(uplifting music) - These are the stories that move us, the stories that guide us, and the stories that reflect our community.

Filmed in our neighborhoods and local haunts by those who call this city home.

Atlanta filmmakers are documenting stories that show the life of our city in a way we could only imagine.

These are the stories that we tell.

This is "Atlanta On Film."

(dramatic music) - Hey everybody!

I am your host, Bobby Huntley, and this is "Atlanta on Film."

WABE's weekly film series featuring a collection of stories that reflect our diverse community.

This episode is made possible by our friends at the Morehouse Human Rights Film Festival.

In tonight's episode, we take a trip down to South Georgia with Benny Mitchell III and see how a pastor can change the environment around them for the better in "It Is Well."

But before we do, director Eddie G looks at how the correctional system can be impossible to break free of, especially for the wrongfully accused.

This is "Guilty Until Proven Innocent."

(film projector clicking) (beeping) (indistinct radio chatter) - [Man] Obscenities and racial slurs at them.

- [Man] We talked to the child's mom who says she wants answers from the suspect.

- [Woman] A grown man kicking a one year old?

(indistinct radio chatter) - [Woman] Boy's mother says, Trace walked up behind them and kicked her son in the back causing him to fall on the floor while he continued.

- [Man] When a police officer shoots and kills the wrong man thinking he was the gunman, the victim... - [Man] Actions of the officer who fatally fired on the wrong man during the chaotic moments after a mall shooting were justified and not criminal.

- [Woman] Scott McDonald, the 17 year old lay prone on the pavement as the shots continued, 16 rounds in 14 seconds.

But some officer's accounts sound quite different.

At least two claimed McDonald was attempting to get up while still armed with the knife.

Van Dyke faces murder charges.

He told investigators he feared for his life.

He also told them he had seen this, a 2012 bulletin warning officers of a weapon which appeared to be a knife, but was actually... (somber music) (somber music) (window knocking) - Step outta the vehicle, please sir Step outta the car!

(somber music) (alarm ringing) - Oh, fuck!

Come on.

(hurried noises and footsteps) - [Man] For the most progressive record of anybody running for the economic provision, anybody who would run.

- [Man] Joe Biden still hasn't come any closer than that to announcing an actual run.

But there are Stacey Abrams as an out of the gate VP choice, Abrams... All options are on the table for 2020.

According to Axios quote.

(eerie music) (heart beating) - I'm so sorry I'm late.

I promise this will not be a regular recurrence in my punctuality.

You requested a new public defender but you have already been arraigned so.

Rude of me, I didn't introduce myself.

I'm Chris McCullough, your new public defender.

And you are?

- I can tell you haven't read my case.

Eli.

- Eli.

- My name's Eli.

(papers shuffling) You know I got rid of the last lawyer for trying to make me take a plea deal.

- Look, I just need a few minutes to look over everything, okay?

(papers shuffling) This is not something I'm used to.

- Well, what kind of cases are you used to?

- Well, you know, petty crimes.

This is really something for a private attorney to take on.

- Well, I don't have the money for a private attorney.

I have you.

- This is a capital offense, that's punishable by death in the state of Georgia.

- Don't you think I know that?

My life is on the line and you're telling me that this is too much for you?

- You killed a cop.

That's capital murder.

Death by lethal injection.

- See, I didn't murder anyone.

It was self-defense.

- Doesn't matter if it was self-defense.

A cop is dead.

This is a high profile case that needs the attention of a high profile lawyer.

- Well I don't have high profile money for a high profile lawyer.

I got you.

- Okay There's not a jury in the world that is going to acquit you.

You understand me?

- Well, it's your job to make them understand.

- This is a lose-lose case.

- Why is that?

You haven't even asked my side of the story.

See, I shouldn't be surprised.

Public defenders work for the state.

You get paid no matter what.

- Tell me what happened that night.

- I was on my way home.

- Were you speeding?

- No.

That's when I saw the lights, the kind of lights that make a black man heart skip a beat even if he ain't done nothing wrong.

- Okay, don't you think you're reaching a little bit?

- Are you serious?

- Yeah.

That's not gonna hold up in court.

- You have no idea what it feels like to be pulled over by the police not knowing whether you gonna make it home or not.

- Okay, but what's the fear if you haven't done anything wrong?

- What's the fear?

I'm guilty by the color of my skin.

I'm automatically viewed as the suspect.

They don't see me as a man.

They see me as a black man.

- Okay, but you can't make this a black and white thing.

- It's too late for that.

- We all have the same rights and freedoms in this country, okay?

So stop playing the damn victim and race card.

- Victim.

Race card.

Is that how you see me?

- That's what I'm hearing that "I'm locked up because I'm black."

"The world's against me because I'm black."

- Really?

Well hear this, since we all have the same rights and freedoms, would you as a white man be happy to be treated the way blacks are in this country?

See, the rules are different for you and me.

So why are you okay with it?

- We can go back and forth on this all day.

The fact still remains that you killed a cop.

- Are you a subconscious racist, Chris?

- What kind of question is that?

- It's a question.

- No, I'm not a subconscious racist.

- I'm trying to make you understand that I'm viewed in a different light from you.

- You know this is a suicide mission with this defense, right?

- But you said we all have the same rights and freedoms, right?

Then why you already presuming me to be guilty?

My life matters, Chris.

The only question is, does it matter to you?

(brooding music) (brooding music) (inspirational music) (inspirational music) - Oh, excuse me - Chris, right?

- Yeah.

- I'm Karen Shaw, the prose- - I know who you are.

- So you're the new lawyer taking over this case.

- I am.

- How about I get right to the point?

You don't really think that you're gonna find a jury that's going to motion in your favor, do you?

- That's why we go to court to plead our case.

- You're right.

Look, you seem bright, ambitious and even talented from what I hear.

Are you sure you wanna be known as the man who defended a cop killer?

A murderer?

- That's my job - That it is.

But we all need friends in this line of work, favors to be made.

Are you sure you wanna become unpopular and rub people the wrong way?

Convince your client to plead guilty and I will recommend life in prison.

You fight and he gets the death penalty.

Why throw away a promising career and potential friends just to protect a cop killer?

You think about that.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music) - Eli.

- I didn't expect to see you here.

Something wrong?

- I reviewed your case and there's no easy way to say this but your chances of winning are slim.

Look, there's no video, there's no body cam.

It's just your word versus a dead cop.

Look, what I'm trying to say is, if you take this to court you will lose and you will get the death penalty.

But if you plead guilty, then- - No.

- You'll get life in prison if you do.

(somber music) - I need to be free.

- They're gonna throw everything they have at us to make an example of you.

- Then you need to throw everything that we got at them.

But you need to listen to me.

- No, I hear you, Eli.

- No, that's the problem.

You need to listen to me.

That's the only way that we would have a chance of winning.

- Okay.

Tell me what happened.

Eli.

Eli.

(dramatic music) (window knocking) - Step outta the vehicle, please, sir.

Step outta the car.

- Sir.

- Shut up and stand next to the trunk.

- Sir, is this really necessary?

- Your vehicle matches the description of one used in an armed robbery and you getting outta the vehicle is for my safety.

License and registration, please.

All right.

- Oh, almost forgot.

I figured since I wasn't carrying, I didn't have to show you my... - Drop the gun!

Oh, no, no, no.

(gun fires) (heart beating and heavy breathing) (heart beating and heavy breathing) - When you're poor and live where I live what gets done to you and how it don't matter to nobody.

I complied with every one of his commands.

I never thought that...

I would ever.

You hear about it, even see it, but you never think that it would be you.

- So you had your gun license, but you weren't carrying.

- That's correct.

I sold my gun two months ago, but before I had a chance to say anything... We put our hands up, we die.

We lie down on the ground, we die.

We comply, we die.

