00:00:04.421 --> 00:00:07.341
-[beep]
-[glitchy audio]

00:00:07.341 --> 00:00:10.093
[man VO] Hold on 'til
they get themselves ready.

00:00:10.093 --> 00:00:13.597
[woman] And, uh, tell me
when you're ready, Rick.

00:00:17.518 --> 00:00:18.060
[Ernest VO] Okay.

00:00:18.060 --> 00:00:19.353
[man VO] I'm ready
when you all are.

00:00:19.353 --> 00:00:20.437
[man VO] Take it away.

00:00:20.437 --> 00:00:23.357
[man] If you could start
out by introducing yourself...

00:00:23.357 --> 00:00:24.524
-Mm-hm.
-[man] By name.

00:00:24.524 --> 00:00:26.860
Okay, I'm Ernest Withers,

00:00:26.860 --> 00:00:28.528
I'm a native of Memphis,

00:00:28.528 --> 00:00:30.030
I was born...

00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:34.117
here in Memphis in North
Manassas in my father's, uh,

00:00:34.117 --> 00:00:38.580
home house, which was
at 1062 North Manassas.

00:00:38.580 --> 00:00:40.457
♪sparse soulful music♪

00:00:40.457 --> 00:00:43.377
I was born on Manassas...

00:00:43.377 --> 00:00:44.461
raised on Manassas...

00:00:44.461 --> 00:00:46.255
[splash]

00:00:46.255 --> 00:00:49.258
baptized on Manassas...

00:00:49.258 --> 00:00:52.052
went to school on Manassas...

00:00:53.303 --> 00:00:55.389
so I'm
Manassas-born,

00:00:55.389 --> 00:00:57.557
Manassas-bred.

00:00:57.724 --> 00:01:01.561
When I die, they'll
say I'm Manassas-dead,

00:01:01.561 --> 00:01:03.063
I guess, you know.

00:01:03.063 --> 00:01:06.483
[planes buzzing]

00:01:07.609 --> 00:01:10.570
[man VO] America's first Negro
trainees are reviewed by their

00:01:10.570 --> 00:01:12.072
chief, Lieutenant...

00:01:12.072 --> 00:01:15.742
[Ernest VO] My career in
photography emerged in the

00:01:15.742 --> 00:01:20.747
military, where we were
soldiers in a segregated army.

00:01:20.789 --> 00:01:23.417
♪mellow guitar music♪

00:01:23.417 --> 00:01:26.753
After they learned that I
was there making pictures,

00:01:26.753 --> 00:01:31.049
and my Company Commander noticed
the track of white soldiers

00:01:31.049 --> 00:01:33.844
coming into my outfit,
and he said, "Gee,

00:01:33.844 --> 00:01:36.763
Withers, you had so many
white boys coming down here,

00:01:36.763 --> 00:01:39.349
I thought you were
running a whorehouse!"

00:01:39.349 --> 00:01:41.476
♪♪♪

00:01:41.476 --> 00:01:45.522
I came back to Memphis in '46.

00:01:46.356 --> 00:01:51.361
And my brother and I, we
were privy to get a GI loan

00:01:51.528 --> 00:01:53.155
and...

00:01:53.488 --> 00:01:55.615
feeling that I was
an entrepreneur,

00:01:55.615 --> 00:01:59.703
opened up a
neighborhood studio lab.

00:02:00.871 --> 00:02:05.709
I had a slogan,
"Pictures tell the story,"

00:02:05.709 --> 00:02:07.502
so I was just...

00:02:07.502 --> 00:02:11.506
automatically became
kind of a story-telling,

00:02:11.506 --> 00:02:14.134
picture-taking photographer.

00:02:14.134 --> 00:02:18.221
♪upbeat bluesy music♪

00:02:18.221 --> 00:02:22.184
[woman VO] Ernest Withers was
the photographic storyteller

00:02:22.184 --> 00:02:23.810
of Memphis.

00:02:24.144 --> 00:02:26.563
[man VO] What Ernest
Withers did was unprecedented.

00:02:26.563 --> 00:02:29.399
He photographed somewhere
between a million and

00:02:29.399 --> 00:02:31.193
two million pictures.

00:02:31.526 --> 00:02:34.821
Delighted, I am, to
be in Memphis tonight.

00:02:34.821 --> 00:02:37.324
[woman VO] Ernest Withers
chronicled landmark moments in

00:02:37.324 --> 00:02:38.909
the battle for civil rights.

00:02:38.909 --> 00:02:41.495
[man VO] Several thousand Negro
demonstrators are participating

00:02:41.495 --> 00:02:43.830
in the largest Civil Rights
demonstration ever

00:02:43.830 --> 00:02:45.332
in Memphis, Tennessee.

00:02:45.332 --> 00:02:46.333
[glass smashing]

00:02:46.333 --> 00:02:49.711
[man VO] There's complete
disorder on Beale Street.

00:02:49.836 --> 00:02:51.380
[woman VO] People were murdered
'cause they were just in the

00:02:51.380 --> 00:02:53.548
wrong place at the wrong time.

00:02:53.548 --> 00:02:56.593
And that "wrong place" meant
the Civil Rights Movement.

00:02:57.386 --> 00:03:01.014
[man VO] Ernest Withers
represented a treasure in the

00:03:01.014 --> 00:03:02.516
Black community.

00:03:02.516 --> 00:03:05.018
We knew somebody
was keeping a record.

00:03:05.018 --> 00:03:07.604
[man VO] There was kind of this
feeding frenzy of intelligence.

00:03:07.604 --> 00:03:09.940
They wanted a face,
they wanted a name,

00:03:09.940 --> 00:03:12.609
they wanted an address,
they wanted to know who their

00:03:12.609 --> 00:03:13.902
associates were.

00:03:13.902 --> 00:03:17.864
Daddy said, "Sometimes, you'll
find yourself in a position,

00:03:17.864 --> 00:03:20.909
having to do things to
take care of your family."

00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:24.413
Photographers like Ernest
Withers were telling the truth,

00:03:24.413 --> 00:03:27.290
and before Photoshop...

00:03:27.290 --> 00:03:29.209
cameras didn't lie.

00:03:29.209 --> 00:03:32.129
[man VO] Ernest treated
us like we were assets.

00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:33.088
"Wait a minute, hold.

00:03:33.088 --> 00:03:34.256
Smile."

00:03:34.256 --> 00:03:36.466
♪♪♪

00:03:36.466 --> 00:03:38.468
He shouldn't have
sold his soul...

00:03:38.468 --> 00:03:40.804
to a white man for a dollar.

00:03:40.804 --> 00:03:41.430
[camera snaps]

00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:42.431
♪♪♪

00:03:42.431 --> 00:03:44.933
[woman VO] I don't know
whether he was my friend....

00:03:44.933 --> 00:03:46.268
[camera snaps]

00:03:46.268 --> 00:03:47.978
or my enemy.

00:03:55.277 --> 00:04:00.282
♪mellow bluesy music♪

00:04:08.081 --> 00:04:10.083
Welcome to the
Withers Collection.

00:04:10.083 --> 00:04:12.002
My goodness...

00:04:12.002 --> 00:04:13.253
This is truly amazing!

00:04:13.253 --> 00:04:16.256
So when we first set it up,
it was all about the work that

00:04:16.256 --> 00:04:17.632
people were very familiar with.

00:04:17.632 --> 00:04:18.967
[Carl] Yes.

00:04:18.967 --> 00:04:22.929
As you go around, it captures
those historical moments,

00:04:22.929 --> 00:04:26.099
and each of the
storyboard goes more in depth.

00:04:26.099 --> 00:04:27.684
[Carl] Wow.

00:04:27.976 --> 00:04:30.103
[Courtney] Someone said, "You
gotta come see the collection."

00:04:30.103 --> 00:04:32.022
I said, "Who's Ernest Withers?"

00:04:32.022 --> 00:04:35.317
♪♪♪

00:04:35.317 --> 00:04:37.319
[Ernest VO] This is a
young Martin Luther King,

00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:39.988
the same day, at the
end of the first ride,

00:04:39.988 --> 00:04:43.492
as he stood
proudly in Montgomery.

00:04:44.951 --> 00:04:47.621
You see one, you say,
"Oh, this is the one."

00:04:47.621 --> 00:04:48.622
And then you see the
next one and you say,

00:04:48.622 --> 00:04:50.624
"Oh, no, I gotta have that one!"

00:04:50.624 --> 00:04:52.459
And before I knew it,
I was just so confused,

00:04:52.459 --> 00:04:55.212
and I was just spinning
around in circles and...

00:04:55.837 --> 00:04:57.464
This is my
favorite here already.

00:04:57.464 --> 00:04:58.715
With Kentucky
Fried Chicken in the--

00:04:58.715 --> 00:05:00.217
-[Rosalind] Yeah.
-[Courtney] Look at my man here.

00:05:00.217 --> 00:05:01.843
That's my shot.

00:05:01.843 --> 00:05:04.387
[Rosalind VO] This
was his briefcase!

00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:06.515
This is what he traveled with.

00:05:06.515 --> 00:05:07.641
[Carl] Isn't that something?

00:05:07.641 --> 00:05:08.350
[Rosalind] His own book.

00:05:08.350 --> 00:05:10.727
-So that was his travel kit?
-Yeah.

00:05:11.353 --> 00:05:15.023
[Ernest VO] This is the
briefcase of Martin Luther King.

00:05:15.023 --> 00:05:20.028
Martin left it with his book in
the room at the Lorraine Hotel

00:05:20.153 --> 00:05:23.198
the night of his assassination.

00:05:24.824 --> 00:05:29.496
There are two parts of his
coverage and journalistic work

00:05:29.496 --> 00:05:30.997
that really touched him --

00:05:30.997 --> 00:05:32.541
that was the
Emmett Till trial...

00:05:32.541 --> 00:05:33.500
[Carl] Mm.

00:05:33.500 --> 00:05:35.669
As well as the
assassination of Martin.

00:05:35.669 --> 00:05:36.711
-[Carl] Right.
-[Rosalind] Those two...

00:05:36.711 --> 00:05:37.504
Sure.

00:05:37.504 --> 00:05:39.506
-[Rosalind] I think were...
-Sure.

00:05:39.506 --> 00:05:42.509
The most important that he
would share with the public,

00:05:42.509 --> 00:05:42.842
so...

00:05:42.842 --> 00:05:44.761
[Carl] And both really,
like, groundbreaking images.

00:05:44.761 --> 00:05:47.180
-Yes.
-Tragic, tragic images.

00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:48.348
[Carl] Wow.

00:05:48.348 --> 00:05:52.352
♪sparse ominous music♪

00:05:52.352 --> 00:05:54.854
[Ernest VO] I worked
the Emmett Till trial

00:05:54.854 --> 00:05:56.856
in Sumner, Mississippi...

00:05:56.856 --> 00:05:58.358
[camera snaps]

00:05:58.358 --> 00:06:02.279
where a young African American
was murdered and tied with a

00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:06.032
cotton gin fan, and thrown
in the Tallahatchie River.

00:06:06.032 --> 00:06:11.037
♪♪♪

00:06:11.288 --> 00:06:15.875
The grand jury investigating
two white men for the kidnapping

00:06:15.875 --> 00:06:18.378
and murder of Emmett Till,

00:06:18.378 --> 00:06:22.549
the 14-year-old
Chicago schoolboy,

00:06:22.549 --> 00:06:25.218
resumed work at 1:15.

00:06:25.218 --> 00:06:25.969
[camera snaps]

00:06:25.969 --> 00:06:30.056
The man called the court to
order and made an address to

00:06:30.056 --> 00:06:34.227
them by saying, "We got 22 seats
over here for you white boys.

00:06:34.227 --> 00:06:37.439
We gonna have four seats
over here for you colored boys.

00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:39.482
We ain't gonna
mix 'em down here.

00:06:39.482 --> 00:06:42.235
We don't intend to mix 'em.

00:06:42.235 --> 00:06:45.405
And everybody in here
is gonna be searched."

00:06:45.405 --> 00:06:47.574
And then he searched us.

00:06:48.408 --> 00:06:51.244
This figure of Jim Crow
Law in Mississippi saying,

00:06:51.244 --> 00:06:53.913
"There are gonna be no
pictures taken during--

00:06:53.913 --> 00:06:55.790
during testimony."

00:06:56.249 --> 00:06:59.419
And Ernest is off in the side,

00:06:59.419 --> 00:07:03.131
where they put him and other
African-American journalists.

00:07:03.131 --> 00:07:04.841
♪♪♪

00:07:04.841 --> 00:07:07.594
[Ernest VO] I remember the
interrogation of Mose Wright,

00:07:07.594 --> 00:07:10.597
and one of the attorneys asked,

00:07:10.597 --> 00:07:15.602
"Do you know the man that came
that night to get Emmett Till

00:07:15.810 --> 00:07:17.354
out of your house?

00:07:17.354 --> 00:07:19.147
What happened?"

00:07:19.856 --> 00:07:22.275
He said, "There came
a rap on the door,

00:07:22.275 --> 00:07:24.527
and the man said, 'Uncle Mose?

00:07:24.527 --> 00:07:25.779
Uncle Mose?

00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:27.614
This is Mr. Bryant.

00:07:27.614 --> 00:07:31.493
We want that boy that did
that talk down in Money.'"

00:07:31.493 --> 00:07:35.121
And so he say he knew Mr. Bryant
because Mr. Bryant was his

00:07:35.121 --> 00:07:36.122
grocer man.

00:07:36.122 --> 00:07:38.291
And he said, "Can
you point him out?"

00:07:38.291 --> 00:07:40.043
And he got up and
pointed him out.

00:07:40.043 --> 00:07:43.463
When he pointed them out,
I got up and took that pic--

00:07:43.463 --> 00:07:44.464
took his picture.

00:07:44.464 --> 00:07:45.840
[camera snaps]

00:07:45.840 --> 00:07:47.133
♪♪♪

00:07:47.133 --> 00:07:48.802
If you see the
full, uncropped version,

00:07:48.802 --> 00:07:50.637
there's a white guy,

00:07:50.637 --> 00:07:53.640
and he appears to be
trying to block the picture,

00:07:53.640 --> 00:07:56.142
so Ernest shot
that under duress,

00:07:56.142 --> 00:07:58.645
at great risk,
and took, I think,

00:07:58.645 --> 00:08:00.522
one of the most
powerful pictures of the--

00:08:00.522 --> 00:08:01.690
of the whole movement.

00:08:01.690 --> 00:08:03.066
[camera snaps]

00:08:03.066 --> 00:08:03.733
♪♪♪

00:08:03.733 --> 00:08:07.487
[Ernest VO] I was the only
photographer in the courtroom

00:08:07.487 --> 00:08:12.492
that, when he pointed, took
Uncle Mose Wright's picture.

00:08:12.826 --> 00:08:14.536
♪♪♪

00:08:14.536 --> 00:08:17.914
You know, something doesn't
exist 'til it shows up in Jet...

00:08:17.914 --> 00:08:20.166
♪♪♪

00:08:20.166 --> 00:08:23.378
because the white
press wouldn't show it.

00:08:24.003 --> 00:08:27.215
And Ernest Withers
was one of the stringers

00:08:27.215 --> 00:08:28.842
for the Black press.

00:08:28.842 --> 00:08:31.678
♪smooth jazzy music♪

00:08:31.678 --> 00:08:35.682
Without the Black press,
without the Black radio,

00:08:35.682 --> 00:08:36.683
without...

