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Travelers, to The
Mid-South Tribune Black Information Highway's
Vernon Ash audio
Interviews featuring Ernest Withers, Rev. James
Netters, Rev. Billy Kyles and others who recalled the day King was killed,
detour here.
Soledad O’Brien Reports on Life of Memphis Civil
Rights Photojournalist Ernest Withers Revealed to Have Been FBI
Informant
‘Pictures Don’t Lie’ zooms in on controversial legacy
of
one of Memphis' civil rights legacy –
Sun., Feb. 10, 8:00pm ET &
PT
Photographer Ernest Withers
documented the struggles and the victories of the U.S. Civil Rights
Movement of the 1950s and 1960s through shocking and inspiring
images that evoke the injustice and the rage of that history even
today. Along the way, he himself became an icon.
When Withers photographed the
grotesquely mutilated body of Emmett Till, slain for allegedly
whistling at a white woman, the photos rocketed across the country
and around the world in magazines and newsprint – notably in JET
and LIFE magazines, and the
Chicago Defender –
forcing the nation to focus on that
amplified vision of injustice. Withers himself was so moved that he
vowed to attend each day of the trial and photograph those accused
of the lynching.
After Withers died in 2007,
documents secured through a Freedom of Information Act request,
submitted by journalists the Memphis Commercial Appeal,
revealed that in addition to taking photographs, Withers was also a
paid informant for the FBI. Withers even had a code name, “ME
338-R,” a designation for “Memphis Racial Informant.” A paper trail
has emerged suggesting Withers gave the FBI sensitive information on
leaders of the movement, their meetings, and their activities – part
of the FBI’s official, “Ghetto Informant Program.”
CNN anchor and special correspondent
Soledad O’Brien tells the story of the secret life of Ernest
Withers in Pictures Don’t Lie, encores on CNN/U.S on
Sunday, Feb. 10 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT.
King biographer David Garrow tells
O’Brien, “There is no doubt whatsoever, the available
documentary evidence, which
includes both Mr. Withers’ name and his informant coding number –
that matches up with dozens of FBI documents – nails it, 100 percent
– case closed.”
Withers himself told no one of his
contacts with the FBI, not even his family, and his now complicated
legacy yields an array of reactions. Withers’ family members
describe feeling “devastated” and considered cancelling plans to
turn his former Memphis photography studio into a museum.
Entertainer and activist Dick Gregory tells O’Brien, “This
man...his danger was – he was all over the place,” referring to the
physical danger that Withers may have presented to leaders in the
Movement, specifically to Dr. King.
Former U.N. Ambassador and former
Atlanta Mayor Dr. Andrew Young holds a different view,
suggesting that even if Withers was an informant, his photographs
were critical to the Movement’s success: “...it would not have been
the Movement without the pictures...basically, he was the guy,”
Young says.
O’Brien dissects the
never-before-seen-on-television documents from the FBI with those
who were there at the time of critical events.
A digital feature describing the story of
how the documents came to light will be reported on
www.cnn.com/inamerica, along with a photo gallery of
Withers’ iconic images and
video excerpts of the documentary. An
audio podcast of the documentary will be posted following the
premiere airing of the documentary. CNN Student News is producing
an Educator and Parent Guide for Pictures Don’t Lie, which
will include discussion questions, and a learning activity. The
guide will be available on
www.CNNStudentNews.com.
The senior producer of Pictures
Don’t Lie is Cameo George. Tina Matherson and David Matthews
are associate producers; Erika Colin is production assistant.
Geraldine Moriba is the executive producer for CNN’s In America
unit.
CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner
Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most
trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine
cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based
network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN
Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United
States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively-syndicated news
service; and strategic international partnerships within both
television and the digital media.
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