Before The Memories Fade: William T. Coleman

It was a rainy morning in Lexington, Kentucky, on April 8, but the sun shone long enough for me to have a great shoot with the Honorable William T. Coleman, Jr., Esq. Mr. Coleman was in town this past Thursday to speak at the University of Kentucky College of Law.

For those of you who have never heard of Mr. Coleman, let's just say his work had a hand in some some really big legal aspects of the movement. Mr. Coleman worked closely with Thurgood Marshall on many cases, including as one of the lead strategists and coauthor of the legal brief in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Brown was one of the landmark civil rights cases dealing with racial segregation in which the U.S. Supreme Court held racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.

Mr. Coleman shared some very interesting stories of his life and his time in the movement. His stories were intriguing and after hearing his personal insights, I couldn't help but leave the interview questioning the truth of some of what we were taught about situations that occurred in American history.

For more on William T. Coleman: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thaddeus_Coleman,_Jr.

Before the Memories Fade: Stoney Cooks

I had a very interesting talk with Mr. Cooks on October 9th in Washington, D.C. We talked about what led him to join the movement and travel down south while he was enrolled in college in Indiana. He told me that while driving in the south they decided to stop for food: "We should have known better but it all worked out."

A lot of the interview revolved around the strategic side of the protests, marches, and sit-ins. Mr. Cooks really wanted to get across that events were strategized and planned. "We didn't just get arrested to get arrested. Everyone couldn't get arrested at the same time. Someone had to keep track of who got arrested and where they were. We also needed to be able to continue the protests."

One note that I have to leave you with comes from the pre-interview conversation Mr. Cooks and I had about Rosa Parks. While talking about researching the movement, Mr. Cooks stated that the internet is great but people often stop at the little snippets they read on wikipedia and usually don't dig further. For example, he commented: "The biggest miscarriage of justice to sister Rosa Parks was the belief that she was just tired and didn't want to move out of her seat." Rosa Parks was not simply tired. She was a community activist who had earlier spent time with Dr. King and others at the Highlander Center in Tennessee, a meeting place where activists frequently gathered to share strategies for nonviolent protest (http://www.highlandercenter.org/). Ms. Parks made a conscious decision not to give up her seat because of racial injustice.

Before the Memories Fade: Dr. Dorothy Height

I'm typing this entry with a big smile because on Thursday October 8th, I interviewed Dr. Dorothy Height for the film. Dr. Height! If you guys don't know who she is, you need to read up on her quickly. Dr. Height is a 97 year young wealth of knowledge on women's rights and civil rights. Dr. Height is respected world wide and has many honorary doctorates from universities here in the states. She took over the leadership of the National Counsel for Negro Women after Mary McLeod Bethune. That is history people and it was a honor to get her perspective on the movement!!

What I decided to focus on in our conversation was a little known effort in the movement started by Dr. Height and Polly Cowan in the Spring of 1964. It was called "Wednesdays in Mississippi." The idea was to send interracial and interfaith teams of northern women to Mississippi on Tuesday and return on Thursday, having spent all day Wednesday talking with and reaching out to the women of the south. Dr. Height said that black women from the north would meet with black women of the south, while the white women from the north would meet with white women of the south. The northern women would all meet up later and discuss ways in which thy could help their fellow sisters.

We did discuss many other movement related subjects, but I'm going to let you hear about them in the movie.

It was a great interview, and Dr. Height was, as I expected, strong, smart, and delightful.

For more on Dr. Dorothy Height go to: http://www.ncnw.org/ and please web search her name and learn more.

Before the Memories Fade: Fox Artists

Today I met with and signed a very talented and young husband and wife team of sketch artists to work on the documentary. Justin and Lauren Fox of Lexington, Kentucky, have impressed me with their diffrent styles of rendering images. I will be incorporating several of their pieces in the film. I believe their sketches will add a different element to the film's look.

Both Justin and Lauren will be designing the promotional poster for the film. I gave them a concept but I'm going to let them do their magic. I can't wait to see the result. Their ability is a reminder that it's not the size of the company but the talent in it.

For more information on Justin and Lauren go to: http://www.foxartists.com/

Before the Memories Fade: Derrill E. Holly

Mr. Holly was my last interview of the day on September 18th. I met with him at his home in Maryland. Mr. Holly and I became friends years ago when I worked as the Chief Photographer for Hearst-Argyle Television's Washington Bureau and he was a national radio reporter for the Associated Press.

After we caught up a little, Mr. Holly told me that in the 60s he lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and was in high school when he heard Dr. King speak outside of a department store to raise money for the movement. "Many of the leaders would come . . . together and speak at different churches and raise money to go back south for the movement."

We also talked about life as a Black northerner in the 60s. He said you didn't have a problem getting a seat on a bus, but if you went to certain neighborhoods, you wouldn't "be surprised if you got stopped and asked what you were doing in that neighborhood."

We also talked about the day Dr. King was assassinated and the riots that ensued afterwards. He said that his neighborhood was crazy; "you could hear the glass breaking in the corner stores." Then we talked about how those same riots influenced how reporters would be selected to cover those events. Many news outlets were not able to get an accurate story because they did not have reporters of color to get the inside story. It either wasn't safe for non ethnic reporters or no one would talk to them. The news world started to realize it too needed to integrate.

It was a good interview and great to see an old friend.

Before the Memories Fade: Ruby Gary

I interviewed Mrs. Gary at her home in Washington, D.C., on September 18th. Mrs. Gary's contributions to the movement were in the form of sign-making and marching outside of the White House in protest. She described her routine as going to work, returning home, working on signs, protesting for awhile, going home to bed, and starting it all over the next day.

Mrs. Gary had an interesting story about the day of the March on Washington. She and other foot soldiers had been preparing for the march when she began to feel ill. As the time to march grew closer, she began feeling more sick. She eventually became so ill that she had to go to the hospital. There she was diagnosed with appendicitis and had to have her appendix removed, causing her to miss the march. "I was one mad sister" after the drugs wore off, she said.

Before the Memories Fade: Julia H. James

I started September 18th with an interview in Alexandria, Virginia, of Mrs. Julia James. She was a student at North Carolina A&T in the early 60's.

Like many foot soldiers in the movement, Mrs. James never really told people of her involvement. "I don't think it's much compared to most," Mrs. James said, but as I listened, her story became more intriguing.

Mrs. James participated in sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina, right after the initial sit-ins at the Woolworths. She even went to school with and knew one of the original 4 who participated in the first sit-in in Greensboro! We also talked about her arrest while particpating in a sit-in.

My interview of Mrs. James ended with her relaying memories from the March on Washington, one of the best days of her life, she said.