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Trust me when I tell you.
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This isn't another way to save your story.
3
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This is a white nightmare story.
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It's another strange coincidence
all along I'd imagined I'd
5
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All along I'd imagined
I'd start this film
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with the story of To
Kill a Mockingbird.
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That story like mine.
8
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Is set in Alabama?
9
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I takes place in a fictional town based
on a real piece called Monroeville
10
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That town sits about 100
miles west of Dothan.
11
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Where my family comes from.
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Both stories deal with racism and violence
13
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Both, it turns out
14
00:02:04,331 --> 00:02:06,539
have sexual violence in them too
15
00:02:09,850 --> 00:02:11,185
Her story is set in the 1930's
16
00:02:11,286 --> 00:02:13,600
But mine takes place in the 40's
17
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:19,280
Her story is a fiction.
18
00:02:20,020 --> 00:02:21,289
Whereas mine is true.
19
00:02:24,269 --> 00:02:25,519
Hers is liberal.
20
00:02:26,239 --> 00:02:27,489
Whereas mine is radical.
21
00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:33,930
Hers is structured like a fable.
22
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Whereas mine shatters into bits.
23
00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,459
In the filmed version of her novel
24
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:45,830
Gregory Peck plays Atticus Finch,
25
00:02:46,859 --> 00:02:49,729
The role supposedly inspired by her father.
26
00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,760
The American Film Institute named him
27
00:02:52,870 --> 00:02:54,149
the greatest film hero of all time
28
00:02:54,250 --> 00:02:55,500
of all time.
29
00:02:58,930 --> 00:03:01,190
But that's because he isn't a human being,
30
00:03:02,049 --> 00:03:03,249
he never wavers,
31
00:03:03,350 --> 00:03:04,600
he doesn't lust
32
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:07,500
he doesn't rage,
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00:03:08,060 --> 00:03:09,310
He doesn't curse,
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00:03:10,199 --> 00:03:11,900
he doesn't make human errors,
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he's a secular saint,
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not a flesh and blood human being.
37
00:03:19,289 --> 00:03:22,550
And that's another huge difference
between my story and hers.
38
00:03:23,419 --> 00:03:24,720
Because my white relative
39
00:03:26,269 --> 00:03:28,459
wasn't standing on the steps of that jail,
40
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bravely stopping the
lynching of a black man.
41
00:03:35,829 --> 00:03:37,079
No, my great grandfather
42
00:03:37,269 --> 00:03:40,219
would have been one of the members
of that racist lynch mob,
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00:03:40,690 --> 00:03:42,079
reeking of booze,
44
00:03:42,940 --> 00:03:44,190
carrying a rope,
45
00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:45,750
and a pistol.
46
00:03:46,389 --> 00:03:47,639
Wearing a fedora
47
00:03:48,669 --> 00:03:49,919
and a terrifying smile
48
00:04:55,004 --> 00:04:57,215
I know it sounds like
I'm making this up,
49
00:04:57,434 --> 00:04:59,676
but this whole thing really
did start for me
50
00:04:59,777 --> 00:05:04,699
in the streets of south Los Angeles and
the days just after the Zimmerman verdict.
51
00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:11,500
Justice for Trayvon!
52
00:05:12,730 --> 00:05:16,092
I couldn't get it out of my
head, how much the story
53
00:05:16,193 --> 00:05:20,009
of Trayvon Martin reminded
me of a family legend,
54
00:05:20,110 --> 00:05:23,772
that my great-grandfather,
Samuel Edwin Branch,
55
00:05:23,873 --> 00:05:28,142
of Dothan, Alabama, had murdered
a black man in the 1940's,
56
00:05:28,243 --> 00:05:30,493
and had gotten away with it.
57
00:05:33,119 --> 00:05:34,369
I also knew from memory,
58
00:05:34,900 --> 00:05:38,289
that Dothan sits just 18
miles from the Florida line.
59
00:05:39,239 --> 00:05:42,669
I called my mother during the march
and asked her what she knew.
60
00:05:43,590 --> 00:05:46,809
After I got off the phone,
this is what happened.
