CIRILO, A Legacy Untold

Plot

Born into poverty in Panama, Cirilo McSween’s journey is one of defiance, resilience, and triumph over systemic barriers. Against the backdrop of Jim Crow America, he confronts racism while pursuing the American Dream. From his arrival in the U.S. as an ambitious immigrant to his rise as a trailblazing entrepreneur and civil rights activist, McSween’s life stands as a testament to determination and community. Through tireless advocacy for equality and opportunity, he helped shape both Panama’s identity and Chicago’s civil rights movement. A confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a pioneering insurance executive, and a philanthropist empowering underserved communities, McSween’s story bridges nations and generations. CIRILO, A Legacy Untold illuminates a transformative figure whose legacy continues to inspire across the Americas.

Director: Justin O. Cooper

Cast: Cirilo McSween, Harry Belafonte, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Ann Nesby

Related Movies

• 
  One Step From Holiness (2019)

  ✗ Skip it

  Documentary

  A short doc. movie about Bono meeting with John Paul II.
• Wolverine: Devil of the North? (2001)

  ✗ Skip it

  Documentary
• 
  Night and Fog (1956)

  ✓ Watch it

  Documentary · History

  Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.
• 
  Stop Making Sense (1984)

  ✓ Watch it

  Documentary · Music

  A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
• 
  Shoah (1985)

  ✓ Watch it

  Documentary · History

  Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
• 
  Isle of Flowers (1989)

  ✓ Watch it

  Documentary

  A tomato is planted, harvested and sold at a supermarket, but it rots and ends up in the trash. But it doesn’t end there: Isle of Flowers follows it up until its real end, among animals, trash, women and children. And then the difference between tomatoes, pigs and human beings becomes clear.