(somber music) You need to expose this broken system.

- How?

- Tell the truth, man.

(somber music) But you need to be willing to fight no matter what.

(somber music) Are you willing to do that?

(somber music) - Hey everybody, my name is Bobby Huntley and I am sitting here with Eddie G, the amazing writer-director of "Guilty Until Proven Innocent".

Eddie G, how are you doing today?

- I'm doing well, thanks for having me.

- Done deal, we are very excited to have you on and speak with you about this amazing film "Guilty Until Proven Innocent".

Please give us an idea, an understanding of where did this movie come from?

- Well, this movie came from, of course, my experiences with police officers and also the climate of everything that's going on right now with police.

Things of that nature, social justice.

So, we're always looked on as guilty instead of innocent til proven guilty, so it's reversed.

So, that's where the title came from, "Guilty Until Proven Innocent".

- Can you please let us know, give us some insight onto some of the challenges that you had during this production?

- Oh man, it was a lot of 'em.

Pre-production-wise, it was crazy.

For one, my main actor dropped out, my sound guy, he dropped out on me like a week before filming took place.

So in midst of that whole time, during Super Bowl weekend, I had to replace a main actor in that time, in that time crunch.

So, but I made it happen.

Ended up finding a new sound person in the nick of time.

- You walked away unscathed.

- [Eddie] Yes, surprisingly, yes, because at the time I was kind of stressing out a little bit but I had to like really, you know, think positive.

Hey, okay, it's gonna get done.

- Now with the themes of your film, can you give us an idea of how it relates and resonates with the citizens of Atlanta and their relationship to the authority?

- The cops and how they treat citizens, and the citizens, how they treat cops.

Of course, when we have an encounter with a police officer, whether it's good or bad, we still have to show each other respect.

- [Bobby] Mmm.

- In each approach.

You know what I mean?

I think respect goes a long way.

So, I think in that sense of pretty much what police brutality or whatever, people come off already even having a bad day.

We know police officer have bad days, you know what I mean?

But they're professionals.

Some things that they may going through at home, or personal life, or whatever the case may be, they can't pretty much project it off on citizens.

And and vice versa.

I mean, you tryna go home to your family, I'm tryna go home to my family, you know what I mean?

But we also do have those bad apples as well, and for those bad apples to be kinda exposed we have to have the good apples to do that, and everything like that.

I think it's a collective effort for everyone to work together to solve police brutality, or to solve discrimination, or to solve racial profiling upon citizens, no matter what.

If it's gender, sexuality, I mean, it's wrong.

I think it's a collective effort for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to pretty much, you know, being a human being.

- Yeah.

One of the most interesting scenes in your project, for me, was the scene with the public defender and also another lawyer.

- Yes.

- Her goal was to make sure that his client pleads guilty and throwing in like a lot of peer pressure and career pressure, which I think was like really brilliant for you to bring that aspect into the conversation.

Where did you get the inspiration for that scene?

- That's true.

(Eddie and Bobby chuckling) That happens in real life.

- [Bobby] Man.

- I experienced that.

- Wow.

- Yes, that's what happens because the DA, they want wins on their record.

That's how they get promoted up, you know what I mean?

More wins they get in prosecuting people, the more they get looked at as, "Oh this person has a 98% conviction rate."

You know what I mean?

It happens.

- Oh, excuse me.

- Chris, right?

- Yeah.

- I'm Karen Shaw, the prosec- - I know who you are.

- So, you're the new lawyer taking over this case.

- I am.

- How bout I get right to the point?

You don't really think that you're gonna find a jury that's going to motion in your favor, do you?

- That's why we go to court, to plead our case.

- You're right.

Look, you seem bright, ambitious, and even talented from what I hear.

Are you sure you wanna be known as the man who defended a cop killer, a murderer?

- That's my job.

- That it is.

But we all need friends in this line of work, favors to be made.

Are you sure you wanna become unpopular and rub people the wrong way?

Convince your client to plead guilty and I will recommend life in prison.

You fight, and he gets a death penalty.

Why throw away a promising career and potential friends just to protect a cop killer?

You think about that.

- So, what's next for you, man?

Tell me about the other projects you working on.

- Oh man, my next project I have going on is a mental health project.

I'm currently in pre-production right now with that.

Nothing like the one in "Guilty", but we in pre-production.

- Well, I mean, yeah.

- You know, you know, so we doing that.

So I wanna like give out pretty much more of the sense of mental health, especially in the black community.

I don't think it's spoken about enough.

I think it's kind of like swept under the rug because it's like, I guess for us, it feel like if we talk about it seems like we're weak or we crazy or something like that.

When it's like, I think you more stronger when you do speak about it.

You brave when you do talk about it, you express how you're feeling and everything like that.

So people can know exactly how can they help you and how to pretty much approach you and treat you.

You know what I mean?

So, I think we all deal with some type of mental health a little bit, in my experiences.

- Yeah, that is very important and very admirable that you would wanna use your voice to lend credence to that genre of filmmaking, and it is something that's very much needed out there in the world right now.

Eddie G, I thank you so much for coming here and sharing your gift, your amazing film.

Kudos to you and all the success, and we cannot wait to see what else you do in the very near future.

- Hey, thanks for having me.

- In the words of an old hymn: "May the work I've done speak for me."

This next film is an intimate snapshot of Reverend Dr. Bennie R. Mitchell Jr's achievements, his life, and his legacy as a teacher, pastor and activist in the state of Georgia.

Lovingly directed and produced by his son, Bennie R. Mitchell III.

This is "It Is Well".

(film projector clicking) (beeping) (TV static buzzing) - We can't make it if we don't work together.

And I want folk to understand this, that we live in a free country.

And I've been freed twice.

One, just by being born cause I'm a human being.

But when I met Jesus, he freed me indeed.

(audience applauding) - There were a lot of people at that time who knew about King, but in their town was little small minded people.

They didn't wanna recognize King.

- Every city has a street name, an avenue named after Dr. King.

We don't have that yet, but it's coming though, isn't it?

- Every little county now, like Carolina, Midway, Brunswick, they got their own parade now.

But these counties, they were afraid.

And that was one thing about Reverend Mitchell.

He was not afraid.

And that's how you know he was a god-sent man.

He wasn't afraid of anything.

- The most memorable story I have of Reverend Mitchell is when we were invited to the White House to witness the signing of the Affordable Healthcare Act.

There were about five people in the state of Georgia that was invited to the White House by President Obama, and it was an exciting time.

There were a number of very important people from across this nation.

I remember Al Sharpton noticed Bennie on the second row and walked up to Bennie and said, "What are you doing here, and what are you doing so close?"

This is only for the important folks.

And Reverend Mitchell responded, "I am who I am."

He knew his place.

The President knew his place, his President knew what he meant to Georgia because of being instrumental, in not only getting the President elected, but talking positive about what the Affordable Healthcare Act meant for Georgia and meant for this whole country.

- The 11th District was a political nightmare for the good old boys in Georgia.

And the reason is because of the media markets and campaigning and what it was able to allow a political personality to build.

- On Tuesday, I'm going to vote for Susan Weiner, and this is how it's done.

(curtains rattling) - Not only did Reverend Mitchell unite the community, whether it was Republican, Democrat, Black, white, male, female, it didn't matter to him.

- Democrat, Republican.

Once you get to at a certain level they're all the same anyway.

But, increasingly that's what the people were beginning to understand and they were demanding real representation.

- Reverend Mitchell, he was empowering African Americans and people in general who felt that their rights had been trampled on, or had not received equal treatment under the law.

- Elected officials are quote 'not leaders'.

They are elected leaders.

Leaders are not elected to positions.

If you read your Bible, leaders of the people emerge.

Elected officials are elected to articulate the people's wishes.

