A film about the injustices that defined the civil rights movement told through the eyes of basketball players and coaches from primarily historically Black colleges and universities will air on ESPN on March 16 and 17. “Black Magic,” a two-part, four-hour film by ESPN and Shoot the Moon Productions, was coproduced by basketball legend and Winston-Salem State University graduate Earl “The Pearl”Monroe.

The film’s award-winning director, Dan Klores, notes, “This is a story of injustice, refuge and joy. It’s an epic that has not been told.” Compiled from more than 200 hours of interviews and footage, the film includes the voices of the widow of Clarence “Big House” Gaines, Cleo Hill, Ernie Brown, Willis Reed, Avery Johnson, Ben Wallace andmanymore. Scholars, including Drs.Henry Louis Gates Jr., Cleveland Sellers and Milton Katz, among others, also offer their perspectives in the film.

ESPN executive vice president John Skipper says of the documentary, “It’s a living history of sports and culture that invites a broader discussion about race, society and how we think about modern-day athletes and sports.”

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