> I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY MORE TIME WE HAVE TO DO THIS.

FRANKLY, YOU REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.

ALL MR. JACKSON WAS GUILTY OF, HE WANTED A JOB TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR HIS WIFE AND FIVE CHILDREN.

AND YET THEY SAID NEGROS, PLEASE, BE PATIENT.

HOW LONG DO YOU WANT US TO BE PATIENT?

THEN YOU WONDER, WHAT KIND OF JUSTICE ARE WE HAVING?

WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY IS THIS?

♪♪♪

GOOD EVENING.

WELCOME TO ‘METROFOCUS.’

I’M JACK FORD.

THAT WAS A PREVIEW OF ‘AMERICAN RECKONING,’ A NEW DOCUMENTARY THAT RE-VISITS THE MURDER OF AN UNSUNG HERO OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

JACKSON WAS KILLED BY A CAR BOMB IN MISSISSIPPI IN 1967, SHORTLY AFTER HE ACCEPTED A PROMOTION AT HIS JOB, A MOVE THAT ANGERED MANY OF HIS WHITE CO-WORKERS.

THE FBI CAME IN TO INVESTIGATE.

THERE WERE NO ARRESTS.

JACKSON’S KILLERS WERE NEVER BROUGHT TO JUSTICE.

IT’S MORE THAN ONE OF 100 COLD CASES DATING BACK TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA.

THROUGH DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE, ‘AMERICAN RECKONING’ TELLS THE STORY OF BLACK RESISTANCE AND THE LEGACY OF RACIAL VIOLENCE DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS EAR ARE A.

IT ASKS THE QUESTION, WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE FOR THE VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES HALF A CENTURY LATER?

JOINING US NOW TO TALK ABOUT THE FILM AS PART OF OUR CHASING THE DREAM INITIATIVE ON POVERTY, JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA ARE THE FILMMAKERS.

WELCOME TO THE BOTH OF YOU.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

LET ME BRING YOU IN HERE TO OUR CONVERSATION.

IT’S A FABULOUS FILM.

I KNEW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS STORY COMING INTO IT.

I LEARNED SO MUCH WHEN I WATCHED THIS.

LET ME ASK YOU, THE FIRST QUESTION IS ALWAYS, SO HOW DID THIS FILM COME ABOUT?

BRAD, LET ME START WITH YOU.

YOU ARE IN MISSISSIPPI.

YOU HAD AN EVENT ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT.

YOU START OFF, IF YOU WOULD, WHAT WAS THE GENESIS OF THE FILM?

HI.

I AM IN MISSISSIPPI.

WE HAD AN EVENT TEN MINUTES AGO AT THE COFFEE SHOP.

I APOLOGIZE FOR THE NOISE.

THE FILM CAME ABOUT REALLY IN 2014.

I HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS.

I HAVE BEEN BLESSED TO HAVE MET HIM WHEN I WAS 15.

I WORKED FOR HIS CAMPAIGN.

WE BECAME LIFE LONG FRIENDS.

WHEN I WAS IN HIS OFFICE IN 2014, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT FILM IDEAS.

HIS PRESS SECRETARY, BRENDA JONES, POINTED ME IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TILL ACT, WHICH IS THE EMMITT TILL ACT, WHICH IS A PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT REOPENED A LOT OF THE CASES.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE CASES.

THE FILM STARTED THIS WAY WITH MR. LEWIS.

HE IS IN THE FILM AS WELL.

ONE OF THE FASCINATING PARTS OF THAT IS THE EXTRAORDINARY WEALTH OF DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE THAT YOU HAVE, ACTUAL FOOTAGE FROM THE TIME FRAME.

IT STARTS OFF IN 1965 AND TAKES US THROUGH TO THE MURDER OF WARLESS JACKSON IN 1967.

I’M JUST ASTONISHED BY THE VALUE OF THIS FOOTAGE.

HOW DID YOU OBTAIN IT ALL?

WELL, I CAME ON THE PROJECT A FEW YEARS AFTER BRAD HAD STARTED DEVELOPING IT.

HE WAS THE ONE WHO DISCOVERED THAT BLACK NACHES TOLD PART OF WARLESS’ STORY.

HE CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE ARCHIVE HOUSE THAT HE CREATED A RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT PRODUCED — THAT WE WERE ABLE TO GET MORE FOOTAGE, IN FACT, AS WELL.

I CERTAINLY — WHEN I CAME ON THE FILM AND HE SHOWED ME THE INITIAL TRAILER, I WAS ASTOUNDED BY THIS FOOTAGE THAT WAS SHOWING THE STORY OF WARLESS’ MURDER AND THE BLACK RESISTANCE IN REAL TIME.

I HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO WORK ON A FILM THAT HAD THIS KIND OF FOOTAGE.

BRAD, LET ME ASK YOU FOR OUR VIEWERS, GIVE US A QUICK CAPSULE OF THE FACTS SURROUNDING WARLESS JACKSON AND HIS MURDER.

SURE.

WARLESS JACKSON WAS MURDERED IN 1967.

HE WAS MURDERED BY A SUBSET OF THE KLAN CALLED THE SILVER DOLLAR GROUP AND RED GLOVER WHO PLANTED A BOMB UNDER HIS CAR THAT WAS SET TO GO OFF WHEN HE WOULD USE HIS LEFT TURN SIGNAL.

WHICH HE WOULD HAVE DONE ON HIS WAY HOME FROM WORK.

AND SHORTLY BEFORE HIS MURDER, HE HAD RECEIVED A PROMOTION AT THE EMPLOYER, ARMSTRONG TIRE & RUBBER.

HE HAD GOTTEN A PROMOTION THAT WAS CONSIDERED A WHITE MAN’S JOB.

IT WAS ALSO KIND OF THE LAST STRAW FOR THIS GROUP, THE SILVER DOLLAR GROUP.

HELPED TO MOTIVATE THIS KILLING.

THIS GROUP WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR FIVE EARLIER MURDERS AND THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF WARLESS’ COLLEAGUE, GEORGE METCALF.

THE TWO OF THEM HAD RESTARTED THE NAACP IN 1965 HERE.

WERE CENTRAL AS WELL AS WARLESS’ WIFE TO THE MOVEMENT HERE, WHICH INCLUDED A BOYCOTT THAT BROKE THE BACK OF THE WHITE POWER STRUCTURE HERE TO GET DEMANDS MET, INCLUDING THE DEACONS FOR DEFENSE, WHICH I’M SURE WE WILL GET INTO.

WHEN YOU WATCH THE FILM, STRUCK BY SO MANY THINGS.

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK WAS SIGNIFICANT TO ME IN WATCHING IT IS THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THE CHILDREN OF WARLESS JACKSON, THE VICTIM HERE, AND CONVERSATIONS THAT YOU ALL HAVE WITH CHILDREN OF KLAN MEMBERS.

TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT AND THE SENSE OF THAT RELATIONSHIP.

YEAH.

BRAD AND I WERE REALLY — THOUGHT IT WAS — FROM THE MOMENT WE STARTED WORKING ON THIS FILM AND REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BRING OUT THE VOICES OF THE WHITE PERPETRATORS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

YOU DON’T — I THINK YOU DON’T GET TO SEE THAT ENOUGH.

HOW ARE THOSE STORIES TOLD IN THEIR FAMILY ABOUT WHAT THEY DID AND WHO THEY WERE?

I DON’T THINK — GENERALLY, UNTIL WE START SEEING — HEARING THOSE STORIES AND HEARING FROM THOSE DESCENDENTS, IF NOT THE ACTUAL PEOPLE, THEN WE ARE REALLY NOT GOING TO RECKON WITH OUR HISTORY.

I AM DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE.

I THINK WE ARE DEEPLY APPRECIATIVE THAT THOSE CHILDREN OF THE KLAN MEMBERS SPOKE WITH US AND SHARED WHAT THEY KNEW.

WERE THEY EASILY WILLING TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT THIS?

DID YOU HAVE TO CONVINCE THEM TO BECOME PART OF THIS?

IT WAS A MIXTURE OF BOTH.

WE WERE REALLY INDEBTED TO STANLEY NELSON, A REPORTER WHO HAS BEEN WORKING ON THESE CASES SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE TILL ACT IN 2008.

HE IS BASED ACROSS THE RIVER IN LOUISIANA.

HE HAD ALREADY BEGUN TALKING WITH SOME OF THE CHILDREN.

SO HE MADE THE INTRODUCTIONS.

IN THE CASE OF DEBORAH TAYLOR, IT WAS VERY PAINFUL FOR HER.

HER FATHER WAS NOT ONLY A RACIST MURDERER, HE WAS A TYRANT AT HOME.

SHE REALLY SUFFERED AS A CHILD.

SO THAT WAS A DIFFICULT THING FOR HER TO TALK ABOUT.