And if any elected official in here don't do what the folks say, your time is limited.

(audience cheering) - We got 50 people elected in that area just because we went in with a vengeance.

- He was not one who didn't mind bucking the system.

It wasn't about color, it was about the content of somebody's character and what they intended to do.

So, in that respect, he truly followed Martin Luther King's teachings.

- I'm Reverend Bennie R. Mitchell Jr.

I'm pastor of the Connor's Temple Baptist Church.

I'm President of Con-Ed Incorporated.

- Con-Ed is Reverend Mitchell's baby.

He had a vision, he had a dream, that he wanted a facility that was available to this community.

He wanted to have a place for people to come.

He wanted a place for Connor's Temple members to come.

For any other member, any other person in the community to come, and be able to find things that they need to help them.

- He had a passion and a love for all of God's people and it showed throughout his community service, what he did in his church, what he did outside of his church.

And it was awe-inspiring.

- Con-Ed will be a resource center to every family that's in Chatham County who chooses to take advantage of what we offer.

We will be able to offer it, whatever you need, voluntarily, free.

This center, hopefully, will be able to offer these preliminary things to the family.

- [Preacher] Let's give him his flowers while he's alive.

Would you stand and greet the keeper of the dream in Savannah, Georgia, the chairman of the Martin Luther King Association Observance Day Committee, and my fraternity brother, Reverend Bennie R. Mitchell.

(upbeat music) - Get that humming out this mic now.

Don't mess me up.

I ain't wrote the check yet.

(audience laughing) Look at the 10th verse, see how Jesus organized before he went to do what he was going to do.

Jesus said, make the men sit down.

And the point here is you can't do anything without organization.

It seems like we as a people, we just think that we can just take over.

Just help organization by helping your leader.

You can't go ahead of the leader, the leader needs you, and you need the leader.

No, no, you got to organize.

I was born and raised in Edgefield, South Carolina.

Went to school at W. Parker High School and Elementary.

Benedict College in Columbia in 1966 through '70.

And went to Atlanta in 1971 to attend graduate school at the Morehouse School of Religion, where we really felt at home, where Blacks were really in political leadership and somewhat control.

And plus we had Dr. King's father.

I worked with him while being a student there.

So we came in contact with a whole lot of the guys and preachers that we read about and that we had heard about, and that we had heard preach, that really preached the social gospel.

- As the saying goes, everybody has a history.

I knew of him because we were in the same union third division where the churches come together for education-wise and what have you.

But this particular Sunday, I went to Lee Perrin's service station in McCormick, South Carolina and he just walked over to me and said, "You're going to be my wife."

And I looked at him as if he was crazy.

We dated and the love between us just began to grow.

Now, I do feel within myself it was a divine intervention that we came together.

After marriage, and went to ITC in Atlanta, Georgia.

After he graduated from ITC, he got his degree, I got mine.

And then we went from place to place looking for employment.

We went to North Carolina, South Carolina.

So finally we got a letter from Savannah.

And when we got here the very first time, it was like, this is home.

(peaceful piano music) (peaceful piano music) - I met the Reverend Bennie R. Mitchell in 1974 when he first arrived here in Savannah, Chatham County.

- At that time he was a tall, slender guy and he came to Savannah in sideburns and a big afro and I was so inspired by what he had to say.

- When I was about 13 years old I saw him preaching from behind the pulpit at Connor's Temple.

Church was packed, and there he was preaching his usual sermon of social justice and economic justice.

- The messages that he delivered, it captured a young teenage boy's ear, in that he incorporated in his message real life situations that we had to face after Sunday morning.

- [Rev.

Mitchell] So we see King Belshazzar and his guests having a ball.

They're having a good time.

Until he really lost control.

He was already an idol worshiper, but his wine made him lose all respect for the only true God and the things of God.

Note it, if you please, which brings me to this point, we as church folk, labor, civil rights groups, women, poor, Black, within these last 35 years of limited freedom, we've become drunk.

So drunk with positions and titles with no power.

Materialism, until we've become selfish and low down, apathetic and blind and deaf, until we've lost a sense of community.

And in many cases we've lost and we are losing our families.

Our children are telling us what to do.

No more, "yes sir's" and "no ma'am's", please and thank you's.

No sense of struggle, they have no sense of struggle, and the pain that we have gone through with.

As a nation of people, it seems nobody cares for anybody anymore.

We've become so drunk for power, drunk for money, until we advertise ourselves during election time with capital letters, "I AM FOR SALE".

Some folk will do anything now for recognition, even if it means lying and degrading and cheating that which is holy just to get their way.

But I tell you tonight, the Bible is still true.

Galatians 6:7 says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

For the hand is writing on the wall.

- The first time I met Reverend Mitchell he came over to my office.

I was then pastoring Saint John Baptist Church and he said "I came over just to sorta look over your shoulders, to see what you are doing.

You seem to have had some success.

And I'm the new pastor at Connor's Temple."

- I knew about Dr. Mitchell from the country and he and I lived about 50 miles apart.

And I knew about him through singing.

- Well, people came countywide to witness at Connor's Temple this eloquent speaker who can also sing.

- And Reverend was a dynamite singer and he had some music out there.

Hymns and anthems and spirituals.

A man with a pitch.

(mellow gospel music) ♪ There's a bright side ♪ ♪ Somewhere ♪ ♪ There's a bright side ♪ ♪ Somewhere ♪ - He had one heck of a singing voice.

And I heard Reverend Mitchell sing for the first time and I was thoroughly impressed that that kind of vocals harmony could come out of this man that was so hard spoken when it came to calling problems for what they were in this community.

To be so, so genuine when it came to music.

♪ Mmmmmmm ♪ ♪ Something ♪ ♪ Happened ♪ ♪ And now ♪ ♪ And now ♪ ♪ And now I know ♪ ♪ Ohhhhhhhh!

♪ ♪ Ohhhh Oohhhhh Ohhhhhh!

♪ ♪ He... ♪ ♪ Touched me ♪ - We then called him the Singing Preacher.

And at that time everybody wanted to come hear the Singing Preacher.

- He loved the song "Wonderful" And he would sing that and sometimes we'd be together in churches and he'd start it off and I would take over.

Nobody could do it like Bennie.

♪ Wonderful ♪ ♪ God is so wonderful ♪ - And I loved his singing so much.

Oh God, he could sing.

Stirred my soul when he sang.

♪ If you haven't tried God ♪ ♪ Try the Lord one day ♪ ♪ See what my Father ♪ ♪ Come down and make a way ♪ ♪ And ooooh, I can't help but praise God ♪ ♪ Cause he is so wonderful ♪ - The BRM Choir was the brainchild of Reverend Bennie R. Mitchell Jr. - He noticed that there were a lot of children sitting in the congregation not participating.

He called a meeting with the children and their parents on a second Sunday in September.

From that meeting, the BRM Junior Choir was organized.

His focus was to get the young people involved, which consisted of children from ages four, through high school graduation.

I was at that organizational meeting and I am still with that choir in the capacity of second in command advisor.

The head advisor is Ms. Beatrice Wymack.

- I can remember growing up watching my two brothers sing in the choir and then later on my sister.

I can remember about 130 young people singing in the choir.

I think my brothers were a part of the first generation of the BRM Choir.

So to my knowledge, there were like three or four generations of us who came through that choir.

- Reverend Mitchell, when he went to go preach at certain places, he took his congregation with him.

Primarily, he wanted to expose the kids to something that they didn't normally see.

So I went to Washington D.C., I went to New York City.

- Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, sometimes in Florida.

An occasional trip to South Carolina.

So, that was actually my first opportunity to travel, through the BRM Choir, beyond my hometown here in Savannah.

- But we were always like a family.

Rehearsals all day.

We ate, we traveled, we played, we fought, we loved.

