The Picture Taker
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Photographer Ernest Withers shot over a million images, capturing the stars of Negro League Baseball and Memphis music alongside the everyday celebrations and sorrows of his tight-knit community. An intrepid journeyman for the Black press and often uncredited source for the white mainstream, he chased stories throughout the south and behind the scenes, drawing the world's attention to the civil rights movement from the Emmett Till trial through the King assassination and beyond. After his death, Withers was exposed as an FBI informant who'd provided photos and information about activists who'd welcomed him into their inner circle. The Picture Taker explores his motives and digs beyond the headlines that threaten to reduce a complicated life into a sensational sound bite. The Picture Taker raises questions about community, power, and patriotism in times of great social upheaval, and the lens through which we judge history. Neither saint nor sinner, loyalist nor traitor, Withers' choices and the record he left behind provide an invaluable map of the roads this country has traveled, and how far it has yet to go.
The New York Times | Beandrea July
“The film immerses viewers in Withers’s considerable storytelling abilities as an image-maker at the same time that it examines his motives for taking those very pictures — that tension is what makes for an engrossing watch."
Citation
Main credits
Bertelsen, Phil (film director)
Bertelsen, Phil (film producer)
Yasui, Lise (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Aaron Baggett, Jerry Henry, Keith Walker; editing, Bryan Gunnar Cole, Paula Heredia; music, Erin O'Hara.
Distributor subjects
African American History; Culture & Community; Civil Rights History; Southern History; Government Surveillance & Privacy; Photojournalism; Family Legacy; Black Lives MatterKeywords
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-[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]
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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.
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[planes buzzing]
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[man VO] America's first Negro
trainees are reviewed by their
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chief, Lieutenant...
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[Ernest VO] My career in
photography emerged in the
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military, where we were
soldiers in a segregated army.
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♪mellow guitar music♪
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After they learned that I
was there making pictures,
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and my Company Commander noticed
the track of white soldiers
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coming into my outfit,
and he said, "Gee,
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Withers, you had so many
white boys coming down here,
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I thought you were
running a whorehouse!"
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♪♪♪
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I came back to Memphis in '46.
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And my brother and I, we
were privy to get a GI loan
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and...
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feeling that I was
an entrepreneur,
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opened up a
neighborhood studio lab.
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I had a slogan,
"Pictures tell the story,"
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so I was just...
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automatically became
kind of a story-telling,
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picture-taking photographer.
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♪upbeat bluesy music♪
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[woman VO] Ernest Withers was
the photographic storyteller
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of Memphis.
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[man VO] What Ernest
Withers did was unprecedented.
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He photographed somewhere
between a million and
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two million pictures.
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Delighted, I am, to
be in Memphis tonight.
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[woman VO] Ernest Withers
chronicled landmark moments in
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the battle for civil rights.
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[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.
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[glass smashing]
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[man VO] There's complete
disorder on Beale Street.
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[woman VO] People were murdered
'cause they were just in the
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wrong place at the wrong time.
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And that "wrong place" meant
the Civil Rights Movement.
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[man VO] Ernest Withers
represented a treasure in the
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Black community.
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We knew somebody
was keeping a record.
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[man VO] There was kind of this
feeding frenzy of intelligence.
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They wanted a face,
they wanted a name,
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they wanted an address,
they wanted to know who their
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associates were.
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Daddy said, "Sometimes, you'll
find yourself in a position,
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having to do things to
take care of your family."
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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.
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[man VO] Ernest treated
us like we were assets.
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"Wait a minute, hold.
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Smile."
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♪♪♪
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He shouldn't have
sold his soul...
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to a white man for a dollar.
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[camera snaps]
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♪♪♪
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[woman VO] I don't know
whether he was my friend....
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[camera snaps]
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or my enemy.
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♪mellow bluesy music♪
00:04:08.081 --> 00:04:10.083
Welcome to the
Withers Collection.
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My goodness...
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This is truly amazing!
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So when we first set it up,
it was all about the work that
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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.
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[Carl] Wow.
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[Courtney] Someone said, "You
gotta come see the collection."
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I said, "Who's Ernest Withers?"
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♪♪♪
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[Ernest VO] This is a
young Martin Luther King,
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the same day, at the
end of the first ride,
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as he stood
proudly in Montgomery.
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You see one, you say,
"Oh, this is the one."
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And then you see the
next one and you say,
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"Oh, no, I gotta have that one!"
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And before I knew it,
I was just so confused,
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and I was just spinning
around in circles and...
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This is my
favorite here already.
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With Kentucky
Fried Chicken in the--
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-[Rosalind] Yeah.
-[Courtney] Look at my man here.
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That's my shot.
00:05:01.843 --> 00:05:04.387
[Rosalind VO] This
was his briefcase!
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This is what he traveled with.
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[Carl] Isn't that something?
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[Rosalind] His own book.
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-So that was his travel kit?
-Yeah.
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[Ernest VO] This is the
briefcase of Martin Luther King.
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Martin left it with his book in
the room at the Lorraine Hotel
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the night of his assassination.
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There are two parts of his
coverage and journalistic work
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that really touched him --
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that was the
Emmett Till trial...
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[Carl] Mm.
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As well as the
assassination of Martin.
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-[Carl] Right.
-[Rosalind] Those two...
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Sure.
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-[Rosalind] I think were...
-Sure.
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The most important that he
would share with the public,
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so...
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[Carl] And both really,
like, groundbreaking images.
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-Yes.
-Tragic, tragic images.
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[Carl] Wow.
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♪sparse ominous music♪
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[Ernest VO] I worked
the Emmett Till trial
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in Sumner, Mississippi...
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[camera snaps]
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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
♪♪♪
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The grand jury investigating
two white men for the kidnapping
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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.
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[camera snaps]
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The man called the court to
order and made an address to
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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."
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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--
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during testimony."
00:06:56.249 --> 00:06:59.419
And Ernest is off in the side,
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where they put him and other
African-American journalists.
00:07:03.131 --> 00:07:04.841
♪♪♪
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[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.
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When he pointed them out,
I got up and took that pic--
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took his picture.
00:07:44.464 --> 00:07:45.840
[camera snaps]
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♪♪♪
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,
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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
♪♪♪