THEN LELAND BOYD, I THINK, HAD A DIFFERENT STRUGGLE THAT HE HAD TO GO THROUGH TO AGREE TO AN INTERVIEW, WHICH WAS THAT IT WAS HIS FATHER, SOMEONE HE RESPECTED, SOMEONE WHO TAUGHT HIM TO PLAY BASEBALL.

HE ENDED UP PLAYING BASEBALL IN THE MINOR LEAGUES.

EVERYBODY — I THINK EVERYBODY IN THIS FILM, BECAUSE IT’S SUCH — IT’S A DRAMATIC AND DIFFICULT STORY — HAD TO WRESTLE WITH THINGS BEFORE SAYING YES TO BEING PART OF IT.

WE’RE GRATEFUL.

IT’S INTERESTING YOU COULD HEAR AND SENSE THE PAIN IN THE VOICES OF BOTH THE CHILDREN OF THE VICTIM AND THE CHILDREN OF THE PERPETRATORS HERE.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE SEE HERE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU TALKING TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY, THEY TALK ABOUT THE NOTION OF WHITE DENIAL.

A CONTINUING NOTION OF WHITE DENIAL.

WHAT’S MEANT BY THAT?

YEAH.

I THINK THAT’S SOMETHING THAT WE DISCOVERED.

WHEN YOU MAKE A FILM, YOU ARE DISCOVERING THESE THEMES.

RIGHT?

AS YOU ARE MAKING THEM.

WHEN CHERYL SAID THAT, IT WAS REAL — IT RESONATED WITH ALL OF US, BECAUSE WE’RE SEEING THAT TODAY.

THE DENIAL OF OUR HISTORY, EFFORTS TO OUTLAW HISTORY THAT MAKES PEOPLE FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE.

WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?

THE DENIAL OF MASSACRES AND ATTACKS THAT HAD HAPPENED ALL TO BLACK COMMUNITIES ALL THROUGH HISTORY.

WE SAW THE LAST YEAR WITH THE ANNIVERSARY OF TULSA.

PEOPLE EVEN IN TULSA NOT KNOWING WHAT HAPPENED.

TO THEIR FAMILY.

SO I THINK IT’S A REALLY POWERFUL THEME THAT IS IN THE FILM AND THAT IS ALSO A PART OF WHAT WE’RE RECKONING WITH.

AGAIN, I USE RECKONING.

WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH TODAY IN TERMS OF — THE EFFORTS TO PAPER OVER PAINFUL PARTS OF OUR HISTORY.

I THINK RECKONING WORKS ON SO MANY LEVELS AS A TITLE AND AS A THEME THAT’S WOVEN THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THIS.

BRAD, I HAVE GOT A MINUTE AND A HALF HERE.

LET ME COME TO YOU FIRST WITH THIS.

THAT IS, WE HEAR EARLY NONE THE FILM, HOW DO WE GET JUSTICE?

THE QUESTION IS HERE, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A HALF CENTURY LATER, THE GOVERNMENT JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING AT THESE COLD CASES.

THEY LOOKED AT EMMITT TILL.

WE KNOW BYRON BILLIBECKWORTH WAS CONVICTED.

WE ARE NOT SEEING REALLY THE OPENING UP OF THE CASES.

WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE FOR THE FAMILY OF, LET’S SAY, WARLESS JACKSON?

NONE OF THE CASES RESULTS IN ANY KIND OF LEGAL ACTION OR CERTAINLY NOT A CONVICTION, AND THEY WON’T.

IN THE CASE OF WARLESS JACKSON, THE MURDERER HAS BEEN DEAD AND HAS BEEN FOR A LONG TIME.

THAT WAS TROUBLING FOR THE FAMILY, TOO, TO SEE SO MUCH FANFARE AROUND THE TILL ACT AND NOTHING WAS GOING TO COME OF IT.

HOWEVER, WHAT DOES JUSTICE LOOK LIKE?

I THINK PART OF WHAT JUSTICE LOOKS LIKE IS SHARING A STORY AND HOPING THAT THAT STORY MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

WARLESS AND DENISE WERE AT AN EVENT HERE AND WHAT DENISE SAID, SHE HOPES THE STORY WILL INSPIRE PEOPLE TO WORK FOR CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES AND ALSO TO NOT RUN AWAY FROM THIS HISTORY, THIS PART OF US.

I THINK IN ANY RECKONING, OBVIOUSLY, IT REQUIRES SOME KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING FOR US TO MOVE FORWARD.

BRAD, IT’S A FABULOUS FILM.

I’M URGING PEOPLE TO SEE IT.

I THOUGHT I KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

I KNOW SO MUCH MORE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.