00:08:36.683 --> 00:08:39.894
Black
photojournalists like Ernest,

00:08:39.894 --> 00:08:42.188
we couldn't have
kept the record.

00:08:42.188 --> 00:08:43.857
♪♪♪

00:08:43.857 --> 00:08:47.360
Some of the time, I can sit and
look at those pictures and--

00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.363
and cry; I feel sad.

00:08:50.363 --> 00:08:51.698
[camera snaps]

00:08:51.698 --> 00:08:53.867
♪♪♪

00:08:53.867 --> 00:08:56.619
And sometimes, I look at
them and I'm overjoyed...

00:08:56.619 --> 00:08:57.579
[camera snaps]

00:08:57.579 --> 00:08:59.873
at the some of the
things we overcame.

00:08:59.873 --> 00:09:04.627
So that was extremely
important to the movement.

00:09:07.881 --> 00:09:10.133
♪church organ♪

00:09:10.133 --> 00:09:15.138
♪people singing♪

00:09:19.809 --> 00:09:21.227
[Ernest Sawyer VO]
He would always,

00:09:21.227 --> 00:09:23.980
always tell me to be the best.

00:09:24.814 --> 00:09:28.401
And it was honestly his funeral
that really made everything kind

00:09:28.401 --> 00:09:30.904
of hit home for me...

00:09:30.904 --> 00:09:34.741
because at his
funeral, everybody,

00:09:34.741 --> 00:09:38.995
of all sorts of backgrounds,
all sang "Be the Best."

00:09:38.995 --> 00:09:43.917
♪♪♪

00:09:43.917 --> 00:09:46.586
That day of his funeral,

00:09:46.586 --> 00:09:49.422
we had two things that were
major that was happening

00:09:49.422 --> 00:09:51.424
in Memphis:

00:09:52.175 --> 00:09:56.179
the President of the United
States, Bush, was in town...

00:09:57.347 --> 00:09:59.933
and the funeral
of Ernest Withers.

00:09:59.933 --> 00:10:03.269
His photograph was
on the front page.

00:10:03.937 --> 00:10:06.606
The next day, a
friend of mine said,

00:10:06.606 --> 00:10:09.776
"Memphis didn't even know Bush
was in town because your father

00:10:09.776 --> 00:10:11.277
passed away."

00:10:11.277 --> 00:10:16.282
♪upbeat trumpet playing♪

00:10:18.952 --> 00:10:21.454
Memphis loved my father.

00:10:21.454 --> 00:10:24.165
♪♪♪

00:10:24.165 --> 00:10:28.837
They loved him as a person,
and they loved his contribution.

00:10:28.837 --> 00:10:33.842
♪♪♪

00:10:34.008 --> 00:10:36.678
But that changed...

00:10:36.678 --> 00:10:39.305
the day that...

00:10:39.848 --> 00:10:44.644
it was announced that my
father was an FBI alleged...

00:10:44.644 --> 00:10:46.312
informant.

00:10:46.312 --> 00:10:47.063
♪soft tense music♪

00:10:47.063 --> 00:10:51.317
Memphis Commercial Appeal calls
Withers a "super-informant."

00:10:51.317 --> 00:10:53.695
The famed Civil Rights
photographer appears to have

00:10:53.695 --> 00:10:57.240
also done double
duty for the FBI.

00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:01.828
When the FBI told me
that I was in some pictures

00:11:01.828 --> 00:11:03.538
that Ernest had taken,

00:11:03.538 --> 00:11:05.498
I didn't believe it.

00:11:05.498 --> 00:11:09.752
"Two photos taken
February 1968 of Rosetta Miller,

00:11:09.752 --> 00:11:13.172
employee of the US Civil
Rights Commission."

00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:15.508
That's me.

00:11:15.508 --> 00:11:18.094
[man VO] This man
betrayed the confidence of you,

00:11:18.094 --> 00:11:20.179
and Martin Luther King,
and all these leaders.

00:11:20.179 --> 00:11:22.599
Why wouldn't you expect
of him to say to you,

00:11:22.599 --> 00:11:24.767
"Andy, I'm working for the FBI?"

00:11:24.767 --> 00:11:25.894
It's like...

00:11:25.894 --> 00:11:29.397
you mean to tell me
this is what he was doing?

00:11:30.273 --> 00:11:33.693
[Rosetta VO] It never
dawned upon any of us.

00:11:33.693 --> 00:11:36.279
We just felt he
was taking pictures.

00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:38.698
Never thought about for who.

00:11:38.698 --> 00:11:41.075
[man VO] Withers was
also a paid snitch,

00:11:41.075 --> 00:11:44.037
selling information and
photographs to the Feds.

00:11:44.037 --> 00:11:44.704
One entry:

00:11:44.704 --> 00:11:47.707
"Dr. King checked into
the Lorraine Motel prior to

00:11:47.707 --> 00:11:49.792
going to a strategy meeting."

00:11:49.792 --> 00:11:52.378
♪♪♪

00:11:52.378 --> 00:11:55.757
[Marc VO] An FBI
agent who I interviewed

00:11:55.757 --> 00:11:57.717
told me about Ernest Withers.

00:11:57.717 --> 00:11:59.218
♪♪♪

00:11:59.218 --> 00:12:01.554
-[man] Second sticks.
-[clap]

00:12:02.055 --> 00:12:05.099
He said that, uh,
Ernest had been an informant,

00:12:05.099 --> 00:12:07.644
had been part of this.

00:12:07.644 --> 00:12:12.148
He said that any time that
anybody of any importance in the

00:12:12.148 --> 00:12:14.776
movement came to
town, Ernest was there,

00:12:14.776 --> 00:12:16.110
he would get pictures,

00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:18.905
he would give them
oral intelligence

00:12:18.905 --> 00:12:21.074
about what they were doing.

00:12:21.074 --> 00:12:23.743
He referred to him as
"a good informant."

00:12:23.743 --> 00:12:26.746
He was a very reliable, very
affable guy is what he said;

00:12:26.746 --> 00:12:28.915
"a real nice guy."

00:12:28.957 --> 00:12:31.417
And he had this
source symbol number;

00:12:31.417 --> 00:12:34.671
he was ME 338-R.

00:12:36.255 --> 00:12:39.509
[Avery VO] ME 338 dash R.

00:12:39.509 --> 00:12:43.805
"ME" means "Memphis" -- the
first two letters of "Memphis."

00:12:43.805 --> 00:12:46.933
"338" would be his
particular specific number,

00:12:46.933 --> 00:12:48.935
for him alone...

00:12:50.269 --> 00:12:54.983
which, to me, would indicate
there were 337 prior informants

00:12:54.983 --> 00:12:56.192
to him.

00:12:56.192 --> 00:12:59.278
The "dash R" means "racial."

00:12:59.278 --> 00:13:01.364
♪♪♪

00:13:01.364 --> 00:13:06.369
"On 10/3/68, ME 338-R(Ghetto)

00:13:06.494 --> 00:13:09.789
advised that recently,
the controversial Negro,

00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:14.794
Rosetta Miller of the US Civil
Rights Commission in Memphis,

00:13:14.794 --> 00:13:18.339
married a teacher at
Hamilton High School...

00:13:18.339 --> 00:13:20.508
who was from Pittsburgh.

00:13:20.508 --> 00:13:23.469
The marriage
lasted only one week.

00:13:23.469 --> 00:13:27.348
Miller has since left
town, either quitting her job

00:13:27.348 --> 00:13:30.643
[chuckling] or being transferred
to another location."

00:13:30.643 --> 00:13:32.061
Wow.

00:13:32.061 --> 00:13:36.983
I-- I left town, either quitting
my job or being transferred...

00:13:36.983 --> 00:13:39.485
This is so crazy.

00:13:40.194 --> 00:13:42.321
♪sparse tense music♪

00:13:42.321 --> 00:13:44.490
Memphis, at that
time, was a very,

00:13:44.490 --> 00:13:48.703
very racist city, and
during the Movement,

00:13:48.703 --> 00:13:50.329
I was a government official;

00:13:50.329 --> 00:13:52.832
I was the field investigator
with the US Commission

00:13:52.832 --> 00:13:54.542
on Civil Rights,

00:13:54.542 --> 00:13:58.755
and we had to know what was
happening in the Black community

00:13:58.755 --> 00:14:02.550
and how were
Blacks being treated,

00:14:02.550 --> 00:14:04.844
and by whom.

00:14:05.011 --> 00:14:07.680
And that was my job.

00:14:08.681 --> 00:14:11.893
I was everywhere, and...

00:14:11.893 --> 00:14:13.853
Ernest was everywhere.

00:14:13.853 --> 00:14:17.732
♪♪♪

00:14:17.732 --> 00:14:21.903
[man VO] This is
Memphis, a city of 600,000.

00:14:21.903 --> 00:14:23.738
It's a modern metropolis,

00:14:23.738 --> 00:14:26.449
but it flies the flags
of the old South.

00:14:26.449 --> 00:14:31.037
♪♪♪

00:14:31.037 --> 00:14:34.123
[Rev. Lowery VO] We used to say
that Memphis is the biggest town

00:14:34.123 --> 00:14:35.792
in Mississippi.

00:14:35.792 --> 00:14:39.921
It was in Tennessee, but it
was really in Mississippi.

00:14:39.921 --> 00:14:43.049
Memphis was a tough, mean...

00:14:43.049 --> 00:14:44.717
cracker town.

00:14:44.717 --> 00:14:48.221
Violence was order of the day.

00:14:48.221 --> 00:14:50.139
We knew that...

00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:55.144
police officials wore
blue uniforms by day,

00:14:56.938 --> 00:14:59.565
but they wore
white sheets at night.

00:14:59.565 --> 00:15:04.403
♪♪♪

00:15:04.403 --> 00:15:06.656
Every week or two,

00:15:06.656 --> 00:15:10.493
some Black person would
be beaten up or killed...

00:15:10.493 --> 00:15:12.411
by the police.

00:15:12.745 --> 00:15:17.625
Finally, the city decided to
hire Black police officers.

00:15:18.167 --> 00:15:22.755
Dad came back from the war,
and there was a call out

00:15:22.755 --> 00:15:25.967
for African-American
policemen...

00:15:25.967 --> 00:15:28.845
to police
African-American communities,

00:15:28.845 --> 00:15:33.641
so that brought about the
original nine Black police.

00:15:35.101 --> 00:15:38.688
[Ernest VO] When we came to
work as Black police officers in

00:15:38.688 --> 00:15:42.191
Memphis, there wasn't a
Black policeman at all,

00:15:42.191 --> 00:15:46.154
so we were really a
pride of this solid South;

00:15:46.154 --> 00:15:47.446
we were the pride of Dixie.

00:15:47.446 --> 00:15:48.948
I mean...

00:15:48.948 --> 00:15:52.618
people came by the
hundreds to Beale Street

00:15:52.618 --> 00:15:54.036
to just look at us.

00:15:54.036 --> 00:15:57.123
♪sparse tense music♪

00:15:57.123 --> 00:15:59.333
[Capt. Williams VO] For the
first several years as Black

00:15:59.333 --> 00:16:04.338
policemen, we were not
allowed to arrest white people.

00:16:04.463 --> 00:16:08.009
We would hold them until the
white officers came to pick them

00:16:08.009 --> 00:16:12.638
up, and that was a tough
situation because we ourselves

00:16:12.638 --> 00:16:14.307
did not feel...

00:16:14.307 --> 00:16:16.559
that we were real
police officers.

00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.395
♪♪♪

00:16:19.395 --> 00:16:23.983
At that time, you had to be a
peculiar kind of Black guy to be

00:16:23.983 --> 00:16:28.196
a police officer, because you
had to exercise authority in the

00:16:28.196 --> 00:16:29.822
Black community,

00:16:29.822 --> 00:16:32.825
and that authority
came from a source...

00:16:32.825 --> 00:16:36.370
that the Black
community did not respect,

00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:41.083
because they were abused
by-- by white officers.

00:16:41.918 --> 00:16:44.337
[Ernest VO] I remembered
going into the police station

00:16:44.337 --> 00:16:45.379
one night.

00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:49.759
Our lieutenant had asked us
to pick up a Christmas tree

00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.178
and bring it to him
when we got off.

00:16:52.178 --> 00:16:54.889
And when he see us
coming in the door,

00:16:54.889 --> 00:16:58.226
he was sitting up on the
countertop with five or six

00:16:58.226 --> 00:17:01.062
white kids, and
he starts singing,

00:17:01.062 --> 00:17:03.022
"Oh!

00:17:03.064 --> 00:17:06.692
[singing] ♪Here
come my little old♪

00:17:06.692 --> 00:17:09.528
♪Nigger police♪

00:17:09.528 --> 00:17:12.782
♪With me a Christmas tree♪"

00:17:12.782 --> 00:17:15.076
It was just...
[laughs]

00:17:15.076 --> 00:17:17.453
his nasty way of...

00:17:17.453 --> 00:17:20.915
of expressing himself about

00:17:20.915 --> 00:17:22.291
myself and my partner,

00:17:22.291 --> 00:17:24.085
but, you know...

00:17:24.085 --> 00:17:26.545
♪melancholy music♪

00:17:26.545 --> 00:17:29.715
The police oversaw brothels,

00:17:29.715 --> 00:17:31.884
the police oversaw bootlegging,

00:17:31.884 --> 00:17:33.761
the police
supervised gambling,

00:17:33.761 --> 00:17:35.304
and, of course,
they took a cut.

00:17:35.304 --> 00:17:38.057
That's just the way that
the police ran in this city.

00:17:38.057 --> 00:17:40.935
And so, Withers
was part of that,

00:17:40.935 --> 00:17:43.145
and being on Beale Street,
which was the center of vice,

00:17:43.145 --> 00:17:46.899
there was a lot of that
kind of activity available.

00:17:46.899 --> 00:17:51.904
And Withers was caught in
the act of dividing proceeds

00:17:51.988 --> 00:17:55.491
from bootlegged whiskey;
that's what the record said.

00:17:55.491 --> 00:17:58.953
What Withers said is
that he was set up.

00:17:59.328 --> 00:18:01.414
[Capt. Williams VO] The police
department decided to relieve

00:18:01.414 --> 00:18:03.249
him of duty.

00:18:04.917 --> 00:18:06.752
We all make bad choices...

00:18:06.752 --> 00:18:08.254
sometimes.

00:18:08.254 --> 00:18:09.922
♪♪♪

00:18:09.922 --> 00:18:12.842
And before he left
the police department,

00:18:12.842 --> 00:18:16.596
he made a lot of pictures of the
neighborhood and the area down

00:18:16.596 --> 00:18:17.680
where we worked.

00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:18.973
[camera snaps]

00:18:18.973 --> 00:18:23.978
♪♪♪

00:18:35.448 --> 00:18:38.868
Withers knew
the dark side

00:18:38.868 --> 00:18:42.288
of being Black...

00:18:42.288 --> 00:18:45.958
in a southern city like Memphis.

00:18:47.668 --> 00:18:50.046
He could navigate...

00:18:50.046 --> 00:18:53.466
through different segments...

00:18:53.466 --> 00:18:55.468
of a society.

00:18:56.135 --> 00:18:58.804
The camera was a passport.

00:18:58.804 --> 00:19:01.640
His camera opened doors
the average person couldn't

00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:03.642
go through.

00:19:04.143 --> 00:19:09.148
♪upbeat bluesy music♪

00:19:14.987 --> 00:19:16.822
[woman VO] He knew
all the musicians,

00:19:16.822 --> 00:19:18.240
he knew all the clubs.

