Black Like Me, released on May 20, 1964, was based on John Howard Griffin's book about his 1959 experience of medically darkening his skin to pass as a Black man in the South. Griffin offered an unflinching view of the Jim Crow South and hoped to destroy communication barriers between Blacks and whites by showing the oppressor what happens when he is oppressed. The book was a hit, selling 10 million copies. Directed by Carl Lerner and starring James Whitmore, the film was shot in secret under the working title No Man Walks Alone because the book's notorious reputation in the South and among white extremists raised fears of violence against the crew. The film opened to mixed reviews. The Baltimore Afro American, the longest running Black family-owned newspaper in the country, called it terrible, arguing that it dealt with segregation only on the surface and that stereotypes of Black people, despite obvious honest intentions, undermined it. While Southern whites reviled Griffin, he was propelled into the spotlight and gave more than 1,000 lectures as the Civil Rights Movement accelerated. He later felt awkward in the role of a white spokesman during the movement and began curtailing his speaking engagements, calling it absurd for a white man to presume to speak for Black people when they have superlative voices of their own.