- Meeting other young people just like myself, other young boys and young girls, who were also fired up and passionate about God and Christ, but also were singing and lending their voices to help build his kingdom, so very, very grateful for that.

And I owe all that to Reverend Mitchell.

- I'll never forget the fondest memory of singing solo, leading songs in the choir.

♪ If you're on the Lord's side ♪ ♪ If you're on the Lord's side ♪ ♪ If you're on the Lord's side ♪ ♪ Get on up ♪ ♪ Get up ♪ ♪ If you're on the Lord's side ♪ ♪ Get-Get-Get-Get-Get.... ♪ (crowd cheers) ♪ If you're on the Lord's side ♪ ♪ Get on up ♪ ♪ Get up ♪ - I think the uniqueness about the BRM choir was, in Reverend Mitchell's own unique way, we had initial choir voices, but he was trying to help us find our own voice, not only within Christ, but also within the world as leaders and as people who wanted to make an impact and have a ministry within the world.

- Our text this morning is taken from the New Testament.

Book of Hebrews, the 12th chapter and the second verse.

- Being much, much older than he is, he was a young man with an old man's style.

- See, before some of us gets to glory of Beulah Land, (audience members shout faintly) Something may be standing in our way.

(audience shouting) It could be commitment.

It could be a neighbor.

- [Audience Member 1] Yeah!

- [Audience Member 2] Yeah!

- Can I get a witness?

- All across this country, when folk would call him to preach, and I knew this firsthand because I was his musician, I was his traveling musician, folk would listen to the content of what Reverend Mitchell had to say.

The fact of the matter, he was always relevant with his preaching and I think that's what made his preaching powerful.

Being relevant.

- You don't choose the cross.

The cross chooses you!

- [Audience Member] Yeah!

But you choose your battles!

- [Audience Member] Yep.

You bought the car because you liked the car.

- [Audience Member] Yeah!

(audience clapping) - You got the woman because you like the woman!

You got the man because you like the man!

- [Audience Member] Yeah!

- Can I get a witness?

(audience cheers) But a cross, you don't choose it yourself!

The cross chooses you!

So then what is a cross?

A cross is a voluntary responsibility.

- [Audience Member] Yes sir!

- Something that you don't have to do, but it's something on the inside that compels you to do it.

(audience clapping) - Benny Mitchell was a superbly talented preacher and singer and all these gifts, and many people have these gifts, they become entertainers.

Benny became an emancipator, and that's a great difference between being an entertainer.

He felt happy in this predicament.

He sought to change our situation and so I cherish our relationship and his memory.

- So by being here maybe a year or two, I observed that every ethnic group had their own kind of celebration and festivities.

So the only thing then that I saw was lacking, because there was no Black history, African American history, being taught and it wasn't any encouragement to do so.

- He and a number of ministers went before city council and they wanted to have an official Martin Luther King Day in the city of Savannah.

- This is something that had to be, it was an American, he was a Georgian, Nobel Peace Prize winner.

So he had all the attributes that was needed and deserved a holiday because he gave his life and really set the world free.

(crowd applauds) - Let me give you a good example.

I took a poll in our church yesterday of 150 students, young people in our church, ranging from the age of five to 17.

Out of those 150 students, I had half of three quarters of my children did not have any anything mentioned in the school system that month about Martin Luther King Jr. Not none.

- We could have had a Martin Luther King Observance Day without it getting political.

But when you started talking about having it recognized by government, that's when the politics got into it.

But it's not really a political celebration as such, although much of what Dr. King represented was political as well as social.

- What we wanted to do was to make sure that the school honored the holiday also, although you got the city, but every entity has its own...

Structure or rules to go by.

So we wanted the school to recognize that day.

So now that's the only way we could get them recognize it was to hit 'em where it hurt.

- I don't know if this still is, but ADA, average daily attendance, school systems get so much money for each child, each day, which meant that if the parents did not allow their children to come to school, that meant X number of dollars the system would not get.

So that's a tool that we used.

We tried getting the parents to not allow their children to come to school.

We were boycotting the school system.

- What I'm saying, don't wait on white teachers to do what you can do in your own classroom!

(audience applauds) You gotta act responsible!

If you do not protect what's yours, ain't nobody else going to do it!

If you don't support this day, nobody else will support this day!

(audience applauds) - It was historic.

It was something that the children should have been exposed to because they were not getting these types of things in school.

They need to know their history.

They need to know why we were observing MLK.

They need to know who Martin Luther King was.

- The point is that we got it to be a holiday here before the national accepted it as a national holiday.

So we got Dr. King's holiday actually on his birthday which was January 15th.

- We must not forget that this is not a holiday for rest nor for (indistinct) commercializing.

As sister Dorothy Cotton said, "We don't need no white sales going on on this day."

Dr. King shed his blood for us so that we can live as equals.

We don't need any drunken parties.

We don't need any frivolous play.

This is a day for study, struggle, prayer, and preparation of the victory to come.

- Prior to 1972, there was no continuous celebration or remembrance of the works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In Savannah.

So in January, January 15th, 1972, the EOA decided to sponsor a program in remembrance.

- Which it was not established as a big thing.

It was only done at the EOA and it was held at the EOA center.

But Reverend Mitchell made it nationwide.

It was always televised.

It got on radio.

And so he really made it a big thing.

- This observance, the association of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration of Chatham County, it was for the whole county.

So everybody had...

Fit in to make the holiday what it is.

Some of the key people helped with the organization.

Ben Gay, who is now deceased, who's the president of the Savannah Emancipation Association.

He and that group, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Anabaptist Ministers Union, and the Evangelicals.

We had all of those particular ministerial groups plus we had some fraternity groups.

But when you talk about just hard-nosed people, you talk about Ben Gay, you talk about JB Bates, you talk about William K. Miller, Carl Faison, who is dead.

All those guys are gone on to be with the Lord, the older preachers.

And then we had the business side, we had Benny Belo, we had Joe Bell, and we had Bob James, and the present mayor, brother Otis Johnson, was a good worker with us who also spoke as an activist when we went to do things and Roy Jackson was very instrumental in helping us to get things done.

And we appreciate the...

The Black women.

Coalition of Black Women who came in, who were teachers who wanted to help.

They were behind the scenes because they were afraid of their jobs, but they made sure that we got organized.

Some of the speakers we've had, we've had all the greats.

And we wanted to expose this community of the people that I had been exposed to because these were the people that were making things happen and making our world and our country a better place to live for all people.

Some of the speakers we had, we had Wyatt Tee Walker, who served as secretary for SELC.

We had Fred Shuttlesworth, which is one of the three founders.

Dr. Joseph Lowery.

We've had Dr. David Abernathy.

We've had Representative Tyrone Brooks.

We even had Jesse Jackson.

Ben Hooks was the national president of the NAACP.

Then we had Dorothy Cotton, one of the first women that were in the movement, who was a part of that inner circle of Dr. King.

(audience applauds) - Now y'all going to love this.

(audience cheers) - Reverend Mitchell had me paint Dr. King for the Civic Center.

I think that day was a big celebratory, you know, big festive day.

It was like eight or 9,000 people in the Civic Center.

It was like a rockstar show for that day.

It was filled.

I was very happy to be a part of history.

I knew we were making history to have a... A big celebration before D.C., before New York, before L.A. Little old Savannah was number one.

It felt real good.

(audience cheering) - This is our leader!

Let's follow his premises because if we don't stand, ain't nobody going to give us nothing.

We must stick together!

(audience applauds) - I believe that at that point in time, Reverend Mitchell's fearlessness, his outspokenness, and his willing to step up to the plate certainly was very important in developing that observance day.

- You've been working on this parade pretty steady.

- Yeah.

- What do you think, Benny?

- I think it's great, Lindy.