00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:22.036
You can see
entertainers on Beale Street,

00:19:22.036 --> 00:19:25.831
you can see people at the
Goodwill and Starlite Revue.

00:19:25.831 --> 00:19:30.544
♪♪♪

00:19:30.544 --> 00:19:34.840
He's got this fantastic shot of
BB King wearing Bermuda shorts

00:19:34.840 --> 00:19:37.510
that I just love, and...

00:19:37.510 --> 00:19:40.096
no one else has
any of those images.

00:19:40.513 --> 00:19:44.683
He's got early shots
of Ike and Tina Turner,

00:19:44.683 --> 00:19:47.061
of Rufus and Carla Thomas.

00:19:47.061 --> 00:19:48.020
[camera snaps]

00:19:48.020 --> 00:19:50.773
And they're priceless;
they're just remarkable.

00:19:50.773 --> 00:19:51.899
♪♪♪

00:19:51.899 --> 00:19:53.734
He took pictures of everything.

00:19:53.734 --> 00:19:56.529
He probably has a picture of
everybody who was anybody.

00:19:56.529 --> 00:19:58.030
[chuckles] He even
took a picture of me,

00:19:58.030 --> 00:20:00.032
and I was saying, "Mr. Withers,
why'd you take that picture

00:20:00.032 --> 00:20:01.200
of me?!
I look so funny!"

00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.285
When I was 14 years old.
[laughs]

00:20:03.285 --> 00:20:05.371
He said, "At least you
got a picture with Elvis.

00:20:05.371 --> 00:20:07.748
At least Elvis is in
the picture, right?"

00:20:07.748 --> 00:20:09.291
♪Baby♪

00:20:09.291 --> 00:20:11.794
♪Oh, baby...♪

00:20:11.794 --> 00:20:14.380
Mr. Withers took those pictures.

00:20:16.215 --> 00:20:17.925
[singing] ♪Baby♪

00:20:17.925 --> 00:20:19.969
♪Oh, baby♪

00:20:19.969 --> 00:20:24.598
♪I love to call you baby♪

00:20:25.266 --> 00:20:26.600
That's enough, I think.

00:20:26.600 --> 00:20:28.227
[laughs]

00:20:28.227 --> 00:20:32.940
♪You make wrong
things right...♪

00:20:33.232 --> 00:20:35.484
[David VO] The shots that
Ernest had for Carla Thomas,

00:20:35.484 --> 00:20:38.237
he was probably the only
one that was getting them.

00:20:38.946 --> 00:20:41.407
How the hell did he know
that Isaac Hayes would be

00:20:41.407 --> 00:20:43.242
Isaac Hayes?

00:20:43.742 --> 00:20:46.245
Or David Porter
would be David Porter?

00:20:46.245 --> 00:20:47.329
Or any of that?

00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:49.331
We certainly were not stars.

00:20:49.331 --> 00:20:51.917
And who would be
around taking pictures?

00:20:51.917 --> 00:20:53.252
[laughs]

00:20:53.252 --> 00:20:58.257
♪uptempo jazzy music♪

00:20:59.425 --> 00:21:02.803
[Michael VO] Just imagine a
darkened club on Beale Street.

00:21:02.803 --> 00:21:04.847
It's heavy in smoke,
and there's loud music,

00:21:04.847 --> 00:21:08.100
and there's raucous
laughter and fun going on.

00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:10.644
And he's navigating the
crowd and he approaches a table.

00:21:10.644 --> 00:21:13.272
♪♪♪

00:21:13.272 --> 00:21:14.648
And he's got this
tremendous flash,

00:21:14.648 --> 00:21:16.942
and he's waiting for
that moment to happen

00:21:16.942 --> 00:21:20.696
of the husband leaning over
or the boyfriend leaning over

00:21:20.696 --> 00:21:22.448
for the kiss,
and then -- boom --

00:21:22.448 --> 00:21:25.951
this tremendous flash goes off
and he captures this moment.

00:21:25.951 --> 00:21:27.661
♪♪♪

00:21:27.661 --> 00:21:29.872
He used a 22 bulb,

00:21:29.872 --> 00:21:31.999
which is a single flash bulb.

00:21:31.999 --> 00:21:35.127
He tended to approach
his subjects straight on,

00:21:35.127 --> 00:21:37.880
which gave you a
very high contrast,

00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:40.216
and very clear shadows.

00:21:40.216 --> 00:21:43.844
It tended to be a
4x5, so a view camera,

00:21:43.844 --> 00:21:46.847
which you had to hold still,
the subject had to be still.

00:21:46.847 --> 00:21:50.518
♪♪♪

00:21:50.518 --> 00:21:53.395
Ernest was out
hustling all the time,

00:21:53.395 --> 00:21:56.899
whether it was a
marriage or a funeral.

00:21:56.899 --> 00:22:00.528
It was five to ten dollars a go.

00:22:00.528 --> 00:22:02.238
[camera snaps]

00:22:04.073 --> 00:22:06.867
♪sparse mellow music♪

00:22:06.867 --> 00:22:10.663
[Debra VO] He literally had
jobs from sun up to sun down.

00:22:11.163 --> 00:22:12.748
[camera snaps]

00:22:12.748 --> 00:22:15.000
In this photograph

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.003
that Mr. Withers took of me

00:22:18.003 --> 00:22:19.338
for my first communion,

00:22:19.338 --> 00:22:23.842
I am sound asleep, because he
had come so late at night --

00:22:23.842 --> 00:22:25.761
10 o'clock --
and they dressed me,

00:22:25.761 --> 00:22:27.930
but I wasn't awake yet.

00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:31.267
I'm sound asleep, on my feet.

00:22:31.684 --> 00:22:34.520
We never saw this
photograph growing up.

00:22:34.520 --> 00:22:37.773
The one that he gave
our parents was...

00:22:37.773 --> 00:22:39.942
I was smiling
and praying --

00:22:39.942 --> 00:22:42.236
you know,
pretending to pray --

00:22:42.236 --> 00:22:43.737
beautifully.

00:22:43.737 --> 00:22:46.699
I don't ever remember going to a
public occasion that he wasn't

00:22:46.699 --> 00:22:48.200
photographing.

00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:50.744
He was the
chronicler of our community.

00:22:50.744 --> 00:22:55.749
♪mellow tender music♪

00:22:56.083 --> 00:22:58.919
I would go with my
dad, and, you know,

00:22:58.919 --> 00:23:02.381
he made, like, a lot of
Memphis lifestyle pictures.

00:23:02.381 --> 00:23:04.133
♪♪♪

00:23:04.133 --> 00:23:06.302
I'd go with him to weddings
where he'd take pictures,

00:23:06.302 --> 00:23:08.053
and I got all these
cameras and stuff,

00:23:08.053 --> 00:23:09.930
and I would be so hungry.

00:23:09.930 --> 00:23:11.724
And we're at this
wedding reception,

00:23:11.724 --> 00:23:13.892
and I said, [whispering]
"Daddy, are we gonna eat?"

00:23:13.892 --> 00:23:14.935
"No, we're not gonna eat!

00:23:14.935 --> 00:23:15.936
I'm at work!

00:23:15.936 --> 00:23:16.812
I'm not finished!

00:23:16.812 --> 00:23:17.479
Stop the..."

00:23:17.479 --> 00:23:20.065
He was adamant about that.

00:23:20.065 --> 00:23:21.400
"You are not here to eat.

00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:23.402
We are here-- I am on a job."

00:23:23.402 --> 00:23:24.653
I said, "Okay."

00:23:24.653 --> 00:23:29.658
♪♪♪

00:23:29.950 --> 00:23:32.786
Ernest supported
a lot of children.

00:23:33.412 --> 00:23:35.289
He was a family man.

00:23:35.289 --> 00:23:39.084
He was our family photographer
when we originally met.

00:23:39.084 --> 00:23:42.504
♪♪♪

00:23:42.504 --> 00:23:45.591
I always talk
about having a...

00:23:45.591 --> 00:23:49.678
mom and pop-type
operation in that I was a

00:23:49.678 --> 00:23:51.430
single-family operation.

00:23:51.430 --> 00:23:53.182
♪soft mellow music♪

00:23:53.182 --> 00:23:56.935
[Rosalind VO] Dad and my
mother, they became a team.

00:23:56.935 --> 00:24:00.522
Dad would take the pictures, and
they would develop the photos

00:24:00.522 --> 00:24:02.524
in our home.

00:24:03.275 --> 00:24:06.945
I can still smell the
chemical from them making that

00:24:06.945 --> 00:24:08.614
development of film.

00:24:08.614 --> 00:24:12.660
His only dark room
was their bathroom.

00:24:12.660 --> 00:24:16.121
They would get the
kids all settled and...

00:24:16.121 --> 00:24:17.456
comfortable,

00:24:17.456 --> 00:24:22.461
and then Ernest would convert
the bathroom into a darkroom.

00:24:22.503 --> 00:24:26.382
He had a dark cloth that he
hung over the little window,

00:24:26.382 --> 00:24:29.551
and he had a small enlarger,

00:24:29.551 --> 00:24:34.139
and he had his trays
and his washing system

00:24:34.139 --> 00:24:36.308
in the bathtub.

00:24:37.518 --> 00:24:40.229
[Rosalind VO] My mom would
actually take the film that he

00:24:40.229 --> 00:24:44.233
had developed in the tub,
and put that in the oven,

00:24:44.233 --> 00:24:47.653
and heat it, and that's
how they dried the photos.

00:24:47.653 --> 00:24:50.030
And at that time, they
had a little ferrotype

00:24:50.030 --> 00:24:53.492
plate that you would
dry your pictures on,

00:24:53.492 --> 00:24:57.913
and I could put about 15 or
20 small pictures on there,

00:24:57.913 --> 00:25:02.251
put 'em in the oven, and
every one that I would dry,

00:25:02.251 --> 00:25:06.714
I'm thinking that we gonna get
some money for every one of 'em.

00:25:06.714 --> 00:25:09.258
A dollar, dollar and a half.

00:25:09.258 --> 00:25:12.886
And I'm planning my
budget from those pictures.

00:25:12.886 --> 00:25:15.514
♪♪♪

00:25:15.514 --> 00:25:18.726
My mom would
count the photographs,

00:25:18.726 --> 00:25:21.687
and send my dad off to the
stadium the next day and tell

00:25:21.687 --> 00:25:23.856
him how much he
needed to bring back.

00:25:23.856 --> 00:25:26.859
[crowd cheering]

00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:27.901
[Daniel VO] In
segregated Memphis,

00:25:27.901 --> 00:25:31.739
there weren't that many places
that gathered a lot of people.

00:25:31.739 --> 00:25:35.367
There was church, and there
was the Black baseball league,

00:25:35.367 --> 00:25:38.871
'cause they had the
Negro League stadium there.

00:25:38.912 --> 00:25:42.958
And it was-- you know, it was
a major business in Memphis,

00:25:42.958 --> 00:25:47.963
and it meant that his customers
were gathered en masse there.

00:25:48.213 --> 00:25:53.218
♪upbeat bluesy music♪

00:25:53.802 --> 00:25:57.806
Usually, those parks where
those Negro League teams played,

00:25:57.806 --> 00:26:00.309
they were all packed, 'cause
there wasn't a whole lot to do

00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:04.480
at that time, and so a lot of
it congregated around baseball

00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:05.939
during the summer.

00:26:05.939 --> 00:26:08.275
♪♪♪

00:26:08.275 --> 00:26:11.403
You didn't see Ernest Withers
unless you saw his camera.

00:26:11.403 --> 00:26:13.405
You know, he was
almost like a cowboy then;

00:26:13.405 --> 00:26:15.574
you know, if you didn't see
him with that [chuckling]

00:26:15.574 --> 00:26:17.409
pistol on the side...
[chuckles]

00:26:17.409 --> 00:26:19.620
He always had his camera.

00:26:19.620 --> 00:26:21.121
♪♪♪

00:26:21.121 --> 00:26:22.623
[man VO] And he
even said, you know,

00:26:22.623 --> 00:26:25.292
he loved baseball, but you
couldn't get too involved

00:26:25.292 --> 00:26:28.337
with it; you were there
to take photographs.

00:26:28.337 --> 00:26:30.506
And the photographs had to be
turned into money if they were

00:26:30.506 --> 00:26:33.509
to be any good to him.

00:26:39.431 --> 00:26:43.185
[slides clicking]

00:26:43.185 --> 00:26:48.190
♪sparse ominous music♪

00:26:54.488 --> 00:26:57.449
[Ernest VO] These
are Tent City families.

00:26:57.449 --> 00:27:02.454
♪♪♪

00:27:03.831 --> 00:27:06.667
[man VO] A makeshift city of
tents has sprung up on a farm in

00:27:06.667 --> 00:27:08.544
Fayette County, Tennessee.

00:27:08.544 --> 00:27:11.171
It's the new home of
Negro sharecroppers and their

00:27:11.171 --> 00:27:14.550
families, who were evicted
for registering to vote.

00:27:14.550 --> 00:27:17.678
Their former
landlords deny this claim.

00:27:17.678 --> 00:27:21.139
Over 100 children are
among the displaced.

00:27:21.139 --> 00:27:24.810
♪♪♪

00:27:24.810 --> 00:27:29.731
The farmers and the landowners
of Fayette County knew that the

00:27:29.731 --> 00:27:33.235
Black population was bigger
than the white population,

00:27:33.235 --> 00:27:34.820
and they resented that,

00:27:34.820 --> 00:27:38.323
and they threatened them by
saying that if you registered

00:27:38.323 --> 00:27:41.159
to vote,
we'd put you off the farm.

00:27:41.159 --> 00:27:43.495
♪♪♪

00:27:43.495 --> 00:27:48.500
Memphis was about 40
miles from Fayette County,

00:27:48.584 --> 00:27:53.255
and that area was one of
the first areas where white

00:27:53.255 --> 00:27:58.176
landowners were putting Black
families off of their land,

00:27:58.176 --> 00:28:02.514
and Dr. Withers was one of
the first people to be there,

00:28:02.514 --> 00:28:05.434
get their
stories, take pictures,

00:28:05.434 --> 00:28:09.438
and those pictures
went to people who...

00:28:09.438 --> 00:28:11.273
didn't even understand.

00:28:11.273 --> 00:28:14.735
♪soft tense music♪

00:28:14.735 --> 00:28:17.863
[Ernest VO] I was there to make
pictures and deliver them to the

00:28:17.863 --> 00:28:19.573
Negro newspapers.

00:28:19.573 --> 00:28:24.578
♪♪♪

00:28:26.538 --> 00:28:29.917
This is a young lady in Fayette
County that was showing her

00:28:29.917 --> 00:28:33.795
voter registration card after
she had gotten permission

00:28:33.795 --> 00:28:35.213
to vote.

00:28:35.213 --> 00:28:37.299
♪♪♪

00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:40.469
Tent City was also when Withers
became increasingly involved

00:28:40.469 --> 00:28:42.763
with the FBI.

00:28:42.930 --> 00:28:47.601
He had seen -- in Tent City, in
particular -- how local people,

00:28:47.601 --> 00:28:50.395
who understood what was going
on in their community and based

00:28:50.395 --> 00:28:52.606
their protests accordingly,

00:28:52.606 --> 00:28:55.984
could get all mixed up and
derailed when well-meaning

00:28:55.984 --> 00:28:58.904
outside people
came in to assist,

00:28:58.904 --> 00:29:02.449
and he turned over
photographs of some of the

00:29:02.449 --> 00:29:05.243
activists in Tent City
to the racial agent

00:29:05.243 --> 00:29:06.912
in the Memphis office.