61
00:05:47,070 --> 00:05:50,559
In Los Angeles police called
a citywide tactical alert,
62
00:05:50,660 --> 00:05:52,960
as about two hundred protesters
63
00:05:53,270 --> 00:05:55,809
closed a portion of the 10
freeway for about 25 minutes.
64
00:05:55,910 --> 00:05:58,160
By the time I was back home,
65
00:05:59,109 --> 00:06:00,859
she'd sent me this in an email
66
00:06:02,229 --> 00:06:05,780
from the Dothan Eagle October 14th 1946.
67
00:06:07,129 --> 00:06:11,668
Bill Spand, Dothan negro,
shot Saturday night during an altercation
68
00:06:11,769 --> 00:06:15,403
at Branch's grocery
store on West Houston Street
69
00:06:15,595 --> 00:06:18,700
died yesterday in a Dothan hospital.
70
00:06:19,010 --> 00:06:22,192
The charge against SE Branch
at 508 South Oak St.,
71
00:06:22,293 --> 00:06:25,133
has been changed from assault
with intent to murder
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00:06:25,539 --> 00:06:26,789
To first degree murder.
73
00:06:28,100 --> 00:06:30,609
Span was shot twice in the
neck and lower abdomen.
74
00:06:30,710 --> 00:06:36,029
Around 7:30 Saturday night,
with a 32 caliber pistol
75
00:06:36,130 --> 00:06:40,071
Branch told officers that
the negro entered the store
76
00:06:40,304 --> 00:06:43,624
cursed him and started to
attack him with a knife
77
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:45,449
when he shot him in self-defense.
78
00:06:47,390 --> 00:06:49,799
Let me move backward,
before I move forward.
79
00:06:51,118 --> 00:06:52,318
This is an image
80
00:06:52,419 --> 00:06:55,263
from the only time I ever
met SE Branch,
81
00:06:55,551 --> 00:06:59,395
in the first year of my life, and
the last year of his.
82
00:07:00,379 --> 00:07:03,039
My entire life people have
told me we look alike,
83
00:07:04,090 --> 00:07:06,539
But I think that's just
because we're both fat,
84
00:07:06,698 --> 00:07:07,898
bald
85
00:07:07,999 --> 00:07:09,249
and white.
86
00:07:10,700 --> 00:07:13,148
My mother and her sister
Jill, who both grew up
87
00:07:13,249 --> 00:07:16,044
in Dothan, started doing
a little more searching.
88
00:07:17,179 --> 00:07:19,560
They quietly asked relatives and friends.
89
00:07:20,119 --> 00:07:22,770
People have a way of not
answering you down there.
90
00:07:23,419 --> 00:07:24,669
Nobody said anything.
91
00:07:27,350 --> 00:07:29,100
We checked the courthouse archives
92
00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,319
But we're told that no documents
existed for the case.
93
00:07:33,189 --> 00:07:35,390
No record of charges
ever being filed at all.
94
00:07:37,058 --> 00:07:38,258
So,
95
00:07:38,359 --> 00:07:39,869
from the state of Alabama.
96
00:07:41,090 --> 00:07:44,550
We requested a copy of Bill
Span's death certificate.
97
00:07:47,350 --> 00:07:49,169
My grandfather Arthur son in law of SE,
98
00:07:49,270 --> 00:07:51,309
was a photo-buff.
99
00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:53,840
He remained so all his life
100
00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,070
And so we have dozens of
eight millimeter movies too
101
00:07:59,189 --> 00:08:01,600
SE Branch is a rare figure in the movies.
102
00:08:02,729 --> 00:08:04,849
In all those dozens of rolls of film,
103
00:08:04,950 --> 00:08:07,765
he appears in only 12
shots split between two
104
00:08:07,866 --> 00:08:11,744
roles one black and
white, and one in color.
105
00:08:12,410 --> 00:08:14,979
The black and white role,
is especially peculiar.
106
00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,459
It was labeled October 1946.
107
00:08:18,989 --> 00:08:20,239
The month of the murder.
108
00:08:22,590 --> 00:08:24,069
So was it taken before?
109
00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:26,590
Or was it taken after?
110
00:08:27,660 --> 00:08:29,710
Is it some sort of family celebration?