Not only with the interest, but if you notice, it just went by the Sheriff's Department, and we got all the law.

Everything-- (speaking overlaps indistinctly) - [Interviewer] With that police car, the 1953 police car and the two police officers, the first Black officers.

- That's great.

That's great.

So that shows the participation.

It's growing and the reason why it's growing so is because if we did not have this day, the sensitivity would not be there for the community.

- I don't really think that Reverend Mitchell ever got the proper credit that he deserves for the Martin Luther King Observance Day that's going on right now in the city of Savannah.

I remember years ago when he and a number of others tried to get this Martin Luther King Observance Day started, so they wanted to have a big breakfast.

So they invited a lot of people and I was the person that they asked to be the master of ceremonies.

And I remember talking to the Reverend Mitchell and Diane Harvey Johnson later about how it was difficult to get people to come to that the first time we had that.

- My friends, if Dr. King were here today, I believe he would say to you that budgets can reflect justice and mercy.

- [Audience Member] Yes, sir.

- And redemption.

That the way we decide to spend our money is a reflection of a nation's soul.

- [Audience Member] Yes, sir.

- That what we do in the priorities of our spending, how we educate our children, how we prepare jobs, not of redundancy, but of jobs with future, is a testimony to economic justice.

(audience applauds) - One of the original goals at the outset was to foster better relations between the races.

We are still living in a segregated society and we wanted to reach out to the business community because many of the people who were sitting around the table were business people.

And we felt that economic parity, economic development in the African American community was key to moving the total community forward.

- When Reverend Mitchell became involved in the political scene in Savannah, he wanted to bring about change.

There was an organization that I was involved with, the Political Advisory Council, and we may not have always agreed on who to endorse or what candidates, but what he did, he raised the hard questions about what was a candidate going to do for Savannah, particularly for the African American community.

And he was very adamant in his beliefs and what he wanted to see to affect change in this community.

- Particularly when people were running for office, he would make sure that these politicians, to include myself, remained true to what we said we were going to do.

And that was to improve the social condition of those that were impoverished, for those that were unemployed and underemployed, for those that were incarcerated, those who were poor in spirit and poor economically.

And I appreciated him for that.

- It was very politically dicey in those days because the white politicians had to try to keep the white community happy and also understand that the Black community had not at that point the power to elect their own, but could make the difference between who was elected and who wasn't elected.

- Prior to the 804 campaign, there was the search and quest for us to break the old pattern and go in a new direction to involve people who've been locked out the process.

People had the right to vote, but no motivation to vote.

Benny Mitchell and Benny Belo were two of the people calling in South Georgia for a time, for a new day that upon us.

And so part of the "Run, Jesse, Run" cry came out of Benny Mitchell's church.

Many ministers are well-meaning, but not well-doing because well-doing requires action.

And anybody willing to march down the streets, call people to act and take the risk for Reverend Mitchell.

- And we've had people out on the weekend all this weekend.

We have people out early this morning, trying and getting folk out to vote and we're encouraging those who need a ride to the polls.

And I'm saying on tomorrow, this is the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

The leadership of Savannah and also those citizens of Savannah have a chance now to prove that we have vision because we have the opportunity to elect a man like Andy Young who cares about the now as well as the future.

And Andy has a great track record.

And if we care about our children being educated, if we care about having money in our pocket to spend and food and clothes for our children, shoes on their feet, and for businesses to grow, how can a good businessman, or either a good citizen, a good educator, could vote for anybody else other than Andy Young?

And we want to say, Andy, we are working for you.

- Thank you.

- And the Lord is... (clapping) - I have to say, from a political standpoint, there are a go-to people in the city or in the state, wherever, and he was certainly one of those go-to people, somewhat of a gatekeeper, a political broker, in a very positive sense, who had a lot of influence.

And so if you're running for office in Chatham County, there's certain people that you go see.

Benny Mitchell would be on the extreme shortlist of that.

- I had been told to stay away from Benny Mitchell because he was independent.

He was unpredictable.

He was someone that you couldn't really count on if you were a good old boy Democrat who was counting on Black people to put you in a position of power.

Well, Benny Mitchell didn't go along with that.

I extended myself to meet him.

He endorsed my campaign and when I won, it was fantastic.

So Benny Mitchell was the kind of independent thinking Black man that I think every Black man should be.

- Two billion!

135 million dollars proposed for the next 24 months.

Minorities will get less than 1%.

"Where it's coming from, Reverend?"

Well, let's see.

(audience members mumbling) City of Savannah will spend on goods and services alone more than $50 million.

Chatham County will spend over $30 million.

Savannah Housing Authority will spend over $15 million.

Somebody getting it, but it ain't coming nowhere near us.

(audience applauds) - By investing in the minority business, that minority, he's going to hire minority, most likely hire more minorities.

Why?

Because he's going to hire folk look like him.

(laughs) Who going to buy?

They going to buy because they have the money to buy, but they can't buy if they don't have the money.

That's the same thing it is with food.

- We know that in other communities, their dollar turns over within their community because they do business with one another.

Unfortunately, we do not have that trait in the African American community.

- So many times, we are left out of the picture and Reverend Mitchell was always at the helm of urging the Chamber of Commerce, the SEDA, Savannah Economic Development Authority, the Savannah Business Bureau, everybody to support African Americans and their participation so that we might enjoy our piece of the pie.

- We want something else besides labor!

(audience members clapping) Our children got to be educated!

(audience applauds) - Hutchinson Island got a project, 600 million dollars!

Bought property that was owned by Black folk for nothing and making a mint!

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) We are not getting any of it!

Women are not getting no contracts of this money.

Blacks are not getting any.

Somebody getting it.

- Rev, without a doubt, was a beacon of hope.

And he was a guiding light for Black businesses.

He understood that there were power in having economic strength.

And he understood the weakness of this community.

He understood what it meant for African Americans to own their own business.

He was one of those who were never contented about us not doing business with each other.

- Reverend Mitchell was an advocate for social change in the first order.

Certainly if there was a Martin Luther King of Savannah, Reverend Mitchell would be considered the Reverend Doctor King of Savannah.

He was everywhere.

He cosigned on everybody's issues.

If it was injustice to one, he felt it was injustice to all.

- The water fountains have been integrated, the lunch counters are integrated.

Can I get a witness?

But the new frontier now is to integrate the money.

(audience applauding) If we integrate the money, our crime will go away almost instantaneously.

And I'm here to tell you that there will be a new renaissance in Savannah.

And right now y'all oughta applaud that, we need money.

Our people need businesses.

Jamaicans are 60% self-employed.

We're the only still minority group that is still poorer than any other minority group in this town, and it's all because the economics are not shared fairly!

- We will never do better if we don't find candidates who will have the courage or take a page out of the late Maynard Jackson's manual, where Maynard integrated the money.

- I became a candidate for mayor in 1986, actually as a result of Reverend Mitchell, because Reverend Mitchell stated publicly that he was going to run for mayor unless he got a candidate to run that he could support and he was absolutely satisfied with.

So a group of us went to a meeting to discuss that, and before we left that meeting I became the candidate for mayor for the city of Savannah, being the first African American to actually run and qualify for mayor.

And of course, the success of that campaign was not winning it that year, but it was certainly laying the groundwork for later candidates to come along and become the first African American mayor for the city of Savannah.

And had we not planted that seed at that time then perhaps it would not have happened.

Reverend Mitchell is a part of that history, and I think always will be remembered for that particular history.

- It is said Reverend Mitchell single-handedly elected a mayor.

Because he spoke out when people were traditionally voting for party, he said that on this case we necessarily don't have to vote for a person, just for a party.

But vote for what they are going to do for you as a community and do for you as a neighborhood.

And a young lady became mayor, mostly because of what Reverend Mitchell meant to the community and how he spoke out against voting for a cause instead of for a party.