00:29:06.912 --> 00:29:09.498
♪♪♪

00:29:09.498 --> 00:29:12.417
[men] I will support and
defend the Constitution

00:29:12.417 --> 00:29:14.252
of the United States...

00:29:14.252 --> 00:29:18.131
against enemies
foreign and domestic.

00:29:18.131 --> 00:29:22.427
The Communists in this country
have organized to infiltrate

00:29:22.427 --> 00:29:26.306
into the racial discord and
discontent in the country.

00:29:26.306 --> 00:29:27.641
♪soft tense music♪

00:29:27.641 --> 00:29:30.435
[Marc VO] One of the
big things to the FBI was

00:29:30.435 --> 00:29:32.145
identifying people.

00:29:32.145 --> 00:29:35.023
They wanted a face, a picture
they could put in a file,

00:29:35.023 --> 00:29:37.776
they wanted a name,
they wanted a occupation,

00:29:37.776 --> 00:29:41.113
they wanted a address,
they wanted to know who their

00:29:41.113 --> 00:29:43.031
associates were.

00:29:43.448 --> 00:29:46.785
There was kind of this-- this
feeding frenzy of intelligence

00:29:46.785 --> 00:29:49.121
here to try and figure
out what's going on.

00:29:49.121 --> 00:29:52.457
♪♪♪

00:29:52.457 --> 00:29:55.460
[Avery VO] He was a reporter.

00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:58.797
His job was to talk to
people, find out who they are,

00:29:58.797 --> 00:30:00.048
take notes,

00:30:00.048 --> 00:30:03.135
"Hey, if I need to give you
a call back, can I do that?"

00:30:03.135 --> 00:30:04.803
You know.

00:30:04.970 --> 00:30:08.223
You have to remember that
this was during the Cold War.

00:30:08.223 --> 00:30:13.228
We became knowledgable of the
activities of the Soviet Union

00:30:13.353 --> 00:30:18.316
attempting to
infiltrate and give direction...

00:30:18.316 --> 00:30:21.153
to the leaders of these groups.

00:30:21.153 --> 00:30:24.740
[birds chirping]

00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:27.701
[indistinct chatter]

00:30:27.701 --> 00:30:31.830
Mr. Chairman, one of the FBI
agents extensively involved in

00:30:31.830 --> 00:30:36.334
Memphis in 1968 is
William Lawrence.

00:30:36.334 --> 00:30:39.212
Mr. Lawrence was assigned
to the Memphis field office

00:30:39.212 --> 00:30:40.255
as a case agent.

00:30:40.255 --> 00:30:43.008
[man] Stand, raise your
right hand, and be sworn.

00:30:43.008 --> 00:30:44.676
Do you solemnly swear the
testimony you will give before

00:30:44.676 --> 00:30:46.678
this committee is the
truth, the whole truth,

00:30:46.678 --> 00:30:48.263
and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?

00:30:48.263 --> 00:30:49.056
I do.

00:30:49.056 --> 00:30:50.432
[man] Thank you.

00:30:50.432 --> 00:30:53.351
[man] Mr. Lawrence, will you
state your full name, please?

00:30:54.227 --> 00:30:56.772
William H. Lawrence.

00:30:58.023 --> 00:31:00.525
Sir, did you personally
handle the racial informants

00:31:00.525 --> 00:31:01.902
in Memphis?

00:31:01.902 --> 00:31:03.737
I did.

00:31:04.112 --> 00:31:09.117
We don't know how FBI
Agent Lawrence pitched Withers,

00:31:09.117 --> 00:31:12.913
but one avenue of
approach would have been:

00:31:12.913 --> 00:31:15.707
"Now, Mr. Withers...

00:31:15.707 --> 00:31:20.128
you people are well within your
rights to fight for equality

00:31:20.128 --> 00:31:22.881
in this country, but...

00:31:22.881 --> 00:31:25.550
you don't want Communists...

00:31:25.550 --> 00:31:28.470
in your movement, because if
there are Communists in your

00:31:28.470 --> 00:31:31.389
movement, we will crush you.

00:31:32.057 --> 00:31:34.392
So you can help your people...

00:31:34.392 --> 00:31:36.645
by helping us."

00:31:38.563 --> 00:31:40.565
[man] What were the nature
of your duties while you were

00:31:40.565 --> 00:31:41.775
assigned to Memphis?

00:31:41.775 --> 00:31:43.318
I investigated
criminal matters,

00:31:43.318 --> 00:31:46.154
applicant matters,
Civil Rights matters,

00:31:46.154 --> 00:31:49.407
investigating
activities such as Communism.

00:31:49.407 --> 00:31:52.911
And then, with the advent
and development of the, uh,

00:31:52.911 --> 00:31:55.330
Black Nationalist
groups, uh,

00:31:55.330 --> 00:31:58.250
I spent considerable
time on what we would call,

00:31:58.250 --> 00:32:03.255
uh, the "racial aspects
of internal security."

00:32:03.964 --> 00:32:06.591
If I'm an FBI agent,

00:32:06.591 --> 00:32:09.761
and I recruit a man

00:32:09.761 --> 00:32:13.098
who has insight into
the Civil Rights movement,

00:32:13.098 --> 00:32:15.016
who can get
me photographs,

00:32:15.016 --> 00:32:16.768
who can get me interviews,

00:32:16.768 --> 00:32:20.021
who can put me inside...

00:32:20.021 --> 00:32:22.440
a meeting,

00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:24.317
I'm golden.

00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:27.529
[Betty VO] I think Ernest
Withers was the first Black

00:32:27.529 --> 00:32:30.448
person to come into our house.

00:32:30.657 --> 00:32:32.784
He was there to take
a family portrait.

00:32:32.784 --> 00:32:34.202
[camera snaps]

00:32:34.202 --> 00:32:38.290
It was unusual for Mr.
Withers to use color film,

00:32:38.290 --> 00:32:41.793
but I'm pretty sure that
Daddy asked for colored film,

00:32:41.793 --> 00:32:44.212
and that Mr.
Withers said, "Sure,"

00:32:44.212 --> 00:32:45.547
you know.

00:32:46.131 --> 00:32:50.135
Daddy had a lot of funny stories
to tell about Ernest Withers,

00:32:50.135 --> 00:32:51.636
none of which I can remember,

00:32:51.636 --> 00:32:54.055
none of which had
anything to do with work.

00:32:54.055 --> 00:32:56.725
But he was a friend.

00:32:56.725 --> 00:33:00.645
[man] How often in the course
of a month would you have given

00:33:00.645 --> 00:33:02.689
instructions to your source?

00:33:02.689 --> 00:33:05.817
During this period, I probably
would have been in almost daily

00:33:05.817 --> 00:33:07.819
contact with this source,

00:33:07.819 --> 00:33:11.907
or maybe sometimes two,
three times a week, at least.

00:33:11.907 --> 00:33:13.992
[Betty VO] My father
was in charge of the

00:33:13.992 --> 00:33:15.493
counterintelligence.

00:33:15.493 --> 00:33:18.830
That involved getting
to know the leaders

00:33:18.830 --> 00:33:21.666
of the Black community so
that they could keep Communist

00:33:21.666 --> 00:33:24.419
influencers out of
their organizations.

00:33:24.419 --> 00:33:26.338
[man] How would that
relationship have worked?

00:33:26.338 --> 00:33:30.091
I would call him if I had
an occasion to alert him

00:33:30.091 --> 00:33:31.009
to something.

00:33:31.009 --> 00:33:34.346
Otherwise, uh, I would
hope that he would call me,

00:33:34.346 --> 00:33:35.722
which he frequently did.

00:33:35.722 --> 00:33:37.891
He saw his role as
keeping the peace,

00:33:37.891 --> 00:33:42.896
and he was trying to sign
others on to do the same thing.

00:33:43.230 --> 00:33:45.523
♪soft tense music♪

00:33:45.523 --> 00:33:49.361
FBI Agent Lawrence,
a white guy in a tie,

00:33:49.361 --> 00:33:53.949
is not gonna infiltrate
the NAACP on his own;

00:33:53.949 --> 00:33:56.117
he needs Withers, okay?

00:33:56.117 --> 00:33:59.537
Withers is gonna be
his eyes and ears.

00:33:59.537 --> 00:34:03.583
Periodically, we
would meet in person,

00:34:03.583 --> 00:34:06.211
under what we hoped
were safe conditions,

00:34:06.211 --> 00:34:08.546
to personally
exchange information,

00:34:08.546 --> 00:34:11.466
go over
descriptions, any photographs,

00:34:11.466 --> 00:34:13.260
things of that nature.

00:34:13.260 --> 00:34:15.887
♪♪♪

00:34:15.887 --> 00:34:18.098
It was awful.

00:34:18.139 --> 00:34:23.144
My husband was overseas, and
Ernest made a statement like,

00:34:23.311 --> 00:34:26.898
"Maybe I was dating someone,"
which just wasn't true.

00:34:26.898 --> 00:34:29.985
You know, for him to
say something like that,

00:34:29.985 --> 00:34:32.570
you just-- you don't
do a sister like that.

00:34:32.570 --> 00:34:35.740
♪soft ominous music♪

00:34:35.740 --> 00:34:39.577
How could a photographer
-- who had no money,

00:34:39.577 --> 00:34:42.455
who took pictures
of Black people --

00:34:42.455 --> 00:34:44.124
travel...

00:34:44.124 --> 00:34:48.962
all over the country in
the Movement like we did?

00:34:49.838 --> 00:34:51.464
Who paid for it?

00:34:51.464 --> 00:34:52.966
♪♪♪

00:34:52.966 --> 00:34:55.844
Everywhere we went,
he was right there.

00:34:56.594 --> 00:35:00.098
Marks, Mississippi, all
the way to Washington, DC.

00:35:00.098 --> 00:35:03.852
Somebody paid for Ernest...

00:35:03.852 --> 00:35:05.687
to take those trips.

00:35:05.687 --> 00:35:07.522
♪♪♪

00:35:07.522 --> 00:35:11.860
An active informant is going
to incur personal expenses.

00:35:11.860 --> 00:35:14.529
In Withers' instance, he
would have to spend his time

00:35:14.529 --> 00:35:16.656
developing
professional photographs,

00:35:16.656 --> 00:35:19.618
which he would
furnish to the FBI.

00:35:19.659 --> 00:35:22.704
I can understand why the
FBI would pay for that,

00:35:22.704 --> 00:35:25.373
and I can understand why he
would expect payment for it,

00:35:25.373 --> 00:35:27.834
because that was what
his profession was.

00:35:27.834 --> 00:35:30.462
♪♪♪

00:35:30.462 --> 00:35:32.630
[Marc VO] I wanted to know
[chuckling] how much he actually

00:35:32.630 --> 00:35:33.715
got paid.

00:35:33.715 --> 00:35:36.801
I think it was somewhere in
the order of 20-some thousand

00:35:36.801 --> 00:35:39.638
dollars, which would be
the equivalent of about...

00:35:39.638 --> 00:35:42.891
170,000 dollars
now, which, I mean,

00:35:42.891 --> 00:35:44.351
he wasn't getting
rich doing this,

00:35:44.351 --> 00:35:47.896
but, at the same time, I mean...

00:35:47.896 --> 00:35:49.689
that's nothing to sneeze at.

00:35:49.689 --> 00:35:51.483
♪♪♪

00:35:51.483 --> 00:35:55.820
[Rosetta VO] I just don't know
about Ernest just taking money

00:35:55.820 --> 00:36:00.825
like that, and becoming
actually a spy on our community.

00:36:01.993 --> 00:36:04.913
I don't know whether
he was my friend...

00:36:04.913 --> 00:36:06.748
or my enemy.

00:36:13.380 --> 00:36:17.842
You have to always remember
the backdrop of segregation,

00:36:17.842 --> 00:36:19.552
and how...

00:36:19.552 --> 00:36:20.845
it worked.

00:36:20.845 --> 00:36:22.055
[camera snaps]

00:36:22.055 --> 00:36:25.016
♪soft tense music♪

00:36:25.016 --> 00:36:27.852
You didn't tell
white people "No."

00:36:27.852 --> 00:36:32.857
You did things that you felt
would increase your ability

00:36:33.191 --> 00:36:35.193
to survive,

00:36:35.193 --> 00:36:40.073
because you wanted
to have white connections.

00:36:40.281 --> 00:36:42.200
If they told you,
"Well, look here,

00:36:42.200 --> 00:36:44.786
we need this done, we
want you to do this,"

00:36:44.786 --> 00:36:46.621
you don't say, "No,
I'm not gonna do it,"

00:36:46.621 --> 00:36:49.040
because you're gonna
need that resource again.

00:36:49.040 --> 00:36:51.376
You figured out a way...

00:36:51.376 --> 00:36:54.587
to tell, "Well, I'll
see what I can find out,"

00:36:54.587 --> 00:36:56.214
so to speak.

00:36:56.214 --> 00:36:58.383
♪♪♪

00:36:58.383 --> 00:36:59.551
[Ernest VO] You
have to understand,

00:36:59.551 --> 00:37:04.305
white and Black -- colored and
white -- in yesterday's time,

00:37:04.305 --> 00:37:07.392
I mean, there was
totally a difference.

00:37:07.892 --> 00:37:09.394
"If you're white, you're right.

00:37:09.394 --> 00:37:10.645
If you're Black, get back.

00:37:10.645 --> 00:37:12.480
If you're brown, you
can't stick around.

00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:13.565
If you're yellow, you're mellow.

00:37:13.565 --> 00:37:16.901
But if you're Black, get back,"
so you wasn't expected to get

00:37:16.901 --> 00:37:21.156
anything with reference
to what white people got.

00:37:21.156 --> 00:37:26.161
♪♪♪

00:37:27.787 --> 00:37:31.791
I'm interested in telling these
stories about The Invaders,

00:37:31.791 --> 00:37:35.128
about the sanitation
workers, and Ernest Withers,

00:37:35.128 --> 00:37:38.631
and the Movement to
anyone, any time,

00:37:38.631 --> 00:37:40.300
who did not know.

00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:44.763
♪curious music♪

00:37:44.763 --> 00:37:48.850
The Invaders were adherents
to the Black Power philosophy,

00:37:48.850 --> 00:37:52.854
organized in Memphis in 1967.

00:37:52.854 --> 00:37:56.357
We had college
students, combat veterans,

00:37:56.357 --> 00:37:58.193
we had educators.

00:37:58.193 --> 00:38:01.863
Anybody who made a choice
to be politically active,

00:38:01.863 --> 00:38:04.282
these were the people I
wanted to be involved with.

00:38:04.282 --> 00:38:05.533
[camera snaps]

00:38:05.992 --> 00:38:09.954
There was this TV show that was
on television at the time called

00:38:09.954 --> 00:38:11.039
'The Invaders.'

00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:13.208
♪dramatic theme music♪

00:38:13.208 --> 00:38:15.335
[man VO] The Invaders!

00:38:15.335 --> 00:38:16.878
♪♪♪

00:38:16.878 --> 00:38:21.216
[John VO] And it was about
aliens coming from outer space.

00:38:21.216 --> 00:38:23.635
[man VO] The Invaders:

00:38:23.635 --> 00:38:27.222
alien beings
from a dying planet.

00:38:27.222 --> 00:38:28.848
Their destination:

00:38:28.848 --> 00:38:29.849
the Earth.

