Marching to the Freedom Dream

Marching To The Freedom Dream presents American photojournalist Dan Budnik's significant body of work documenting three seminal marches of the civil rights movement. An introduction to the book is written by prolific civil rights activist, Harry Belafonte. The book begins with the peaceful Youth March for Integrated Schools in 1958, organised by Harry Belafonte and Bayard Rustin, where the White House gates were rudely slammed in the faces of the petitioners. We then move to the iconic March On Washington in August 1963, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr delivered his monumental I Have a Dream speech. The book culminates with the unprecedented and triumphant 54 mile Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. This was Dr. King's greatest achievement where he led marchers, which at times swelled to 1000's of people when safety conditions permitted, through some of the most segregated areas of rural Alabama, the heart of racist Dixie. Budnik's images capture the non-violent solidarity of the participants. He salutes the diversity and passion of the marchers ranging from all walks of life who were willing to serve and sacrifice. Alongside Budnik's black and white photographs, his unseen colour work has been included in the volume, with his own handwritten-captions accompanying the images, providing a more contextual and personal information on the marches' participants. A photohistoric context is provided by photographer and scholar James L. Enyeart, former director of the Center for Creative Photograhy in Tucson, Arizona and the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.