111
00:08:31,590 --> 00:08:34,280
Sc Branch has a strange
energy in the first role,
112
00:08:34,989 --> 00:08:37,060
he wears a certain awkward menace.
113
00:08:38,020 --> 00:08:43,249
The camera is clearly
making him uncomfortable,
114
00:08:43,350 --> 00:08:45,695
but by the time he's filmed
in color in 1953
115
00:08:45,796 --> 00:08:48,624
you'd barely recognize him from
the black and white.
116
00:08:49,479 --> 00:08:51,859
He walks with an unmistakable swagger.
117
00:08:52,509 --> 00:08:54,080
He's been emboldened somehow.
118
00:08:57,540 --> 00:09:00,407
By the time I saw any of
these images for the first time
119
00:09:00,721 --> 00:09:03,180
I'd already read Bill
Span's death certificate.
120
00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,960
You can't look at these images the
same way after you've read it.
121
00:09:10,909 --> 00:09:16,069
So let me show you the images again
122
00:09:16,170 --> 00:09:18,819
Standard Certificate of Death
123
00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:20,170
State of Alabama.
124
00:09:22,190 --> 00:09:27,249
Place of Death: County, Houston
125
00:09:27,350 --> 00:09:31,900
City or Town, Dothan.
126
00:09:32,790 --> 00:09:35,060
Street Address, the moody hospital.
127
00:09:36,489 --> 00:09:38,300
Usual residence of deceased.
128
00:09:38,859 --> 00:09:40,910
City or town Dothan.
129
00:09:41,540 --> 00:09:42,790
Rural.
130
00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:44,970
Street address.
131
00:09:45,489 --> 00:09:46,739
Route 5.
132
00:09:48,619 --> 00:09:49,869
Full name.
133
00:09:50,749 --> 00:09:51,999
Bill.
134
00:09:52,100 --> 00:09:53,249
Cal.
135
00:09:53,350 --> 00:09:54,600
Spann
136
00:09:56,680 --> 00:09:57,930
Sex: male.
137
00:09:59,970 --> 00:10:01,220
Color or race.
138
00:10:01,649 --> 00:10:02,899
Colored.
139
00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,220
Single widowed married or divorced: Married
140
00:10:07,869 --> 00:10:14,049
Name of husband or wife: Lily Spann
141
00:10:15,810 --> 00:10:18,790
Age of husband or wife: 44 years.
142
00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:21,680
Birth-date of deceased.
143
00:10:22,210 --> 00:10:23,460
April 20th.
144
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:24,850
1900.
145
00:10:26,479 --> 00:10:27,709
Age.
146
00:10:27,810 --> 00:10:29,139
46 years.
147
00:10:29,359 --> 00:10:30,609
Five months.
148
00:10:33,129 --> 00:10:34,379
Birth place.
149
00:10:34,529 --> 00:10:35,779
Barber County.
150
00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:38,369
Usual occupation:
151
00:10:39,409 --> 00:10:43,249
additional information not available
152
00:10:43,350 --> 00:10:45,600
Burial cremation or removal: removal.
153
00:10:49,609 --> 00:10:52,499
Place burial or cremation.
154
00:10:53,269 --> 00:10:54,769
Lewisville, Alabama.
155
00:10:59,019 --> 00:11:00,530
Medical certification.
156
00:11:01,290 --> 00:11:02,540
Date of death.
157
00:11:02,670 --> 00:11:07,300
Month, 10 day, 13 year, 46.
158
00:11:12,509 --> 00:11:13,788
Immediate cause of death.
159
00:11:13,889 --> 00:11:15,558
Bullet wound.
160
00:11:15,659 --> 00:11:16,908
Abdomen.
161
00:11:17,009 --> 00:11:20,350
Bullet wound through
neck penetrating larynx.
162
00:11:21,789 --> 00:11:22,989
Accident,
163
00:11:23,090 --> 00:11:24,709
Suicide or homicide,
164
00:11:24,810 --> 00:11:26,060
Specify:
165
00:11:26,500 --> 00:11:29,750
Homicide
166
00:11:30,540 --> 00:11:31,790
Two families.
167
00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:34,200
They both live in Alabama.
168
00:11:36,290 --> 00:11:37,540
One of them is white.