00:38:29.849 --> 00:38:33.144
[John VO] And they
wanted to colonize Earth,

00:38:33.144 --> 00:38:35.647
and make it their world.

00:38:35.688 --> 00:38:38.358
I really identified with that.

00:38:38.358 --> 00:38:43.363
♪soft curious music♪

00:38:43.363 --> 00:38:46.241
I think the reason that I was
so interesting in The Invaders

00:38:46.241 --> 00:38:47.700
is that they were...

00:38:47.700 --> 00:38:51.329
talking about doing something
for African-American people.

00:38:51.329 --> 00:38:53.915
♪♪♪

00:38:53.915 --> 00:38:57.335
We knew without a doubt that...

00:38:57.335 --> 00:39:01.714
no change has ever occurred
in any society in the world --

00:39:01.714 --> 00:39:03.508
wherever it is --

00:39:03.508 --> 00:39:06.719
without some physical violence.

00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:08.346
♪♪♪

00:39:08.346 --> 00:39:11.224
You can't get
anything corrected,

00:39:11.224 --> 00:39:14.269
on this Earth,
without some violence.

00:39:14.269 --> 00:39:16.729
It's just the way it goes,
it's just the way it is.

00:39:16.729 --> 00:39:18.022
[camera snaps]

00:39:18.022 --> 00:39:19.691
♪♪♪

00:39:19.691 --> 00:39:24.028
The Invaders really played a
different role in this city.

00:39:24.028 --> 00:39:26.614
They wanted to embrace
the Black community,

00:39:26.614 --> 00:39:28.032
and to say to the
Black community,

00:39:28.032 --> 00:39:29.534
"We can do better than this."

00:39:29.534 --> 00:39:33.288
There was a sense about them
that they wanted to move quicker

00:39:33.288 --> 00:39:36.207
than what the Civil Rights and
the Non-violence Movement was

00:39:36.207 --> 00:39:37.875
all about.

00:39:38.751 --> 00:39:43.756
[John VO] The Invaders, we
were not the Black Panthers,

00:39:44.299 --> 00:39:48.136
but we became the foot soldiers.

00:39:49.137 --> 00:39:53.808
And because I was wearing my
field jacket with "The Invaders"

00:39:53.808 --> 00:39:55.310
on the back,

00:39:55.310 --> 00:40:00.315
it became the symbol of
radicalism in the city.

00:40:01.399 --> 00:40:04.402
The sanitation workers loved it.

00:40:04.402 --> 00:40:08.114
[indistinct chatter]

00:40:08.114 --> 00:40:10.617
[man VO] 1300 garbage
collectors of Memphis have

00:40:10.617 --> 00:40:13.953
walked off the job
and into the streets.

00:40:13.953 --> 00:40:16.414
Almost all of
them are Negros,

00:40:16.414 --> 00:40:18.416
and they're
turning a union fight

00:40:18.416 --> 00:40:21.085
into a civil rights battle.

00:40:24.088 --> 00:40:25.757
♪melancholy music♪

00:40:25.757 --> 00:40:30.762
[John VO] The city of Memphis
at that time was a plantation.

00:40:30.762 --> 00:40:34.265
In February...

00:40:34.265 --> 00:40:38.353
two sanitation workers
were crushed to death

00:40:38.353 --> 00:40:41.481
in the back
of a garbage truck.

00:40:41.773 --> 00:40:43.983
If there was inclement weather,

00:40:43.983 --> 00:40:48.988
they would send the Black
workers home without pay.

00:40:50.114 --> 00:40:52.950
Well, these sanitation workers
had gotten in the back of the

00:40:52.950 --> 00:40:55.370
truck until the
weather changed;

00:40:55.370 --> 00:40:58.623
that way, they could stay
on the clock for the full day.

00:40:58.623 --> 00:41:03.628
But the compactor started up
and crushed them both to death.

00:41:04.045 --> 00:41:09.050
And this is what started
the sanitation strike.

00:41:09.967 --> 00:41:13.388
If the men do not
return to work immediately,

00:41:13.388 --> 00:41:15.306
we will have no choice

00:41:15.306 --> 00:41:19.727
but to employ others to
protect the public health.

00:41:20.687 --> 00:41:23.648
[John VO] They wanted to be
able to use the lockers rooms,

00:41:23.648 --> 00:41:27.235
they wanted to be able
to get paid for days off,

00:41:27.235 --> 00:41:29.529
they wanted sick pay.

00:41:29.529 --> 00:41:32.657
When a public official

00:41:32.657 --> 00:41:34.909
orders a group of men

00:41:34.909 --> 00:41:38.204
to "Get back to work
and then we'll talk,"

00:41:38.204 --> 00:41:40.665
and treats them as
though they are not men,

00:41:40.665 --> 00:41:43.084
that's a
racist point of view.

00:41:43.084 --> 00:41:44.836
♪♪♪

00:41:44.836 --> 00:41:49.841
So they brought Dr.
King to town to...

00:41:49.924 --> 00:41:53.177
take up their side.

00:41:53.845 --> 00:41:55.179
[man VO] The city
awaits the arrival

00:41:55.179 --> 00:41:57.265
of Dr. Martin Luther King today.

00:41:57.265 --> 00:41:59.892
He plans to defy a
federal court order

00:41:59.892 --> 00:42:03.688
which bans a second mass
march in Memphis next Monday.

00:42:03.688 --> 00:42:06.190
[Rev. Young VO] Nobody
wanted him to go to Memphis;

00:42:06.190 --> 00:42:09.068
it was strictly Martin's idea.

00:42:09.068 --> 00:42:12.905
He was determined to
practice what he preached,

00:42:12.905 --> 00:42:16.367
and what he preached
was, "You're gonna die.

00:42:16.367 --> 00:42:20.204
You don't have anything
to say about when you die,

00:42:20.204 --> 00:42:22.039
or how you die.

00:42:22.039 --> 00:42:24.751
The only thing you have
something to say about is:

00:42:24.751 --> 00:42:28.045
what is it you give
your life for?"

00:42:29.380 --> 00:42:33.885
[Dr. King] Delighted, I am,
to be in Memphis tonight.

00:42:33.885 --> 00:42:36.971
We knew that this would put

00:42:36.971 --> 00:42:41.476
the national and
international light on Memphis.

00:42:41.476 --> 00:42:45.980
You are reminding the
nation that it is a crime...

00:42:45.980 --> 00:42:47.940
[Rev. Middlebrook VO] And on
the plight of these sanitation

00:42:47.940 --> 00:42:50.985
workers, and the Poor
People's Campaign.

00:42:50.985 --> 00:42:53.738
To live in this...

00:42:53.738 --> 00:42:57.909
rich nation and
receive starvation wages!

00:42:57.909 --> 00:42:58.993
[camera snaps]

00:42:58.993 --> 00:43:01.162
You are here to demand

00:43:01.162 --> 00:43:04.582
that Memphis
will see the poor!

00:43:04.582 --> 00:43:06.918
[John VO] And when
Dr. King came to town,

00:43:06.918 --> 00:43:11.923
The Invaders started doing
things that made the press.

00:43:14.091 --> 00:43:16.427
We were using
Molotov cocktails

00:43:16.427 --> 00:43:21.307
to set fires in garbage
cans and dumpsters

00:43:21.307 --> 00:43:25.436
to keep the first
responders busy overnight,

00:43:25.436 --> 00:43:26.771
and...

00:43:26.771 --> 00:43:29.106
that represented a threat.

00:43:29.106 --> 00:43:31.275
And to Dr. Withers,

00:43:31.275 --> 00:43:34.487
the strike was like a
smorgasbord for him,

00:43:34.487 --> 00:43:37.114
'cause he was
everywhere taking pictures.

00:43:37.114 --> 00:43:40.785
I'm bringing my garbage with me
tomorrow in the back of my car,

00:43:40.785 --> 00:43:42.662
'cause if the
decision is not right,

00:43:42.662 --> 00:43:44.789
then, by jingo, I'm
not going home anymore!

00:43:44.789 --> 00:43:45.790
I mean it!

00:43:45.790 --> 00:43:47.458
[cheers and applause]

00:43:47.458 --> 00:43:52.463
♪♪♪

00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:55.132
[Preston VO] With regard to the
local Black Power Movement in

00:43:55.132 --> 00:43:58.553
Memphis, the rhetoric was "This
city needs a good race riot.

00:43:58.553 --> 00:44:00.805
We're gonna turn
this city upside down."

00:44:00.805 --> 00:44:03.391
The FBI didn't necessarily
understand this and needed some

00:44:03.391 --> 00:44:06.227
help, and so I think that was
Withers' main point of emphasis

00:44:06.227 --> 00:44:09.480
with Black Power was to gauge
the likelihood of the threats of

00:44:09.480 --> 00:44:10.815
violence.

00:44:10.815 --> 00:44:12.024
♪♪♪

00:44:12.024 --> 00:44:15.987
To the extent that The Invaders'
threats could become real,

00:44:15.987 --> 00:44:18.990
Withers would have
been very interested,

00:44:18.990 --> 00:44:23.661
and so he monitored The Invaders
very closely to see how likely

00:44:23.661 --> 00:44:26.664
they were to start a riot.

00:44:27.206 --> 00:44:29.417
So if they were gonna get
serious about this stuff,

00:44:29.417 --> 00:44:33.337
he was gonna get serious about
making sure that the FBI knew.

00:44:33.337 --> 00:44:38.009
♪soft ominous music♪

00:44:38.009 --> 00:44:40.761
The FBI's goal was to
disrupt that movement,

00:44:40.761 --> 00:44:43.180
particularly The Invaders --

00:44:43.180 --> 00:44:46.392
to disintegrate them the same
way that they disintegrated

00:44:46.392 --> 00:44:48.519
the Communist Party here.

00:44:48.519 --> 00:44:51.105
[Tim VO] Hoover was
determined, in the 1960s,

00:44:51.105 --> 00:44:55.443
to prevent the rise of what
he called "a Black messiah."

00:44:55.526 --> 00:45:00.197
Hoover had informants in every
organization of the Civil Rights

00:45:00.197 --> 00:45:04.452
Movement, because
any organization that,

00:45:04.452 --> 00:45:09.457
in Hoover's eyes, represented
Black Power had to be crushed.

00:45:10.374 --> 00:45:15.379
[John VO] Hoover was definitely
trying to kill off Black Power.

00:45:15.546 --> 00:45:20.468
They were trying to get every
Black Power advocate off the

00:45:20.468 --> 00:45:21.969
street they could.

00:45:21.969 --> 00:45:24.055
[siren]

00:45:24.055 --> 00:45:26.557
[Rev. Young VO] It bothers me
that the US government didn't

00:45:26.557 --> 00:45:31.228
appreciate that what we were
doing was good for the country.

00:45:31.395 --> 00:45:34.982
And Hoover could not distinguish
between Black people.

00:45:34.982 --> 00:45:38.235
He didn't see any difference
between a thug on a street

00:45:38.235 --> 00:45:42.907
corner, The Black
Panthers, Malcolm X,

00:45:42.907 --> 00:45:46.577
uh, Martin Luther King.

00:45:46.744 --> 00:45:48.955
They were all...

00:45:48.955 --> 00:45:51.082
niggers.

00:45:52.583 --> 00:45:56.837
♪♪♪

00:45:56.837 --> 00:45:59.840
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation is as close to you

00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:01.676
as your nearest telephone.

00:46:01.676 --> 00:46:04.136
We should all be
concerned with but one goal:

00:46:04.136 --> 00:46:07.515
the cooperation
between police agencies.

00:46:08.432 --> 00:46:10.601
[man VO] Mr. Lawrence, did
you assist the Memphis Police

00:46:10.601 --> 00:46:14.522
Department in setting up
their intelligence activities?

00:46:14.522 --> 00:46:16.107
I did.

00:46:16.107 --> 00:46:19.610
It was because I knew more about
intelligence activities than

00:46:19.610 --> 00:46:22.321
anyone else in the
office at that time,

00:46:22.321 --> 00:46:24.991
and due to my long
tenure in Memphis,

00:46:24.991 --> 00:46:28.494
knowledge of the community,
things of that nature.

00:46:28.494 --> 00:46:32.707
The head of the Memphis Police
also had been in the FBI for

00:46:32.707 --> 00:46:34.291
many years.

00:46:34.291 --> 00:46:35.376
♪♪♪

00:46:35.376 --> 00:46:38.504
And he was very closely
connected to J. Edgar Hoover.

00:46:38.504 --> 00:46:41.298
[man] Would this be an
indication of the kind of

00:46:41.298 --> 00:46:43.676
working relationship you
had with the Memphis Police

00:46:43.676 --> 00:46:46.637
Department -- that is, helping
them establish a new division

00:46:46.637 --> 00:46:48.806
and exchanging information?

00:46:48.806 --> 00:46:50.516
That's correct.

00:46:50.516 --> 00:46:52.351
♪♪♪

00:46:52.351 --> 00:46:54.645
There's a lot of things that
Ernest gave him that was unique

00:46:54.645 --> 00:46:57.523
about individuals that they
couldn't have gotten by reading

00:46:57.523 --> 00:47:00.317
the newspaper, they couldn't
have gotten by standing on a

00:47:00.317 --> 00:47:03.362
curb watching a march, or
collecting all the photos

00:47:03.362 --> 00:47:05.239
afterwards.

00:47:05.406 --> 00:47:07.658
[John VO] Coby,
he had a friend,

00:47:07.658 --> 00:47:10.578
and she was dating a policeman.

00:47:11.078 --> 00:47:15.166
And she told Coby she looked in
his wallet and saw a picture of

00:47:15.166 --> 00:47:17.376
he and Cal,

00:47:17.376 --> 00:47:20.838
and asked him why
he had those pictures,

00:47:20.838 --> 00:47:24.884
and the policeman told her
that they had orders that if any

00:47:24.884 --> 00:47:29.013
trouble starts, they
were to keep eyes on him,

00:47:29.013 --> 00:47:32.016
and shoot him on sight.

00:47:32.516 --> 00:47:35.352
It may have been pictures
that they got from Mr. Withers,

00:47:35.352 --> 00:47:36.687
I don't know.

00:47:36.687 --> 00:47:38.064
But...

00:47:38.064 --> 00:47:40.524
that actually happened.

00:47:40.524 --> 00:47:41.776
[camera snaps]

00:47:41.776 --> 00:47:43.194
♪♪♪

00:47:43.194 --> 00:47:46.072
There were people who believed
that their daughters could be

00:47:46.072 --> 00:47:47.782
killed...

00:47:47.782 --> 00:47:50.743
uh, if the police
decided to kill me.

00:47:50.743 --> 00:47:53.037
It limited the number
of dates I could get.

00:47:53.037 --> 00:47:54.955
[chuckles]

00:47:55.247 --> 00:47:58.751
At that time, I was
totally unaware that there were

00:47:58.751 --> 00:48:00.294
informants,

00:48:00.294 --> 00:48:03.464
and that there were people
who would do malicious things.

00:48:03.464 --> 00:48:05.216
I lost jobs.

00:48:05.216 --> 00:48:08.219
In fact, I was
blackballed quite early,

00:48:08.219 --> 00:48:11.388
I just didn't have
enough sense to know it.

00:48:11.972 --> 00:48:13.766
[Calvin VO] You're
sort of surprised that,

00:48:13.766 --> 00:48:16.977
"Oh, they got this
picture from Ernest."

00:48:17.228 --> 00:48:19.563
And you're a little bit...

00:48:19.563 --> 00:48:21.565
miffed.