- The Susan Weiner era here in Savannah was very controversial because Susan was a Republican, and at that time we had a Democratic mayor who had been serving 20 plus years, John Rousakis.

And it was time for a change.

A week before the election, we were strategizing on the, when I said we, I would always be in the room listening and Reverend Mitchell and those were strategizing, how can we show people how to split their vote.

- I'm going to split my vote and I'm going to vote for Susan Weiner, and this is how it's done.

(curtain shuffling) Once inside, I'll pull Susan Weiner's lever 1B, then I have the option to vote Democrat or Republican.

For my vote to register, I must push the red lever forward.

(curtain rustling) Now that I've shown you how to split your vote, I hope that you'll decide to split your vote too, and vote for Susan Weiner for change.

- [Ad Announcer] Paid for by the Susan Weiner Election Committee.

- From a political point of view he supported my opponent Susan Weiner for mayor.

He supported her against John Rousakis, and was successful in getting her elected.

But most importantly what he did was organize the ministers that made them a voice in his community.

And anyone who knows him and supported him would say that he was an organizer and he was not afraid to speak his mind.

So you respect that and go forward.

But he was a great man in this community.

And although we had our differences of opinion, I still admire him and respect him for the things he did in this community.

- GABEO is the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials.

And it is a large organization of elected officials all across this state.

And every year we always met at the Con-Ed Building in Conner's Temple Church because Reverend Mitchell meant so much to the political structure, not only of Savannah, but of this entire state.

He was so involved in GABEO because he knew that it meant a change in this community.

And he was the first person talking about a change, you know, and he was the first person talking about moving people to the polls for a purpose to change their lives.

- Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, GABEO, he was in the middle of that, you know.

So if you're looking for a leader that's a frame of reference, you don't just look for a Baptist or a Methodist or a COGIC, you look for whoever will stand up and fight the right fight.

And so people across these denomination lines gravitated to where the light was.

When it's real dark we gravitate to the light, and he possessed the light.

- See, I'm not here just for us to have a parade or to have a service and don't mean anything.

We want our presence felt, because that's the only way that we can bring about change.

Folk have to know that you're alive.

(audience applauding) And we gonna need the mayor's support, and we gonna need your support.

Every city has a street name or avenue named after Dr. King.

We don't have that yet.

(audience applauding) But it's coming though, isn't it?

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) - The story started out with Pastor Mitchell.

He felt that a street should be named in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And we went to the city government to ask for West Broad.

And they first said yes, and then turned it into a number, street has to be a number street.

- The city manager at that time said, well, it's cheaper to get a numbered street.

See, we wanted a street not just to be in the Black community or in the ghetto.

- And we look for support from our top officials to help us get that street.

Don't have us marching up and down the street to city hall to beg for a street.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Give us the street because it's right to have a street or avenue named after King.

(audience applauding) All you got to do is just view justice and love mercy!

37th Street is a good street.

When you come off the interstate you can see Martin Luther King Drive Boulevard.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) We want that boulevard.

I said, we want the boulevard!

We want the boulevard!

Oh, yes!

(audience applauding) (organ music) - Commissioner Dante Pello walked those streets and collected signatures to make sure that we could get 37th Street, which was a way that they would always wear you down to try to discourage you from doing what you were doing.

That's the way the city operated.

They just wanted to see how many times they could make you come back.

They would try to embarrass you and all that kinda stuff.

It was just a job to do it, but we did it.

And so when we got the signatures they couldn't say anything.

But then the business people on 37th Street got to complaining about Martin Luther King Jr's name.

So what it did end up, it ended up with the mayor having a meeting with me, and I asked Roy Jackson to come and go with me.

- Today is a day of pride as we honor the memory of a great American, Dr. Martin Luther King.

Today is also a day of sorrow as this city still mourns the tragic death of our alderman Robbie Robinson.

And today is sadly a day of shame, as we still have in this country those that still hate, and unfortunately some of them will always be there.

This, however, must never, never deter us as we strive to fulfill the dream of one nation under God with liberty, equality, and justice for all.

I am proud to have been a mayor of a city council to reclaim a Martin Luther King holiday in the city of Savannah, the first city outside of Atlanta to do so, and before the state or the federal government.

(audience applauding) I am proud to have been the mayor of a city council who named this arena the Martin Luther King Arena.

(audience applauding) And I will be proud to be the mayor of a city council who at the first meeting in February in celebration of Black History Month, I will join a consensus of city council to name West Broad Street in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King.

(audience applauding) Thank you very much.

- We were doing an M.L.

King celebration.

I had a discussion with then Mayor John Rousakis about the naming of M.L.

King Boulevard.

The mayor had the audacity, of course, to meet with some other folks, and develop some other strategy.

We put him on the program that year for the mayor to talk about the things that he was going to do.

And in his comments he decided to espouse the strategy that he developed with the other group.

So Reverend Mitchell and I huddled very quickly and he said, that's not what we talked about.

What should we do about that?

I said, listen.

I said, when you get up to make your comments, you make this congregation, you make this group of folks, and it was about 5,000 folks in the Civic Center, I said, you make them aware of the discussion and the commitment that he made in that meeting, and you make it in a fashion that he won't forget it, and that he won't ever get up and cross you like that again.

- Now the mayor almost threw something in my cogwheel when he was talking about we gonna get West Broad Street.

But the mayor didn't tell me that.

When I talked with him, he told me to call him, which I did, and I don't talk with any politician by myself.

I had brother Roy Jackson with me.

And he told me that whatever the committee would recommend after we met, he would support it.

Evidently, he did not.

We didn't ask for West Broad Street.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) (distant organ music) We asked for 37th Street.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) (distant organ music) And I hate to come up here and look like I'm beating on our mayor.

I love our mayor.

(audience chattering) But if John just would do right, he'll have a good friend.

(audience applauding) (distant organ music) After 200 years, faces and names have changed, but when it comes to the minority community getting and receiving their fair share of economics those same old racist promising attitudes are the same.

Our white brothers' attitudes have not changed here in Savannah.

Their tactics then were to divide and conquer.

Same old thing is true today!

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) They take one of us and hype us up, tell us lies and we believe it.

(audience chattering) Promise us things.

Promises ain't never put no food on the table.

(audience cheering) Telling them that they are the leaders of the Black community, and they get up there so glad to be with them.

When I'm talking about with them, I'm talking about I see the leadership until they trade away our rights for 30 pieces of silver.

(audience cheering) - Bennie was quite outspoken, and he was a real activist.

And I think he locked horns with the city manager, who at that time was Don Mendonza, and so they named West Broad Street MLK Boulevard.

In my memory, they put the first sign, the big large MLK Boulevard sign, right in front of Reverend Mitchell's church.

I guess sort of a get at you type of thing.

- When Dr. Mitchell stood up in the Civic Center and he called Rousakis out, we were afraid for his life.

Fact of the matter, there were threats on his life because he stood up and he went against the machine.

- He had been attacked by Blacks, and he had been attacked by whites.

Now the whites attacked him because he was a strong, proud, tall Black man, and he wasn't having any of it.

Blacks attacked him because, you know, there's something about standing up.

And when you used to half walking with your back bent, you get afraid of people who stand up.

And so he was attacked because he showed he was a role model for a different way of being, a necessary way of being.

- There were plenty of phone calls, there were threatening phone calls, threatening to bomb the house, threatening to get us in the streets, and there were several times that the policemen had to stay outside of the house.

- I remember this one time I picked up the telephone, and they shouted that there was a bomb in the house, and they repeated it more than twice.

So the only thing I could do was to say shut up and hang up.

And right after that I told my mom, police came out to the house, and they searched around and also in the garage, 'cause it had been up all day.

That was...

I guess when I found out that, you know, I was a bit different.

