Dare Not Walk Alone

Running time: 73 mins

In 1964, St. Augustine, Florida was on the front lines of the civil rights battle. Martin Luther King fought against the segregated city beaches and businesses in town, and St. Augustine?s black residents led the struggle to overturn the racist establishment.

The turning point occurred when the owner of a small motel, overcome with anger when black and white protesters started using his swimming pool, poured acid into the pool, symbolizing a hatred that knew no bounds. Photographs of that horrific incident were shown around the world. Shortly thereafter, helped by the publicity from St. Augustine, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted into law. And while the lives of St. Augustine?s residents were never the same, the lives of African-Americans all over America were changed for the better.

But to determine how much has truly changed, filmmaker Jeremy Dean goes back to his home town to document how history has effected today?s generation of black youth?a generation whose parents and grandparents fought to eliminate poverty, poor education and denial of justice. Juxtaposing images of the Civil Rights movement in St. Augustine, including the infamous swimming pool incident, with interviews of both past and current residents, Dare Not Walk Alone reminds us that the war of poverty, education and justice, is still ours to win.