00:48:25.402 --> 00:48:30.407
[crowd VO] ♪singing♪

00:48:35.788 --> 00:48:38.749
[man VO] Several thousand Negro
demonstrators are participating

00:48:38.749 --> 00:48:42.086
in this largest Civil Rights
demonstration ever in Memphis,

00:48:42.086 --> 00:48:43.796
Tennessee.

00:48:43.796 --> 00:48:46.090
♪melancholy bluesy music♪

00:48:46.090 --> 00:48:49.635
Many of the demonstrators are
carrying the sign "I am a man."

00:48:49.635 --> 00:48:52.096
They stretch out
for several blocks.

00:48:52.096 --> 00:48:53.264
♪♪♪

00:48:53.264 --> 00:48:55.307
This was the first march
that was gonna be led by

00:48:55.307 --> 00:48:58.352
Martin Luther King that I ever
was gonna be participating in.

00:48:58.352 --> 00:48:59.270
♪♪♪

00:48:59.270 --> 00:49:03.149
Remember, we're 11, 12, and 13,
so we're very aware of what's

00:49:03.149 --> 00:49:07.361
going on now, and
wanting to do our part.

00:49:07.361 --> 00:49:10.781
I found a couple of Dad's
pictures where I was right there

00:49:10.781 --> 00:49:13.159
in the Movement,
and guess what:

00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:16.036
my mother was right there too.

00:49:16.036 --> 00:49:19.331
[Dorothy VO] I was more
nervous about him being in

00:49:19.331 --> 00:49:21.625
the Civil Right Movement...

00:49:22.543 --> 00:49:25.546
'cause it was dangerous for
everybody that was involved

00:49:25.546 --> 00:49:26.463
in it.

00:49:26.463 --> 00:49:27.798
[man VO] Police are on hand.

00:49:27.798 --> 00:49:30.801
Almost the entire force is
standing by here in case any

00:49:30.801 --> 00:49:32.136
trouble might break out.

00:49:32.136 --> 00:49:34.471
[Michael VO] It was a very
hot day on March 28th,

00:49:34.471 --> 00:49:35.848
people were
gathered in the streets,

00:49:35.848 --> 00:49:38.517
everybody's waiting
for King for hours.

00:49:38.517 --> 00:49:41.729
♪♪♪

00:49:41.729 --> 00:49:44.732
So by the time that he got there
and they got him in a position

00:49:44.732 --> 00:49:49.737
to march, the crowd
was at their wits' end.

00:49:50.154 --> 00:49:52.698
[man VO] There have been
shouts of "Black Power,"

00:49:52.698 --> 00:49:55.326
and other things of which
we are not allowed to put

00:49:55.326 --> 00:49:56.160
on the air.

00:49:56.160 --> 00:49:59.163
Everything was good until
you heard that first glass

00:49:59.163 --> 00:50:01.165
-break out.
-[glass shattering]

00:50:01.165 --> 00:50:03.667
And it was like all hell
broke loose after that.

00:50:03.667 --> 00:50:06.378
[glass smashing, commotion]

00:50:06.378 --> 00:50:09.048
[man VO] Chaos has
just broken out downtown.

00:50:09.506 --> 00:50:12.009
[man VO] Dr. Martin Luther King,
who was supposed to lead the

00:50:12.009 --> 00:50:15.429
march, no one has
any idea where he is.

00:50:15.429 --> 00:50:17.223
He's completely
engulfed in this crowd,

00:50:17.223 --> 00:50:18.682
as we are.

00:50:18.682 --> 00:50:21.268
♪energetic tense music♪

00:50:21.268 --> 00:50:24.688
There's complete
disorder on Beale Street.

00:50:24.688 --> 00:50:26.190
♪♪♪

00:50:26.190 --> 00:50:28.734
I remember running,

00:50:28.734 --> 00:50:30.861
and my mom
grabbing my hand.

00:50:30.861 --> 00:50:33.530
And the fear.

00:50:33.530 --> 00:50:37.534
And to see cops with billy
clubs coming after people,

00:50:37.534 --> 00:50:39.370
and you making
up your mind,

00:50:39.370 --> 00:50:41.205
"I'm not gonna be one
of those people!"

00:50:41.205 --> 00:50:46.210
[commotion]

00:50:50.923 --> 00:50:52.967
I'm thinking that, "Okay,
I'm down here to get some

00:50:52.967 --> 00:50:54.885
information,"

00:50:54.885 --> 00:50:57.388
'cause I'm carrying a
notebook and I'm trying to...

00:50:57.388 --> 00:51:00.140
write down what I see and
talk to somebody about what's

00:51:00.140 --> 00:51:01.725
going on.

00:51:02.559 --> 00:51:05.771
And I forgot I lived
in racist Memphis.

00:51:05.771 --> 00:51:06.939
Man, they didn't
see no notebook,

00:51:06.939 --> 00:51:09.400
they didn't see no press
ticket, they didn't see nothing.

00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:14.405
[commotion]

00:51:15.656 --> 00:51:18.075
I forgot that I was Black.

00:51:18.075 --> 00:51:20.661
[commotion]

00:51:20.661 --> 00:51:23.914
And I'm about to get
beat up by a policeman,

00:51:23.914 --> 00:51:25.124
and who comes along?

00:51:25.124 --> 00:51:27.584
Mr. Withers comes along 'cause
they had a truck that they had

00:51:27.584 --> 00:51:30.004
the photographers and people on.

00:51:30.004 --> 00:51:31.088
♪soft tense music♪

00:51:31.088 --> 00:51:32.339
He's trying to
inform the people,

00:51:32.339 --> 00:51:36.635
"No, no, he's not one
of the people rioting.

00:51:36.635 --> 00:51:38.262
He's a member of the press."

00:51:38.262 --> 00:51:40.097
[chuckles]

00:51:40.097 --> 00:51:42.599
Then, he tells me to get my
narrow butt on that truck and

00:51:42.599 --> 00:51:44.977
quit walking up and down the
street like I got some freedom

00:51:44.977 --> 00:51:46.937
or something.
[chuckles]

00:51:47.271 --> 00:51:49.440
And I say he saved my life
'cause I don't know how badly of

00:51:49.440 --> 00:51:52.276
a beating I would
have gotten that day.

00:51:53.110 --> 00:51:55.154
I don't know that I
would even be here.

00:51:55.154 --> 00:51:59.450
[commotion, siren]

00:51:59.450 --> 00:52:03.287
[Preston VO] It was the first
march that King led in which his

00:52:03.287 --> 00:52:06.623
demonstrators had
resorted to violence.

00:52:06.623 --> 00:52:09.460
This was the first time
that it happened from within.

00:52:09.460 --> 00:52:12.171
[commotion, glass smashing]

00:52:12.171 --> 00:52:14.048
[Michael VO] They said,
"We're a non-violent movement,

00:52:14.048 --> 00:52:16.842
we can't be leading a march
where people are busting out

00:52:16.842 --> 00:52:20.554
windows," so they took King
out of the line of march right

00:52:20.554 --> 00:52:24.141
around the same time the police
charged and started beating

00:52:24.141 --> 00:52:25.851
everybody up.

00:52:25.851 --> 00:52:27.061
♪♪♪

00:52:27.061 --> 00:52:29.688
The police did not have
to handle it that way.

00:52:29.688 --> 00:52:33.525
♪♪♪

00:52:33.525 --> 00:52:35.569
[Preston VO] That hurt King.

00:52:35.569 --> 00:52:40.324
King was a non-violent,
passive resistance leader,

00:52:40.324 --> 00:52:44.244
and violence breaking out in his
wake was the most devastating

00:52:44.244 --> 00:52:46.997
thing that had happened to him.

00:52:46.997 --> 00:52:49.708
The FBI perspective on that
event was that The Invaders had

00:52:49.708 --> 00:52:54.546
played a central role
in causing the violence,

00:52:54.546 --> 00:52:57.674
that The Invaders had
distributed these sign posts

00:52:57.674 --> 00:53:01.011
that you saw the famous "I am
a man" strike-support signs

00:53:01.011 --> 00:53:04.348
mounted on to people who
then used these instruments for

00:53:04.348 --> 00:53:07.184
destruction, smashing the
windows and battling with the

00:53:07.184 --> 00:53:09.019
police officers.

00:53:10.938 --> 00:53:15.943
The Invaders were blamed
for all the disturbance,

00:53:16.026 --> 00:53:21.031
but we didn't have any
role at all in the march.

00:53:22.533 --> 00:53:26.620
The night before, we discussed
the information Coby got from

00:53:26.620 --> 00:53:31.625
his girlfriend, the information
that I got from Miss Crenshaw.

00:53:32.376 --> 00:53:37.297
She was the one that told me not
to go to the march on the 28th,

00:53:37.297 --> 00:53:41.885
because if any
trouble jumped off...

00:53:41.885 --> 00:53:44.430
The Invaders would be blamed.

00:53:44.430 --> 00:53:47.391
"So it's best y'all not go."

00:53:47.766 --> 00:53:52.312
And it was determined that
we would not go to the march

00:53:52.312 --> 00:53:54.398
as a group.

00:53:54.606 --> 00:53:57.901
Her information was good.

00:53:57.901 --> 00:54:01.071
She was also the one that
told me that Dr. Withers was an

00:54:01.071 --> 00:54:04.575
informant, and this was
during the sanitation strike!

00:54:04.575 --> 00:54:08.078
And she said, "Well, you know,
he's always taking pictures of

00:54:08.078 --> 00:54:10.330
you and your boys.

00:54:10.330 --> 00:54:12.791
You got any idea of what he
does with all those pictures

00:54:12.791 --> 00:54:14.751
he takes?

00:54:14.751 --> 00:54:17.588
Well, you know he
giving them to the FBI."

00:54:17.588 --> 00:54:20.174
And I'm like,
"No, I didn't know."

00:54:20.174 --> 00:54:23.260
She said, "Yeah, he
talks to the FBI."

00:54:23.260 --> 00:54:24.678
[woman] Hold this for...

00:54:24.678 --> 00:54:26.680
a couple seconds,
if you don't mind.

00:54:26.680 --> 00:54:28.265
And you're this one, right?

00:54:28.265 --> 00:54:29.016
-Yeah.
-[woman] That's you.

00:54:29.016 --> 00:54:31.602
Yeah, that's me
with the shades.

00:54:31.602 --> 00:54:33.437
[man] Can we get
a little bit more?

00:54:33.437 --> 00:54:34.646
[man] Can you-- are
you able to read...

00:54:34.646 --> 00:54:36.607
[John] I've got my glasses.

00:54:36.607 --> 00:54:38.275
They're in my jacket pocket.

00:54:38.275 --> 00:54:40.777
[Preston VO] So Agent
Lawrence, in his report,

00:54:40.777 --> 00:54:42.446
cited one of his informants...

00:54:42.446 --> 00:54:45.491
[John VO] "Source 1
pointed out that..."

00:54:45.491 --> 00:54:50.496
[Preston VO] Having heard that
John B. Smith as the one having

00:54:50.537 --> 00:54:53.624
distributed these sign posts
to people and having said,

00:54:53.624 --> 00:54:55.292
"Don't be afraid to use these."

00:54:55.292 --> 00:54:57.961
[John VO] "Giving out
four-foot pine poles..."

00:54:57.961 --> 00:55:00.797
That was Agent Lawrence's proof
that The Invaders had started

00:55:00.797 --> 00:55:02.216
this riot.

00:55:02.216 --> 00:55:04.343
I've read this before.

00:55:04.343 --> 00:55:06.303
I've seen this before.

00:55:06.303 --> 00:55:09.014
And it's a total lie.

00:55:09.014 --> 00:55:12.643
It was the marshals...

00:55:12.643 --> 00:55:15.479
that were giving
out the signs,

00:55:15.479 --> 00:55:20.484
and the sanitation workers
were the ones given the signs.

00:55:21.985 --> 00:55:26.990
But no, I never
instructed anybody to use them,

00:55:28.325 --> 00:55:32.329
and the young people that got
signs picked them up off the

00:55:32.329 --> 00:55:37.000
street, uh, after
the riot started.

00:55:45.175 --> 00:55:46.260
Yes.

00:55:46.260 --> 00:55:48.220
And...
[chuckles]

00:55:48.220 --> 00:55:52.349
it would fit the pattern
that I think went on:

00:55:52.349 --> 00:55:55.352
he told them what
they wanted to hear.

00:55:55.352 --> 00:56:00.357
♪tense music♪

00:56:01.900 --> 00:56:05.028
[Tim VO] By definition,
what Lawrence is reporting

00:56:05.028 --> 00:56:08.574
to headquarters on
what Withers tells him

00:56:08.574 --> 00:56:11.702
is second-hand hearsay.

00:56:11.702 --> 00:56:14.705
The agent wants to
please his superiors.

00:56:14.705 --> 00:56:17.708
♪♪♪

00:56:17.708 --> 00:56:22.212
If you look at an
agent's reports --

00:56:22.212 --> 00:56:23.630
confidential files --

00:56:23.630 --> 00:56:26.592
on what an informant says,

00:56:26.592 --> 00:56:30.262
if it's not a
transcript of a wiretap

00:56:30.262 --> 00:56:32.556
or a bug,

00:56:32.556 --> 00:56:35.892
you need to take them
with a grain of salt.

00:56:35.892 --> 00:56:39.896
The fact that Lawrence is able
to generate report after report

00:56:39.896 --> 00:56:42.816
after report based on
what Withers tells him,

00:56:42.816 --> 00:56:44.735
this is gold.

00:56:44.735 --> 00:56:48.238
It doesn't matter
if it's fool's gold.

00:56:50.991 --> 00:56:55.996
There is always something
missing when white people are

00:56:56.079 --> 00:56:59.082
talking about Black people and
when Black people are talking

00:56:59.082 --> 00:57:02.753
about white people, simply
because we don't come from the

00:57:02.753 --> 00:57:04.087
same place.

00:57:04.087 --> 00:57:06.923
Nobody really wants
to understand that.

00:57:06.923 --> 00:57:11.928
♪melancholy bluesy music♪

00:57:12.804 --> 00:57:15.974
[John VO] It's good
justice is on a scale,

00:57:15.974 --> 00:57:20.646
because you have to put stuff
on both sides all the time.

00:57:21.772 --> 00:57:25.150
So when I look
at that scale,

00:57:25.150 --> 00:57:28.695
not just in my case,
but in Dr. Withers' case,

00:57:28.695 --> 00:57:32.115
the scale and...

00:57:32.115 --> 00:57:35.118
the woman holding it
with the blindfold,

00:57:35.118 --> 00:57:38.455
is that in the
South, they peeked.

00:57:40.040 --> 00:57:43.460
They peeked all the time.

00:57:43.460 --> 00:57:48.465
You were the one behind the
blindfold and couldn't see.

00:57:49.341 --> 00:57:51.843
But justice in the South...

00:57:51.843 --> 00:57:54.137
was not blind.

00:57:54.137 --> 00:57:59.142
♪♪♪

00:58:10.362 --> 00:58:13.240
[Rosalind] This is our archive.

00:58:13.240 --> 00:58:15.701
-There's box one, two, three...
-[Carl] Four, five, six...

00:58:15.701 --> 00:58:17.160
[Rosalind] Four
is over there, five, six,

00:58:17.160 --> 00:58:18.578
all the way to 120.

00:58:18.578 --> 00:58:19.663
[Carl] Okay.

00:58:19.663 --> 00:58:21.581
A typical box...

00:58:21.581 --> 00:58:22.999
looks like...

