let your body be a witness

written and directed by
Robin Smith

edited by
Sharon Gillooly and Bob Kanner

motion graphics
Toni Jannelli

original music
Michael Josephs

produced in partnership with
Faith & Politics Institute

PLAY NOW
Come Walk in My Shoes provides a fresh, first-person perspective on the role young people played in non-violent protests that challenged segregation laws in the South and led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

The journey begins in Montgomery where an 18-year-old John Lewis first met Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and ends in Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge where the future congressman was brutally beaten, leading a march for the right to vote.
© Spider Martin

“

We’d tell people, ‘No weapons, no knives, no sticks. Bring yourself. Let your body be a witness.’

No one wanted to be chased by dogs. No one wanted to be beaten. No one wanted to be arrested and jailed. That was part of the price people had to pay to help liberate the South.
Honorable John R. Lewis (D-GA)
”
Come Walk In My Shoes was initially broadcast on WHUT Public Television in 2007 and distributed by American Public Television to PBS stations across the country from 2008-2012.

Funding was provided by:
  • The Chrysler Foundation and Daimler North America
  • Freddie Mac
  • Mortgage Insurance Companies of America
  • The Nathan Cummings Foundation
  • American Gaming Association
  • Wal-Mart Stores
  • Falk Foundation
  • Alisa and Walter Maher
  • Humanities Council of Washington DC
  • John & Rachel King Foundation
 

AWARDS and HONORS

  • Selected for presentation at 15 film festivals
  • Audience Award for Best Documentary, Charlotte Film Festival
  • Chris Award for Best in Humanities, Columbus International Film Festival
  • Special Jury Award, Reel Politics Film Festival (Alexandria, Virginia)
  • CINE Golden Eagle
  • Bronze Telly (TV Documentary)
  • Bronze Telly (Educational Film)