- There were times that I even sat in the window during the course of the night trying to see if someone was going to drive up in the driveway and throw something or just come and maybe leave something at the door in the middle of the night - Maybe in the fourth grade, I was doing my work.

We had a substitute teacher, and of course I have his name, 'cause my name is Bennie III.

She was calling the role and she says, "Bennie Mitchell".

And she looks at the paper and looks up, and she is almost like, she took a mental note of who I was.

And as we were quietly doing whatever it is assignment that she had us do, she came over and paid attention to the children one by one.

When it came to me, she says, "We gonna kill your nigga daddy."

I was like, "wow", like that was the first blatant threat.

And I went home and I told my mom and my dad.

Their faces were like, we knew what was going on, but we didn't know it was gonna get to our children like that.

- I do remember one physical threat.

We got home one day and the lower half of the house was where the den, the kitchen, the playroom, and the office were, and we walked in, and someone had shot up the window.

And that basically scared all of us.

After that gun incident, we never wanted to go on the lower half of the house.

- There were upsetting times.

And of course, you do what you need to do because you had three children in the house and you were trying to protect them.

- Good afternoon, Dr. Charles, or morning, Dr. Charles Beady here with us.

Tell me about the Piney Woods School.

- Piney Woods Country Life School is a historically Black boarding school that was founded in 1909 by an educated Black man by the name of Laurence Clifton Jones.

We're invited over by the observance committee for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The choir's here, and we're just happy to have the opportunity to be here in Savannah.

- The summer before my senior year I was informed that I would be transferring to Piney Woods Country Life School in Jackson, Mississippi.

Needless to say, that bit of information did not sit well with me.

I was mad, to say the least.

- I attended from 1989 to 1994.

- At this time I'd like to introduce to you valedictorian.

I know the Reverend and the Mrs. Bennie Mitchell are so proud of their daughter, Bendette the valedictorian of the class of 1994 in Savannah, Georgia to deliver a farewell.

- Daddy even had the nerve to come and be the commencement speaker for the class of 1990, for which I was not graduating in.

I was upset, I was mad, but like my daddy always said, "Don't nobody care about you being mad."

- I always had the pleasure of having my dad at each graduation.

I graduated from high school, he was the speaker, never in the audience to cheer me on.

He was on stage or giving some type of speech, even in college.

When I took a picture with Paula Wallace, as I walked across the stage he was in the background.

He is in the background of my whole life.

- Oh, hello.

I'm Reverend Bennie Mitchell Jr.

I'm Pastor the Connor's Temple Baptist Church and also president and founder of the Con-Ed Incorporated.

First of all, we want to thank you for coming and sharing with us in our harvest day festivities which includes the unveiling of our historical marker of this building.

Old West Broad Street, Y M C A.

Were formerly known as McKelvey-Powell Hall but now known as Con-Ed Resource Center.

- Con-Ed was a concept that was ahead of its time for Savannah.

Con-Ed was an idea that Reverend Mitchell had to bring health, wellness financial empowerment, economic justice, social justice to the people of West Savannah but not just West Savannah alone.

His vision was for the community at large.

- Con-Ed was Reverend Mitchell's dream and you go and you see a dilapidated building and it's only a visionary who can see something out of that.

- Con-Ed will be a resource center to every family that's in Chatham County who chooses to take advantage of what we offer.

We will be able to offer it whatever you need voluntarily free.

Whatever you have, whatever you need in the family.

This center, hopefully, will be able to offer these preliminary things to the family.

- I'm a county commissioner and the building in which we are seated in Con-Ed.

We got most of the funding for this building because of Robert Mitchell.

- One unique point in time a member of Congress was able to provide $250,000 something like that.

I can't remember now how much it was but we were able to provide money for a dream.

- When I was first elected to Congress, downtown Savannah was actually represented by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and she was able to get some funding for Con-Ed and then there was reapportionment and I got downtown Savannah.

- The redistricting process itself or the the districting process was such that it was so racially charged when we were drawing the district.

We had to go all the way up to the Justice Department to force the good old boys down here in Georgia to actually draw the district so that people in rural Georgia who had never before had the opportunity to have representation could have that representation.

- So Bennie called me up, said I want you to come down and look at this.

I wanna tell you what Cynthia's been doing and wanna make sure that you're on board with it.

And I said, well, I'm not sure if I'm on board cuz I don't really know what it is not sure if it's a proper federal expenditure.

And he said, appreciate those questions.

Let's come on down.

He and walk through it.

He did not try to sell me on it.

He let it speak for itself in terms of what he was doing there.

And so we took on the project, tried to help get funding and actually struck out for a number of sessions in Congress.

And finally we got some things done.

And it seemed like every time we were closing in on being helpful, something else happened.

And that's where he really amazed me.

Instead of getting mad and saying, Kingston I knew we should have stuck with McKinney.

He said, just keep working.

And we kept working until we made some things happen.

And that's what I really liked about him was that kind of patience.

I really appreciated him sticking with me and working through the project together.

And it was something that was of tremendous importance not just to him because he wanted it but for the entire community.

And that's really what he was after to try to do something that would help children and family for many years to come.

- One of the things that Reverend Mitchell believed in he shared this with me many times.

He said, Enoch the, the ills in this community cannot be solved especially the black community by the black community alone.

It's gonna take the entire community to work together to address these issues.

And he believed that.

And that's one of the things when we put our Con-Ed board together, that we wanted a diverse board an advisory board that could pull resources in that can bring people throughout this community in the political sector in the business sector and in the community sector bringing all of those people together to work on the tough problems that we face each and every day.

- This building was purchased in 1979 and the reason it was purchased is because along this street at that time, it was a lot of dilapidation and it was a lot of unwanted things and it was a community street that was dilapidated a lot of negatives that were on the street, prostitution, whatever you have.

So in an effort, the church itself brought a vision.

We went back to the church and told the church that we need to make a difference and also to have an outward arm of the church so that we could touch the community.

If you notice, this area is area C. So anything that was negative the underemployed, unemployed, undereducated, undereducated everything was in area C. So by being a church of God and of Jesus Christ we felt that we should make his presence known.

So we bought the building and 20 years later, here we are.

- One thing he did was he grabbed me by the ears and said, look, you're gonna do this.

And I said, who me?

He said, yeah, you.

And from that point we worked hand in hand.

And I clearly remember the day we put the marker together the marker itself was one that I said, your name has to be on it.

And he was so humble he didn't want his name on it.

And at the end of the day I was the one that inserted his name to make sure it made it on that marker.

And I recall when we were going through the dedication ceremony and having the building itself designated as historical building in Savannah, and in fact it was the first black commercial building to be recognized by the Georgia Historical Society here in Savannah.

(crowd cheers) - [Deirdre Johnson] Bennie Mitchell, the third fondly remembers his dad.

- It was almost, it was God sent for us to enjoy every minute that he had left on this earth.

- [Deirdre Johnson] So much so that he documented the life of his father shooting videos of him at a young age.

- I didn't know I was doing it.

It's just one of those things that, you know a young boy admires his father and just follows him around with a camera, raised me to love my mother to protect her, my sisters, to love God number one.

- His son filmed his last interview weeks before he went into the hospital.

Reverend Dr. Bennie R Mitchell is known for being a civil rights pioneer.

He fought hard for the MLK holiday and for this street to be named Martin Luther King Boulevard.

- His greatest achievement here in Savannah was initiating the MLK observance as we know it now.

There were other little memorial services, but the the size that it is now.

It grew from that little acorn there when Reverend Mitchell was a young, vibrant preacher - [Deirdre Johnson] For Alderman Van Johnson.

Bennie Mitchell was his pastor and a good friend.

- Huge loss to our community.

Reverend Mitchell really understood the power and the social responsibility behind a pulpit.