00:58:22.999 --> 00:58:24.000
this.

00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:26.253
But this shows you...

00:58:26.253 --> 00:58:30.257
what the potential of
photographs that are stored.

00:58:30.257 --> 00:58:33.844
The questions is always asked,
is "Do we have the negative?"

00:58:33.844 --> 00:58:36.221
Well, the two have
not married yet.

00:58:36.680 --> 00:58:37.597
Is there a date?

00:58:37.597 --> 00:58:39.099
And then you could
pull the negative out,

00:58:39.099 --> 00:58:41.059
put it up to the light,
and see what the content is.

00:58:41.059 --> 00:58:42.352
[Carl] Right.

00:58:42.602 --> 00:58:45.063
[Rosalind] 4700 images
is what the world knows as

00:58:45.063 --> 00:58:46.189
Ernest Withers' work.

00:58:46.189 --> 00:58:47.858
[Carl] A fraction
of what we just saw.

00:58:47.858 --> 00:58:49.526
[Rosalind] They
don't even know.

00:58:49.526 --> 00:58:51.778
♪curious music♪

00:58:51.778 --> 00:58:55.198
[Carl] It's an
archeological dig of treasures.

00:58:55.198 --> 00:59:00.203
♪♪♪

00:59:00.203 --> 00:59:03.373
[Ernest Sawyer VO] I was only
aware of the FBI approaching him

00:59:03.373 --> 00:59:05.375
when I came to the museum.

00:59:05.375 --> 00:59:07.544
♪♪♪

00:59:07.544 --> 00:59:10.130
And it did make me
question things.

00:59:10.130 --> 00:59:13.467
But as I started
going through the photos,

00:59:13.467 --> 00:59:17.471
I see seconds of his life in
film -- all the things he was

00:59:17.471 --> 00:59:20.307
able to accomplish, all the
people he was able to meet,

00:59:20.307 --> 00:59:22.392
the reach he had.

00:59:22.392 --> 00:59:25.061
♪soft tender music♪

00:59:25.061 --> 00:59:26.730
For anyone showing
any kind of interest,

00:59:26.730 --> 00:59:31.610
I just want to be able to
find what you're looking for.

00:59:32.277 --> 00:59:34.404
My organization,
the PRIZM Ensemble,

00:59:34.404 --> 00:59:38.617
we're gonna do a performance
in Clayborn Temple called

00:59:38.617 --> 00:59:41.286
"The Seven Last Words
of the Unarmed"...

00:59:41.286 --> 00:59:41.995
Okay.

00:59:41.995 --> 00:59:44.664
And it's a multi-movement work
that's for orchestra and men's

00:59:44.664 --> 00:59:49.294
chorus, and each of the
movements is a representation of

00:59:49.294 --> 00:59:51.630
an unarmed Black
man that was killed,

00:59:51.630 --> 00:59:55.634
so I'd love to have some images
that would allow to be able to

00:59:55.634 --> 00:59:58.261
frame everyone's experience
when they walk into the place...

00:59:58.261 --> 00:59:58.970
Absolutely.

00:59:58.970 --> 01:00:01.014
And also having something to
take with them on their way out.

01:00:01.014 --> 01:00:01.765
Okay.

01:00:01.765 --> 01:00:04.601
So what I did is I researched
the images that we had in our

01:00:04.601 --> 01:00:05.769
-main system.
-Mm-hm.

01:00:05.769 --> 01:00:07.854
So right here, you will see...

01:00:07.854 --> 01:00:10.982
over 1300 sanitation
workers who are protesting,

01:00:10.982 --> 01:00:13.819
and it started off
as a normal protest,

01:00:13.819 --> 01:00:15.028
and...

01:00:15.028 --> 01:00:18.490
ended up turning into a riot.

01:00:18.490 --> 01:00:20.951
And during this protest,
there was only one person that

01:00:20.951 --> 01:00:22.160
-was killed.
-Mm.

01:00:22.160 --> 01:00:23.703
And the one
person was Larry Payne,

01:00:23.703 --> 01:00:25.497
a 16-year-old boy.

01:00:25.497 --> 01:00:27.457
So here's a photo
of him right here.

01:00:27.457 --> 01:00:30.377
You see him
running in the crowd.

01:00:30.377 --> 01:00:32.629
-So...
-[Lecolion] Wow.

01:00:32.629 --> 01:00:34.047
♪soft melancholy music♪

01:00:34.047 --> 01:00:36.383
He's in-- ugh, God.

01:00:36.383 --> 01:00:37.884
♪♪♪

01:00:37.884 --> 01:00:40.178
[Ernest Sawyer] Clayborn Temple
ended up having a funeral at the

01:00:40.178 --> 01:00:41.888
temple for him.

01:00:41.888 --> 01:00:42.472
[Lecolion] Uh-huh!

01:00:42.472 --> 01:00:44.808
So this is taken from
inside Clayborn Temple?

01:00:44.808 --> 01:00:47.018
[Ernest Sawyer] Yeah, this
is inside Clayborn Temple,

01:00:47.018 --> 01:00:48.854
and then you also
see his casket.

01:00:48.854 --> 01:00:50.647
[Lecolion] Oh, wow.

01:00:50.689 --> 01:00:54.317
There's another unarmed
Black man who is a part

01:00:54.317 --> 01:00:55.485
of the history.

01:00:55.485 --> 01:00:56.987
[sighs]

01:00:56.987 --> 01:01:01.992
♪♪♪

01:01:04.578 --> 01:01:08.498
[Michael VO] During the riot,
16-year-old Larry Payne was

01:01:08.498 --> 01:01:10.709
murdered by the police.

01:01:11.209 --> 01:01:14.880
When he went back to
his housing project,

01:01:14.880 --> 01:01:17.173
they claimed that they
saw him with a TV set,

01:01:17.173 --> 01:01:19.342
that he had looted something.

01:01:19.342 --> 01:01:23.847
We don't know if that's true,
but witnesses saw him come out

01:01:23.847 --> 01:01:27.434
with his hands up, and a police
officer put a shotgun into his

01:01:27.434 --> 01:01:29.561
chest and pulled the trigger.

01:01:31.688 --> 01:01:34.733
[Dwania VO] There are not a
lot of words that can really...

01:01:34.733 --> 01:01:37.277
You know, there are no words.

01:01:37.277 --> 01:01:42.282
♪♪♪

01:02:03.470 --> 01:02:06.222
♪Officers♪

01:02:06.222 --> 01:02:08.642
♪Why do you♪

01:02:08.642 --> 01:02:11.895
♪Have your guns out?♪

01:02:11.895 --> 01:02:15.231
♪Officers♪

01:02:15.231 --> 01:02:19.110
♪dramatic orchestral music♪

01:02:19.110 --> 01:02:21.780
♪Officers♪

01:02:21.780 --> 01:02:24.574
♪Why do you♪

01:02:24.574 --> 01:02:28.078
♪Have your guns out?♪

01:02:28.078 --> 01:02:32.415
♪Officers♪

01:02:32.415 --> 01:02:37.420
♪♪♪

01:02:38.797 --> 01:02:42.342
♪Officers♪

01:02:42.342 --> 01:02:45.095
♪Why do you♪

01:02:45.095 --> 01:02:50.100
♪Have your guns out?♪

01:02:50.850 --> 01:02:53.853
♪Officers!♪

01:02:53.853 --> 01:02:56.606
♪Why do you♪

01:02:56.606 --> 01:03:01.528
♪Have your guns out?♪

01:03:01.528 --> 01:03:02.445
You shot me!

01:03:02.445 --> 01:03:04.322
[Rev. Lawson in video] They
were only doing their job!

01:03:04.322 --> 01:03:05.532
You shot me!

01:03:05.532 --> 01:03:07.117
But if their jobs requires...

01:03:07.117 --> 01:03:08.535
[men] [repeatedly, staggered]
You shot me!

01:03:08.535 --> 01:03:12.288
That they stick a shotgun in
the midsection of a 17-year-old

01:03:12.288 --> 01:03:14.958
boy who has his hands
over his head and is saying

01:03:14.958 --> 01:03:15.875
"Don't shoot"...

01:03:15.875 --> 01:03:20.630
[men] [repeatedly, staggered]
You shot me!

01:03:20.630 --> 01:03:24.300
We know what police
brutality and harassment means,

01:03:24.300 --> 01:03:27.012
and we are through with it,
and we want to see it end

01:03:27.012 --> 01:03:28.304
once and for all!

01:03:28.304 --> 01:03:32.559
[man VO] [repeatedly, staggered]
You shot me!

01:03:32.559 --> 01:03:34.644
[in unison] You shot me.

01:03:39.190 --> 01:03:41.151
[slides clicking]

01:03:41.151 --> 01:03:46.156
♪deep tense music♪

01:04:02.172 --> 01:04:07.177
[Kathleen VO] The brutality
and repression in the South

01:04:07.385 --> 01:04:11.264
was something that
really wasn't, in any sense,

01:04:11.264 --> 01:04:14.225
could be made fun of.

01:04:15.018 --> 01:04:18.521
People were murdered 'cause
they went to pray in a church.

01:04:18.521 --> 01:04:21.733
People were murdered 'cause they
they walked across a street.

01:04:21.733 --> 01:04:23.693
♪♪♪

01:04:23.693 --> 01:04:25.695
People were murdered 'cause they
were just in the wrong place at

01:04:25.695 --> 01:04:27.363
the wrong time,

01:04:27.363 --> 01:04:30.033
and that wrong place meant
the Civil Rights Movement.

01:04:30.033 --> 01:04:35.038
♪♪♪

01:04:45.965 --> 01:04:47.926
I remember coming
across the courtyard,

01:04:47.926 --> 01:04:49.719
and Dr. King says, "Jesse,

01:04:49.719 --> 01:04:50.970
we're late."

01:04:50.970 --> 01:04:53.890
♪♪♪

01:04:53.890 --> 01:04:54.599
"I know we're late.

01:04:54.599 --> 01:04:56.267
[chuckles] It's
supposed to be at five,

01:04:56.267 --> 01:04:58.645
and it's six o'clock already.

01:04:58.645 --> 01:04:59.813
We're late because of you!"

01:04:59.813 --> 01:05:00.897
[chuckles]

01:05:00.897 --> 01:05:02.315
"Putting on your Aramis."

01:05:02.315 --> 01:05:03.608
[chuckles]

01:05:03.608 --> 01:05:04.776
We laughed.

01:05:04.776 --> 01:05:06.736
♪♪♪

01:05:06.736 --> 01:05:10.156
Jesse and I were on the
ground, on the parking lot.

01:05:10.156 --> 01:05:11.825
♪♪♪

01:05:11.825 --> 01:05:15.495
Ben Branch, who used to
have a band in Memphis,

01:05:15.495 --> 01:05:17.956
came on the parking
lot, and Jesse said,

01:05:17.956 --> 01:05:20.583
"Dr. King, look who's here!"

01:05:20.959 --> 01:05:23.586
And Dr. King said,
"Brother Ben!"

01:05:23.586 --> 01:05:26.798
And Dr. King was
leaning over the bannister,

01:05:26.798 --> 01:05:31.010
and Dr. King said, "I want
you to play tomorrow night...

01:05:31.010 --> 01:05:33.304
'Precious Lord,'

01:05:33.304 --> 01:05:36.432
and I want you to
play it real pretty."

01:05:36.432 --> 01:05:38.643
And he stood up...

01:05:40.645 --> 01:05:43.189
and we heard the shot.

01:05:43.982 --> 01:05:46.442
But Doc was gone.

01:05:49.279 --> 01:05:51.114
He never knew what hit him.

01:05:51.114 --> 01:05:53.116
He didn't suffer at all.

01:05:53.116 --> 01:05:55.660
He was here, he was not here.

01:05:55.660 --> 01:06:00.665
♪melancholy music♪

01:06:02.625 --> 01:06:05.628
When you see something
like that, you never...

01:06:05.962 --> 01:06:06.963
really recover.

01:06:06.963 --> 01:06:08.131
It a kind of...

01:06:08.131 --> 01:06:09.174
post-traumatic syndrome.

01:06:09.174 --> 01:06:12.218
You never really
recover from such a scene.

01:06:12.218 --> 01:06:17.223
♪♪♪

01:06:22.228 --> 01:06:23.646
Ah!

01:06:24.564 --> 01:06:27.650
That's that picture the
day of Martin's death,

01:06:27.650 --> 01:06:30.403
the actual assassination.

01:06:31.154 --> 01:06:33.489
I started packing
his suitcase,

01:06:33.489 --> 01:06:35.491
knowing that we were, uh...

01:06:35.491 --> 01:06:38.870
sending his stuff back
home for the last time.

01:06:39.662 --> 01:06:42.707
The interesting thing is
that Ernest was in the room

01:06:42.707 --> 01:06:45.501
[chuckling] when all
this was going on...

01:06:45.710 --> 01:06:47.337
taking pictures.

01:06:47.337 --> 01:06:52.342
♪♪♪

01:07:05.521 --> 01:07:08.608
[Ernest VO] This is the
window where James Earl Ray,

01:07:08.608 --> 01:07:13.196
the assassin of Martin, stood
on the back of the bathtub

01:07:13.196 --> 01:07:16.532
and fired the fatal
shot that killed

01:07:16.532 --> 01:07:19.535
Martin Luther King.

01:07:19.535 --> 01:07:23.289
♪soft tense music♪

01:07:23.289 --> 01:07:25.625
The fact that Martin
Luther King ended up,

01:07:25.625 --> 01:07:30.046
on April 4th, 1968,

01:07:30.046 --> 01:07:33.091
with a bullet in his
brain is connected to

01:07:33.091 --> 01:07:35.969
the political arena,

01:07:35.969 --> 01:07:38.972
and it was a very
sophisticated plot,

01:07:38.972 --> 01:07:42.392
with a long line of...

01:07:42.392 --> 01:07:46.813
gangsters, Dixie Mafia,
FBI, and Memphis Police

01:07:46.813 --> 01:07:48.231
involved in this.

01:07:48.231 --> 01:07:53.236
♪♪♪

01:07:53.736 --> 01:07:56.447
At that time, I
worked homicide...

01:07:57.740 --> 01:08:01.077
and I had to find the
security people to...

01:08:01.077 --> 01:08:03.496
to secure Dr. King.

01:08:03.496 --> 01:08:06.749
And I never have been able to
understand why they called me

01:08:06.749 --> 01:08:10.295
off on that particular day
that Dr. King was killed.

01:08:11.337 --> 01:08:13.798
I felt that something was
happening then because that was

01:08:13.798 --> 01:08:16.092
rather unusual.

01:08:16.968 --> 01:08:20.930
[Rev. Young VO] The FBI or the
Memphis Police moved Dr. King

01:08:20.930 --> 01:08:23.808
from his lower
room in the corner.

01:08:23.808 --> 01:08:27.603
That room couldn't be
seen from across the street.

01:08:27.603 --> 01:08:32.608
The FBI or the Memphis Police
asked them to move him upstairs,

01:08:33.609 --> 01:08:36.612
because it was
better for security.

01:08:36.612 --> 01:08:40.283
Well, it was better-- he
was a better target upstairs.

01:08:40.283 --> 01:08:43.036
♪♪♪

01:08:43.036 --> 01:08:47.665
The FBI knows
everything that's going on

01:08:47.665 --> 01:08:50.543
in anybody's life
they wanna know.

01:08:50.543 --> 01:08:54.714
They knew everything
about King, his movement...

01:08:55.882 --> 01:08:58.843
They knew where Ray was.