169
00:11:38,850 --> 00:11:40,100
One of them is black.
170
00:11:43,259 --> 00:11:46,320
One of them is the family of a murder.
171
00:11:48,879 --> 00:11:51,260
One of them is the family of the murdered.
172
00:11:54,359 --> 00:11:57,409
One of them is inscribed
on a death certificate.
173
00:11:59,889 --> 00:12:06,220
And one of them is making home movies.
174
00:12:09,970 --> 00:12:13,520
So it was time to go back to Alabama
for the first time in 20 years
175
00:12:46,210 --> 00:12:51,420
I drove through the pouring rain straight
from the airport to Branch's grocery.
176
00:12:54,369 --> 00:12:56,149
The building is locked and closed.
177
00:12:57,100 --> 00:12:58,350
There's nobody there.
178
00:13:21,550 --> 00:13:24,615
When I go to transfer the images
to my computer,
179
00:13:24,716 --> 00:13:29,432
the first two shots left on the camera
are of my baby daughter Matilda Jane
180
00:13:30,460 --> 00:13:34,639
She's more or less the same age I was
in the picture with granddaddy Branch.
181
00:13:49,749 --> 00:13:51,109
I visit my Aunt Jill.
182
00:13:52,359 --> 00:13:56,060
The walls of her home are covered
with the public face of my family.
183
00:14:02,570 --> 00:14:03,899
But make no mistake.
184
00:14:05,029 --> 00:14:06,489
There are other faces too.
185
00:14:11,479 --> 00:14:13,580
The next day I'm back at Branch's grocery.
186
00:14:14,019 --> 00:14:15,409
It isn't a store anymore.
187
00:14:16,359 --> 00:14:18,963
The sign says it's a restaurant,
but everyone in the
188
00:14:19,064 --> 00:14:22,424
neighborhood I talked to
refers to it as a shod-house.
189
00:14:23,379 --> 00:14:26,600
That's what they call
informal, unlicensed bars.
190
00:14:35,790 --> 00:14:38,011
When I'm about to leave the
woman who lives in the
191
00:14:38,112 --> 00:14:40,804
house directly behind the
store comes home from work
192
00:14:42,249 --> 00:14:44,960
She's a nurse and was
working the night shift.
193
00:14:45,670 --> 00:14:49,489
Her name isn't that she's lived
in the house her entire life.
194
00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:54,528
She tells me she knows the owners.
195
00:14:54,629 --> 00:14:56,819
And she'll try to get me in there somehow
196
00:15:02,070 --> 00:15:04,219
While I waited to hear about the store.
197
00:15:04,450 --> 00:15:07,989
I asked my mother and her sister
Jill would talk to me about SE.
198
00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,499
We spent the afternoon trying to
film but there was a terrible storm.
199
00:15:14,948 --> 00:15:16,148
Thunder.
200
00:15:16,249 --> 00:15:17,369
And lightning.
201
00:15:17,470 --> 00:15:18,720
And tornadoes.
202
00:15:20,170 --> 00:15:23,001
It was hard not to feel like
we were conjuring something.
203
00:15:23,619 --> 00:15:27,520
Finally I gave up waiting for the
storm and just filmed them anyway.
204
00:15:46,399 --> 00:15:47,759
I had the murder weapon.
205
00:15:50,409 --> 00:15:53,558
But until the article you didn't know
he'd actually been charged with murder.
206
00:15:53,659 --> 00:15:54,788
Right.
207
00:15:54,889 --> 00:15:56,700
Because when I left Dothan
208
00:15:59,220 --> 00:16:01,640
Back in 1967
209
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,950
My grandfather, who was very fond of me
210
00:16:09,420 --> 00:16:14,239
Granddaddy Branch––was very fond
of me––I was born on his birthday
211
00:16:15,100 --> 00:16:16,350
And I was special
212
00:16:19,239 --> 00:16:20,459
Revolver.
213
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:24,469
He maybe thought you were the only one who
was going to leave the state anytime soon.
214
00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:27,470
And you could take it with you
215
00:16:29,369 --> 00:16:30,569
I wonder if I ever saw it,
216
00:16:30,670 --> 00:16:31,250
I don't remember it.
