Before the Memories Fade: Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy

Interviewing Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy on May 24th was very special for me. The reason why this interview was different from the others is because a conversation I had with him over 10 years ago planted in my head the idea for a documentary about the Civil Rights Movement. Back then, while breaking down my equipment after interviewing him about another topic, Rev. Fauntroy and I had a conversation about the use of non-violence as a tactic to produce change and the discipline it took to maintain a non-violent stance during the 60s movement. Rev. Fauntroy called the tactic the Science of Non-Violence. This conversation stayed on my mind for years, and I told myself that if I got the chance I would do a documentary on the movement.

For those of you who don't know about Rev. Fauntroy's part in the movement, here is one little tidbit: Rev. Fauntroy worked as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s liaison to Washington D.C.

Above, you can see him showing me a photo of the signing of the Voting Rights Bill by President Lyndon Johnson as Fauntroy and Dr. King looked on.

For more information on the Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, search his name on the internet and look at his bio on Wikipedia. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Fauntroy

On a side note, the interview occurred on one of the hottest days of the year and when the building air conditioning was turned off. Hot, hot, hot!