The
Better Hour: The Legacy of William Wilberforce
Sunday,
Oct. 26 at noon
This
engaging documentary, rich with content and commentary,
tells the remarkable story of social reformer William Wilberforce,
a leader in the British abolitionist movement of the early
19th century.
By
all accounts a brilliant politician, Wilberforce used his
position in Parliament to end the trans-Atlantic
slave
trade — a business that was key to the country’s
economic strength. He also launched 69 organizations for
the betterment of society. In Wilberforce, we see character
and a sense of justice for all joined together to bring
into the world what the English poet William Cowper described
as “the better hour.”
Once,
everyone knew the name William Wilberforce. Frederick Douglas
said, “Let
no man forget the name of William Wilberforce.” A
quarter century after Wilberforce’s
death, Abraham Lincoln said, “Every school boy knows
the name of William Wilberforce.” Yet few American
today understand why, or even know Wilberforce’s
name.
“This
film does an outstanding job of bringing into sharp focus
how the passion, persistence and actions of one man
changed the course of history and worked to rid the
world of the great evil of trafficking in human life,” says
Marshall Mitchell, vice chancellor of Wilberforce University,
the second oldest historic black college in the United
States.
 Wilberforce’s
compassion, self-discipline, and respect for others offer
lessons for a contemporary
audience on how
to change the world for the better — peacefully
and definitively. In the world of politics, William
Wilberforce’s
political career is a case study that not only merits
attention, but also can inspire others to see the
potential for great
good in a political life that is built on strength
of character rather than expediency.
Narrated
by Avery Brooks, The Better Hour features interviews
with leading authors, historians and public
figures from
the United Kingdom and the United States, including
the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams,
Wilberforce expert Kevin
Belmonte, historian James Walvin, Newton Scholar
Marylyn Rouse, Wilberforce University president,
former Congressman
Floyd Flake and author Eric Metaxas. |
