The most inspiring moments in history are those sparked by ordinary folk. That's the case of the history that unfolds in "The Loving Story" (9 tonight, HBO), an inspiring documentary that tells the story of the couple who got interracial bans overturned in 16 states in the U.S.

It is the story of Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter; he was white, she was African-American and Native American. They married in Washington, D.C. in 1958, then returned to Virginia, their home state. There, they were jailed and then convicted of miscegenation. They were told that if they wanted to avoid a year-long jail sentence, they would have to leave the state and they could only return separately.