01:08:59.510 --> 01:09:03.806
They knew Ray was up there,
they knew Ray had that gun.

01:09:04.140 --> 01:09:07.393
And nobody can tell
me anything else.

01:09:07.852 --> 01:09:10.021
They...knew.

01:09:14.984 --> 01:09:17.570
[Harold VO] Informants
don't really know where the

01:09:17.570 --> 01:09:20.031
information is heading.

01:09:21.324 --> 01:09:24.994
I just don't believe that
these informants were

01:09:24.994 --> 01:09:27.663
bringing back information
thinking that he would be

01:09:27.663 --> 01:09:29.499
assassinated that night.

01:09:29.499 --> 01:09:31.250
I just don't believe that.

01:09:31.250 --> 01:09:35.004
But I do believe that there
were four or five informants

01:09:35.004 --> 01:09:36.672
that's involved,

01:09:36.672 --> 01:09:40.676
and we know,
according to the, uh...

01:09:40.676 --> 01:09:45.348
the FBI reports that
Ernest Withers was one of them.

01:09:45.348 --> 01:09:50.353
♪melancholy music♪

01:09:53.356 --> 01:09:56.067
[Kathleen VO] I can't imagine
that anything that was involved

01:09:56.067 --> 01:09:59.570
in his assassination
depended on Ernest Withers.

01:09:59.570 --> 01:10:03.241
When he was on the police force,
he had to work with the FBI in

01:10:03.241 --> 01:10:06.077
some sense, and so...

01:10:06.077 --> 01:10:08.871
what I would assume is
that, because he was Black,

01:10:08.871 --> 01:10:10.623
because he has been
in law enforcement,

01:10:10.623 --> 01:10:13.543
because they know him,
because they caught him dirty,

01:10:13.543 --> 01:10:15.586
they've got control over him,

01:10:15.586 --> 01:10:18.297
and they make him do
what they want him to do!

01:10:18.297 --> 01:10:20.550
♪♪♪

01:10:20.550 --> 01:10:23.636
And maybe they don't want Ernest
Withers to be involved in the

01:10:23.636 --> 01:10:26.472
plot to assassinate Martin
Luther King because they've got

01:10:26.472 --> 01:10:29.475
enough other
people to handle that.

01:10:29.475 --> 01:10:32.728
♪♪♪

01:10:32.728 --> 01:10:35.815
Interestingly, Ernest
was everywhere at all time,

01:10:35.815 --> 01:10:39.569
but he missed the big story; he
wasn't on the balcony in April

01:10:39.569 --> 01:10:42.280
of 1968 when
Martin Luther King was, uh--

01:10:42.280 --> 01:10:43.823
was shot.

01:10:44.323 --> 01:10:48.244
That day, I went to
court as a part of the press,

01:10:48.244 --> 01:10:51.747
taking pictures of what went on.

01:10:51.747 --> 01:10:54.917
And then, after court
was settled that evening,

01:10:54.917 --> 01:10:58.838
Jim Lawson asked me
could I ride Andy Young

01:10:58.838 --> 01:11:02.758
from the federal courthouse
back to the Lorraine Hotel.

01:11:02.758 --> 01:11:05.970
And, of course, I dropped him at
the hotel and came back and was

01:11:05.970 --> 01:11:08.598
sitting in my
office down there,

01:11:08.598 --> 01:11:13.352
and the phone rang and
it was my partner's wife.

01:11:13.352 --> 01:11:14.645
She said, "Turn the radio on.

01:11:14.645 --> 01:11:16.522
Martin Luther King's been shot."

01:11:16.522 --> 01:11:20.526
♪soft tense music♪

01:11:20.526 --> 01:11:24.113
[Richard VO] Joseph Louw was
just a few doors away from King.

01:11:24.113 --> 01:11:26.324
He heard the shots,
and he rushed out,

01:11:26.324 --> 01:11:29.118
and he got the very famous
picture on the balcony of people

01:11:29.118 --> 01:11:32.371
pointing towards the
possible assassin.

01:11:32.371 --> 01:11:33.998
♪♪♪

01:11:33.998 --> 01:11:37.460
But Louw really didn't know
what to do with 35mm film,

01:11:37.460 --> 01:11:40.463
so he asked Ernest Withers if he
could use his studio to process

01:11:40.463 --> 01:11:42.340
the film, and Withers,
of course, said yes,

01:11:42.340 --> 01:11:43.841
and he brought
him to the darkroom.

01:11:43.841 --> 01:11:46.636
I knew exactly what to do.

01:11:46.636 --> 01:11:51.641
I just told him to put
the film in the paper box,

01:11:51.807 --> 01:11:54.310
and went in and
ordered the two rolls,

01:11:54.310 --> 01:11:57.980
and developed the
two rolls of film.

01:11:57.980 --> 01:11:59.649
Perfect development.

01:11:59.649 --> 01:12:01.150
♪melancholy music♪

01:12:01.150 --> 01:12:03.653
[Richard VO] So Withers had
a great deal to do with that

01:12:03.653 --> 01:12:05.988
photograph, even
though he didn't take it.

01:12:06.989 --> 01:12:09.825
He then helped him get out
of Memphis because he knew

01:12:09.825 --> 01:12:12.870
everybody -- including
policemen -- got him to a plane,

01:12:12.870 --> 01:12:14.830
and he flew off around
midnight to New York,

01:12:14.830 --> 01:12:17.333
and the pictures were printed
in Life Magazine in the next

01:12:17.333 --> 01:12:18.709
couple days.

01:12:18.709 --> 01:12:21.671
♪♪♪

01:12:21.671 --> 01:12:24.423
If it wasn't for Ernest Withers,
probably we would have never

01:12:24.423 --> 01:12:26.717
seen those photographs.

01:12:30.429 --> 01:12:34.183
I put an exhibit of a good
percentage of the pictures I had

01:12:34.183 --> 01:12:37.270
of Martin King in the room,

01:12:37.270 --> 01:12:38.938
so when the people came,

01:12:38.938 --> 01:12:42.358
they'd have something other
than just a room to look at.

01:12:42.358 --> 01:12:47.363
♪♪♪

01:12:55.621 --> 01:12:57.582
[Frances VO] He was
just so horrified,

01:12:57.582 --> 01:13:01.419
he said, that he wasn't there
the moment that it happened.

01:13:01.419 --> 01:13:03.629
I said, "Well, Dad...

01:13:03.629 --> 01:13:05.715
what could you have done?"

01:13:05.715 --> 01:13:07.925
♪♪♪

01:13:07.925 --> 01:13:11.053
I can't say that
I've seen my father cry,

01:13:11.053 --> 01:13:13.931
but I will tell you that...

01:13:13.931 --> 01:13:16.976
my father was very, very...

01:13:17.768 --> 01:13:19.228
hurt.

01:13:19.228 --> 01:13:21.564
♪♪♪

01:13:21.564 --> 01:13:24.108
They're trying to say
that he, quote-unquote,

01:13:24.108 --> 01:13:27.403
"betrayed the Movement,"

01:13:27.403 --> 01:13:30.573
and I can honestly
say, "You're wrong,"

01:13:30.573 --> 01:13:33.951
because his work
started way before then,

01:13:33.951 --> 01:13:37.288
and he used a skill,

01:13:37.288 --> 01:13:39.665
which he was very good at,

01:13:39.665 --> 01:13:41.959
to protect lives.

01:13:43.294 --> 01:13:45.630
And that's my position.

01:13:52.970 --> 01:13:54.930
I got news for you:

01:13:54.930 --> 01:13:57.683
if you think
that Ernest Withers

01:13:57.683 --> 01:14:00.353
just took pictures of
what we were doing,

01:14:00.353 --> 01:14:03.105
he also took pictures of
what America was doing!

01:14:03.105 --> 01:14:05.941
♪soft curious music♪

01:14:05.941 --> 01:14:08.527
Perspective is everything.

01:14:10.154 --> 01:14:13.366
[John VO] Some of the things
that he showed through his

01:14:13.366 --> 01:14:16.994
pictures touched
far more lives than

01:14:16.994 --> 01:14:20.164
the few lives
that he touched

01:14:20.164 --> 01:14:21.832
as an informer.

01:14:21.832 --> 01:14:24.460
The volume of his work...

01:14:24.460 --> 01:14:27.129
speaks louder than anything.

01:14:27.129 --> 01:14:29.840
♪♪♪

01:14:29.840 --> 01:14:33.386
Ernest didn't do it
with any intent to hurt us,

01:14:33.386 --> 01:14:35.888
he did it with the intent to...

01:14:35.888 --> 01:14:37.807
make some money
at the expense of...

01:14:37.807 --> 01:14:39.141
[chuckling] the FBI.

01:14:39.141 --> 01:14:40.226
[laughs]

01:14:40.226 --> 01:14:43.062
And it was money
they wasted. [laughs]

01:14:43.062 --> 01:14:45.314
♪♪♪

01:14:45.314 --> 01:14:48.818
[Rosetta VO] I'm not
sure of his legacy now.

01:14:48.818 --> 01:14:51.320
I'm just not sure...

01:14:51.320 --> 01:14:55.825
which is tragic for his heirs,

01:14:55.825 --> 01:14:58.744
who will continue
to fight to say,

01:14:58.744 --> 01:15:02.331
"He isn't who they say he is."

01:15:02.373 --> 01:15:07.003
But I say to them,
when you're children...

01:15:07.003 --> 01:15:09.338
at home with Mother...

01:15:09.338 --> 01:15:11.716
you don't know what Daddy's
doing out there in the field

01:15:11.716 --> 01:15:13.259
with the camera.

01:15:13.259 --> 01:15:15.177
[slides clicking]

01:15:15.177 --> 01:15:20.182
♪heartwarming music♪

01:15:21.934 --> 01:15:25.521
[indistinct chatter]

01:15:25.521 --> 01:15:27.064
[woman] Say "Hi, Nana!"

01:15:27.064 --> 01:15:30.401
[gasps]
[sing-song voice] Hi, Harper!

01:15:30.401 --> 01:15:33.237
This is my Harper Ava Rose!

01:15:33.237 --> 01:15:35.740
10 fingers and 10 toes!

01:15:35.740 --> 01:15:37.867
[laughs]

01:15:38.534 --> 01:15:41.746
This is a special, special day.

01:15:41.746 --> 01:15:45.249
All of my beloved
family are here.

01:15:45.249 --> 01:15:49.044
Glorious Father Jehovah,
we ask that you be with us,

01:15:49.044 --> 01:15:52.965
we ask that you continue to help
us the way you want us to go,

01:15:52.965 --> 01:15:55.718
the way you want us to be used,

01:15:55.718 --> 01:16:00.055
and allow us to be humble
enough to accept whatever role

01:16:00.055 --> 01:16:02.725
that's been put before us.

01:16:03.392 --> 01:16:05.978
I think that
everybody at this table,

01:16:05.978 --> 01:16:09.732
at one time, that was old enough
to carry a camera or a bag,

01:16:09.732 --> 01:16:11.984
you went with him, okay?

01:16:12.610 --> 01:16:15.738
Granddaddy, every time
he snapped the camera,

01:16:15.738 --> 01:16:18.073
he told a story.

01:16:18.073 --> 01:16:22.161
It's just time for the world
to understand who he is,

01:16:22.161 --> 01:16:25.414
what he was, and why
he did what he did.

01:16:25.456 --> 01:16:27.249
What he have...

01:16:27.249 --> 01:16:29.335
will stand...

01:16:29.335 --> 01:16:32.129
the test of time.

01:16:32.421 --> 01:16:37.426
Don't let anyone
take who we are away.

01:16:37.426 --> 01:16:39.762
We must stay united,

01:16:39.762 --> 01:16:42.264
we must understand...

01:16:42.264 --> 01:16:43.432
our purpose,

01:16:43.432 --> 01:16:45.768
because what we share...

01:16:45.768 --> 01:16:47.478
is powerful.

01:16:47.478 --> 01:16:48.604
♪uplifting soulful music♪

01:16:48.604 --> 01:16:51.148
♪Some are going with you♪

01:16:52.775 --> 01:16:55.945
♪Some you can't put down♪

01:16:57.112 --> 01:16:59.949
♪Some that you're leaving♪

01:17:01.200 --> 01:17:04.286
♪Some never to be found♪

01:17:05.621 --> 01:17:08.499
♪Might get a funny feeling♪

01:17:09.834 --> 01:17:12.962
♪Something's
been overlooked♪

01:17:14.171 --> 01:17:17.216
♪But every journey forward♪

01:17:18.384 --> 01:17:21.137
♪Two roads♪

01:17:23.973 --> 01:17:28.060
♪But one you took...♪

01:17:28.060 --> 01:17:29.812
[Ernest VO] You have
to have your own vision,

01:17:29.812 --> 01:17:32.481
you have to have a
sense of morality,

01:17:32.481 --> 01:17:34.191
honesty.

01:17:34.191 --> 01:17:35.025
Is it true?

01:17:35.025 --> 01:17:35.734
Does it hurt?

01:17:35.734 --> 01:17:37.987
What good does it do?

01:17:38.487 --> 01:17:42.658
Ain't nothing that nobody can
tell you your moral character!

01:17:42.658 --> 01:17:45.870
[chuckles] Give you
the qualities to be

01:17:45.870 --> 01:17:48.706
what you is and
not what you ain't.

01:17:48.706 --> 01:17:50.666
My father said that.

01:17:50.666 --> 01:17:54.169
"'Cause if you ain't what you
is, you is what you ain't."

01:17:54.753 --> 01:17:58.090
♪But every journey forward♪

01:17:58.549 --> 01:18:03.012
♪Two roads, two roads♪

01:18:04.346 --> 01:18:08.517
♪One you took♪

01:18:09.018 --> 01:18:12.688
♪(Two roads, two roads)♪

01:18:12.688 --> 01:18:15.399
♪One you took♪

01:18:15.399 --> 01:18:20.404
♪(Two roads, two
roads, two roads)♪

01:18:24.199 --> 01:18:27.536
♪Green hearts, they
may surround you♪

01:18:28.370 --> 01:18:31.707
♪Gray clouds
might fill the sky♪

01:18:32.541 --> 01:18:35.711
♪Black thoughts
might come to bury you♪

01:18:36.545 --> 01:18:39.757
♪Have you
always asking why♪

01:18:40.883 --> 01:18:44.303
♪Might get a shaky feeling♪

01:18:45.054 --> 01:18:48.432
♪Something's
been overlooked♪

01:18:49.266 --> 01:18:52.478
♪But every journey forward♪

01:18:53.062 --> 01:18:54.605
♪Two roads♪

01:18:55.231 --> 01:18:57.232
♪Two roads♪

01:18:57.316 --> 01:18:58.817
♪Two roads♪

01:18:58.817 --> 01:19:01.570
♪But one you took♪

01:19:01.570 --> 01:19:06.575
♪(Two roads, two
roads, two roads)♪

01:19:07.242 --> 01:19:09.787
♪One you took♪

01:19:09.787 --> 01:19:14.792
♪(Two roads, two
roads, two roads)♪

01:19:18.003 --> 01:19:23.008
♪(Two roads, two
roads, two roads)♪

01:19:26.262 --> 01:19:31.266
♪(Two roads, two
roads, two roads)♪

01:19:34.520 --> 01:19:39.525
♪(Two roads, two
roads, two roads)♪

01:19:42.820 --> 01:19:47.825
♪(Ohh, ohh, ohh)♪

01:19:50.786 --> 01:19:55.791
♪♪♪