- [Deirdre Johnson] Van Johnson says that while the community loses another prominent man of Savannah his life and legacy will live on.

The fingerprints of Reverend Dr. Bennie R Mitchell are all around the city.

Deirdre Johnson, WJCL, Fox 28, the coastal source.com.

(soft music) - [Woman Reader] My dearest Betty words cannot express what I feel in my heart for you, but I hope my ways and actions tell you really what I feel for you in the future which I hope will be very soon.

We will say goodbyes lesser love Bennie.

(soft music) (soft music) - We should hail and support the gospel and the philosophy of Dr. King because he believed and was willing to die for peace, love, righteousness, justice, equality, and for freedom.

But we understand that in Dr. King's words, that we are interrelated and what affects you directly affects me indirectly.

And I cannot be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.

And you cannot be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.

(gentle music) ♪ When peace like a river ♪ ♪ Attendeth my way ♪ ♪ When sorrows and sea billows roll ♪ ♪ Whatever my lot ♪ ♪ Thou hast taught me to say ♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ With my soul.

♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ With my soul ♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ With my soul ♪ ♪ My sin oh the mess ♪ ♪ Of this glorious thought ♪ ♪ My sin not in part, ♪ ♪ But the whole ♪ ♪ Is nailed ♪ ♪ to the cross.

♪ ♪ And I bear it no more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord.

♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul... ♪ (singer continues) - [Director] Speed.

Mitchell, take seven.

- One thing I want to be able to say is to give God, my God, the glory for whatever is done.

And this is for whomever is listening.

When we are born into this world we are born with a purpose and a mission.

And what I've done here and the point of not only ministry at the Connor's Temple Baptist Church but founding this organization and many other things that we've done to try to make our community better.

And I want everybody to feel good about it.

Whether they were on the right side or the wrong side.

I don't figure it was neither one because I was put here to do what I did.

I was sent here by God through the people of this church to do what has been done.

If it hadn't been me the Lord would've gotten somebody else.

But the point is he has to get the glory.

And that all of us in this drama, just like the crucifixion everybody had a role to play.

So we played our role and we persevered which should encourage everybody else.

And those that were not say with us on the same track we hope that they got somewhere converted on the way of what hard work what prayer and good preparation will do to help you do what needs to get done.

- Hey everybody, my name is Bobby Huntley and I'm sitting here with Bennie R Mitchell the third, the writer and director, creator of the documentary film entitled, "It Is Well" thank you so much for joining us today.

- Thank you for having me.

- Wow.

So this piece, this film about your father give us some insight, the intel like what inspired you to create this story?

- Man, this goes back around my conception.

Oh, alright.

So, uh, I've had a camera in my hand since I was 12 years old.

And in 1989 my father received a VHS camera.

So I just followed him around the different places and different organizations and speeches that he's had.

So a lot of home videos were recorded but a lot of stuff stemmed from that very start.

I found a wall of VHS tapes, a wall of VHS tapes.

Now, when I was smaller I do remember my father always saying do not touch those VHS tapes.

We couldn't record over them.

And I had no idea why.

That was living history on the wall.

- Wow.

- And there was one time, I believe in two January, 2007 I saw these tapes and I took 'em back to my office in Savannah, Georgia and I digitized those tapes.

- [Bobby] Yes I was gonna ask you about that.

- Yes.

So it took me two and a half years to do digitize the VHS tapes and selected cassette tapes.

And I had no idea what I was doing.

I thought I was just preserving them.

- That is history right there at your fingertips with all of these tapes.

The great wall of tapes.

- The Great Wall of Tapes, - Awesome.

- The Great Wall of Tapes, everybody's in it.

(laughs) I looked at all of these tapes and I said, I actually have something.

So I started shooting November 17th, 2010.

- So with this being such a long process there's always Murphy's Law, you know whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

Were there any interesting holdups or hiccups or setbacks during the duration of this production?

- Absolutely, excuse me, to cut you off, but I needed to jump in there and say, yes.

There were a lot of obstacles.

A lot of obstacles.

And when you have a passion project the way I had this passion project, it was about money.

I didn't have the funds to complete everything at one go.

And everything I felt was, I need to do this now.

- [Bobby] Yes - I need to do this right now.

I cannot wait.

Fundraisers, okay, I'll try that.

I did it and it didn't fan out very well for me.

I spent more money on trying to raise money than to receive money.

Now - Okay.

- I took my 401k and all of the money that I was talked about before and I said I'm gonna do this or die.

And I did it.

And it is a very proud feeling that I have when I get to talk about it because I couldn't inspire somebody to do or follow their heart or follow something that was very bright in their life to go walk towards that light.

- Somebody getting it - Rev without a doubt was a beacon of hope.

And he was a god in light for a black businesses.

He understood that there were power and having economic strength.

And he understood the weakness of this community.

He understood what it meant for African Americans to own their own business.

He was one of those who were never contented about us not doing business with each other.

- Reverend Mitchell was an advocate for social change in the first order.

Certainly if there was a Martin Luther King of Savannah, Reverend Mitchell would be considered the Reverend, Dr. King of Savannah.

He was everywhere.

He cosigned on everybody's issues.

If it was injustice to one, he felt.

It was injustice to all - The water fountains have been integrated the lunch counters are integrated.

Can I get a witness?

- [Congregation] Yes!

- But the new frontier now is to integrate the money.

- So you brought the film here to Morehouse to Human Rights Film Festival.

And if I could recall, you said your your father went to Morehouse as well.

- Yeah.

So back then he would tell us that he went to Morehouse School of Religion.

- So it's a little bit of a homecoming in a sense - Right?

- So how does this screening and all of this make you feel?

It's like a complete, a completeness all the way around.

- How does that make me feel?

Grateful.

- Mm.

- I'm grateful that they got a chance to see the work of a product they put out done by his son.

And I'm grateful that they took the time enough to even pass the name on or the film on to you guys.

So it gives it a little bit more breath of life again.

And I'm gonna be honest with you, Covid, when Covid came through and it ruined the rest of the tour cuz I had a two and a half year tour and I was on tour for about a year and a half.

Covid came through and ended everything.

So I was depressed because I had spent so much time so much energy, and so much of my life.

I'm single.

I have no kids.

I'm single.

I'm 45 and I've been working on this since I was 26 - Mm.

- So my mom, she was worried, but because I just wanted to do it right, (gentle music) I just wanted to remember my father and share the works that he'd done.

That's it.

I just wanted to do that.

It was a calling, it was a huge calling.

I don't have a family but some of my homeboys tell me it's overrated.

(laughs) So is there a Bennie R Mitchell the fourth?

Only time can tell.

- Mm.

But you're, you already have on this earth a legacy through this film, through honoring your father.

All that you have done and gone through has not been in vain like you are so- you're covered and everything that you decide to do and will do, like you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Everything has been shown.

You are tremendously blessed and I thank you so much for coming here today and sharing your story.

There is no mistakes, absolutely no mistakes.

Not one wrong breath, not one wrong step.

- I appreciate that - You outwardly showing your love and honoring your father as we are taught to do in the most expressive and vibrant way.

Like there's no other better way that I could think that anyone could do this.

So you've you, you've completed the work and you've excelled at it.

And I know he's very proud of you.

- I appreciate that.

Thank you very much.

- Bennie R Mitchell III was right here with his amazing documentary film entitled, "It Is Well," you have been watching Atlanta On Film.

I'm your host, Bobby Huntley.

I'll see you again real soon.

(film projector clicks) Our world is what we make of it.

Let's always strive to do the work that keeps our communities together.

I'm Bobby Huntley, thank you for joining me and I cannot wait to see you next week for our final episode, curated by the Morehouse Human Rights Film Festival right here at Atlanta On Film.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) W-A-B-E (music tones)