Pressman, M. (Director). (2003). And the Children Shall Lead. [Video/DVD]. Lake City, UT: All Things Family.
It is 1964, in the segregated town of Catesville, Mississippi, and Rachel (who is black) and Jenny (who is white) are best friends, caught up in the firestorm surrounding black voter registration. The adults, both black and white, afraid of the inevitable changes that are surely coming, hang onto the old ways of dealing with their differences. This drama, set in Catesville, Mississippi, during the height of the civil rights movement, looks at the effects of political change on children — who can often prove wiser than their elders. Despite segregation, 12-year-old Rachel has maintained close ties with several white children. Then, civil rights activists arrive in Catesville determined to assure equal rights for blacks. As tension and distrust between the races grow, Rachel and her friends decide they must help the town unite and overcome prejudice…When a group of civil rights activists arrive in a sleepy Mississippi town and bring the citizens’ simmering racial tensions to the surface, a 12-year-old girl named Rachel joins the fight against segregation and leads the adults to better racial understanding.
Associate Professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato