Center designer Valerie Downes chats with actor Nick LaTour during his visit to the Center. Mighty Times includes her photographs of him and other narrators.

"Mighty Times still moves me every time I see it," said LaTour, whose stirring words on-screen lend the film dignity and authenticity.

The film is the fifth in a series of multimedia education kits produced by Teaching Tolerance and distributed free of charge to schools across the country. Since its release in October, Mighty Times has already reached over 15,000 schools and has garnered several prestigious awards, including an Academy Award nomination. The Center was informed in May that the film received the first place "Golden Camera" award from the U.S. International Film and Video Festival.

LaTour recently attended a screening of Mighty Times at a Boston film festival and described his experience there. "What was so moving was there were tears in the eyes of people all over the place. Next to me, people were sniffling," he said.

He noted that the group in Boston appreciated gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges facing African Americans in the South before and during the Civil Rights Movement, and particularly, what the black community in Montgomery did to make the bus boycott a success.

LaTour's observation has been echoed by viewers across the country, including Leslie Spears of Oklahoma City, who wrote: "I knew of the story [of the bus boycott] but I didn't really KNOW the story. Now I do."

His appearance in Mighty Times is certainly not LaTour's first brush with fame. His successful acting career has landed him roles in sitcoms such as "Seinfeld," "Married with Children," "Murder She Wrote" and "the Jamie Foxx Show." He has also appeared in several movies and on Broadway.

Growing up in Montgomery in the 1930s and '40s, LaTour says he knew he wanted to be an entertainer early on and cited famed singer Paul Robeson as his childhood idol.

"Dad wanted me to come back and be a lawyer because there was no black lawyer here at that time," he said. "When I announced I wanted to be a singer and actor like Paul Robeson, he forbid me to even talk about it, so I left."

At the age of 16, LaTour left Montgomery for New York and changed his name from E.D. Nixon Jr. to avoid disgracing his father. He planned to concentrate on singing but was offered a role in a play and poured his energy into acting.

The senior Nixon soon recognized his son's talent and the importance of his career. "He came to be proud of me, he supported me," LaTour said.

SPLC Report
June 2003