernon Jordan and Others “Howard Thurman was a saint of the movement” – Congressman John Lewis (Alexandria, VA) — Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story explores the extraordinary life and legacy of one of the most important religious figures of the 20th century. Born the grandson of slaves, Howard Thurman became the “spiritual foundation” for the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring many of its leaders — including his close friend Martin Luther King, Jr. Featured in the film are a host of scholars, theologians, and Civil Rights pioneers including Congressman John Lewis, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Vernon Jordan, and more. Written and directed by Martin Doblmeier, the creator of dozens of award-winning films on faith, Backs Against the Wall premieres on the WORLD Channel on Friday, February 8, 2019, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET (check local listings), and on public television stations throughout the month of February. Born in 1899, Howard Thurman distinguished himself at an early age, becoming the first African American to graduate from the eighth grade in his hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida. He went on to become valedictorian of his class at Morehouse College, studied at the Rochester Theological Seminary and Haverford College and would eventually be an influential teacher at Morehouse, Spelman College and Howard University. In the mid-1930s, Thurman’s life was transformed when he was the first African American invited to India to meet Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi suggested that it would be through the African American experience that the non-violence resistance movement could take on global significance. When Thurman returned to America, his writings and speeches planted the early seeds for the non-violent Civil Rights Movement. Says Jesse Jackson, “Thurman helped establish the philosophical framework of how to struggle. They may be able to break your bones or your arms, but not your spirit.” Thurman would go on to write the influential Jesus and the Disinherited, which firmly connected the life of Jesus with the struggles of the oppressed everywhere. Thurman is also remembered for helping launch The Fellowship Church for All People in San Francisco, considered to be the nation’s first interracial, multicultural church community. Launched in 1944, the church experimented with new forms of worship including theater and dance and counted Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune as at-large members. In all of his teachings, Thurman was determined to break down what he saw as the artificial walls between races, nationalities and denominations. He went on to serve as dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University (1953–1965), eventually retiring to San Francisco where he died in 1981. Visit the Journey Films web site to learn more about the film, view video clips, see a list of screenings and events, and download educational materials, screening guides and more. Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story is produced by Journey Films, Inc., and is a presentation of Maryland Public Television. Major funding provided by the Lilly Endowment. About the ParticiPants, in AlPhabetical Order Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The recipient of over forty honorary doctorate degrees, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. A renowned orator and international peacemaker, Rev. Jackson is also the author or co- author of the books Keep Hope Alive, Straight From the Heart, Legal Lynching: Racism, Injustice, and the Death Penalty, and It’s About The Money. John Lewis is a United States Congressman representing Georgia’s Fifth District and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He was a keynote speaker at the historic March on Washington in 1963 and co-led the 1965 voting rights march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Lewis is co-author of the National Book Award-winning graphic novel and memoir trilogy MARCH and Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change, written with Brenda Jones. Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. is senior counsel at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, and Feld, LLC, and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Mr. Jordan’s prior positions include president and chief executive officer of the National Urban League, Inc.; executive director of the United Negro College Fund, Inc.; field director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; and many other posts. Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church, won an Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her 2014 book Learning to Walk in the Dark was featured 2 on the cover of TIME magazine. Her fourteenth book, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, will be released by HarperOne in 2019. Alton B. Pollard, III is president and professor of religion and culture at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. A scholar, author, consultant and speaker on the subject of African American and U.S. religion and culture, Pollard was previously dean of the School of Divinity and professor of Religion and Culture at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Pollard is the author of Mysticism and Social Change: The Social Witness of Howard Thurman and co-editor of The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman Volumes I and II. Walter Earl Fluker is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership at the Boston University School of Theology and editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project. His publications include the multi-volume The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman and The Ground Has Shifted: The Future of the Black Church in Post-Racial America. The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. is pastor emeritus of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio and a leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He was a board member and regional director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) under the presidency of Martin Luther King, Jr., and a national board member and trustee of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, III is senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, IL and a leader for social justice and equality in the Black Theology tradition. In 2014, he presented the Lyman Beecher lectures at Yale University, which became the foundation for his most recent book, Blue Note Preaching in a Post-Soul World: Finding Hope in an Age of Despair. Luther E. Smith, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. An ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Smith’s publications include Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet and Howard Thurman: Essential Writings (editor). He is senior consulting editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project. Peter Eisenstadt, Ph.D., is a historian of American religion and history and co-author (with Quinton Dixie) of Visions of a Better World: Howard Thurman’s Pilgrimage to India and the Origins of African-American Nonviolence. He is a senior volume editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project and associate editor of The Papers of Howard Washington Thurman, Vols. I-IV. His biography of Howard Thurman, Against the Hounds of Hell: A Life of Howard Thurman, is forthcoming in 2020. Gregory C. Ellison, II is Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling in the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He is the author of the forthcoming book Anchored in the Current: The Eternal Wisdom of Howard Thurman in a Changing World. Anton Howard Wong is the grandson of Dr. Howard Thurman and a registered architect in New York City. He was born in San Francisco, home of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, where his parents met in the 1950s. 3 Lerita Coleman Brown is the Ayse I. Carden Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology at Agnes Scott College and a spiritual director whose particular focus is the life and work of Howard Thurman. A graduate of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, she leads retreats on Thurman and other topics on contemplative spirituality at venues around the United States. Eileen Guenther is Professor of Church Music and Director of Chapel Music at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She is the author of In Their Own Words: Slave Life and the Power of Spirituals and Rivals or a Team: Clergy- Musician Relationships in the Twenty-First Century. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr., is dean of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel, professor of religion, and college archivist and curator at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He designed the burial memorials for Howard and Sue Bailey Thurman at Morehouse College, Thurman’s alma mater. About the Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier (Writer/Director) is the founder and president of Journey Films in Alexandria, Virginia, an independent television and film production company that produces award-winning films that explore religion, spirituality, history and social issues. Doblmeier’s work has appeared on most major television networks including PBS, ABC, NBC and The History Channel and others, have won countless awards, and screened at festivals, universities and symposia in the U.S. and abroad. Doblmeier holds a degree in Religious Studies, a Master’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and two honorary doctorates.