217
00:16:31,351 --> 00:16:33,600
Looked like a six-gun,
218
00:16:33,808 --> 00:16:35,008
to me.
219
00:16:35,109 --> 00:16:37,970
I mean my recollection is that
it had a fairly long barrel
220
00:16:38,790 --> 00:16:40,739
Not like a revolver?
221
00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:42,499
Not like not like the.
222
00:16:42,710 --> 00:16:45,290
The 38 that Granddaddy hung.
223
00:16:47,229 --> 00:16:48,479
On the.
224
00:16:48,879 --> 00:16:52,039
Handle of the bedside table in between.
225
00:16:52,930 --> 00:16:55,168
The bed he slept in the great big head.
226
00:16:55,269 --> 00:16:58,489
Little dead that our grandmother slept in.
227
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:06,290
The holster with the 38 and he would
take it off and hang in there.
228
00:17:07,389 --> 00:17:08,639
And, as a little girl.
229
00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:12,799
We were admonished to leave
it alone, but it was there.
230
00:17:13,869 --> 00:17:17,569
Why did he feel that he had to
have a revolver next to him?
231
00:17:17,980 --> 00:17:23,989
Maybe because he murdered somebody.
232
00:17:24,090 --> 00:17:26,689
For protection? I mean there's no telling.
233
00:17:27,820 --> 00:17:29,720
It's not like he was a nice person.
234
00:17:30,219 --> 00:17:32,139
He was my grandfather and he loved me.
235
00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,510
I guess I loved him at one point.
236
00:17:39,110 --> 00:17:41,959
But I'm not a fool. I know
what kind of person he was.
237
00:17:42,060 --> 00:17:45,999
When I found out that he
had murdered somebody
238
00:17:47,219 --> 00:17:48,919
It was shocking.
239
00:17:49,020 --> 00:17:52,720
But at the same time it wasn't
really surprising. Was it to you?
240
00:17:52,939 --> 00:17:54,139
No
241
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:55,490
I feel the same way.
242
00:17:55,591 --> 00:17:56,719
I think just seeing it
243
00:17:56,820 --> 00:17:59,469
written in an article.
244
00:18:01,850 --> 00:18:03,100
Made it.
245
00:18:05,330 --> 00:18:08,118
It gave it a different life or something.
246
00:18:08,219 --> 00:18:09,469
But.
247
00:18:10,010 --> 00:18:11,260
Oh no.
248
00:18:12,030 --> 00:18:15,610
I'm sure there are other things that
could have been in other articles.
249
00:18:20,369 --> 00:18:22,919
That gun was the first
firearm I ever fired.
250
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:24,770
It was easy to shoot.
251
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,359
The barrel was long and
it didn't have much kick.
252
00:18:29,790 --> 00:18:31,909
I shot at paper targets
on trees with my dad in
253
00:18:32,010 --> 00:18:34,413
the sandpit across the
street from our house.
254
00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:41,770
It was time to pay a visit
to the man himself.
255
00:18:50,429 --> 00:18:53,950
There isn't much to say about SE
Branch's final resting place.
256
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:56,680
His grave is well kept.
257
00:18:59,899 --> 00:19:02,039
It's a few feet from a busy intersection.
258
00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,906
I need to tell you about
his wife my great grandmother
259
00:19:08,124 --> 00:19:12,633
who everyone called
Mama Jeannie
260
00:19:13,350 --> 00:19:15,283
every time you ask
anyone about SE they'll
261
00:19:15,384 --> 00:19:17,548
tell you about Mama
Jeannie instead.
262
00:19:17,649 --> 00:19:18,899
I understand why.
263
00:19:19,990 --> 00:19:23,330
When I was eight years old she
came to stay with us in Colorado
264
00:19:24,669 --> 00:19:27,619
It was the first time in her
life she'd been on an airplane.
265
00:19:28,909 --> 00:19:31,779
There was also the first time
in her life she'd seen snow.
266
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,379
We built snow castles
outside together for hours.
267
00:19:39,090 --> 00:19:40,770
The snow was filled with dogshit.
268
00:19:41,609 --> 00:19:43,319
She couldn't have cared less.
269
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,820
She insisted on building
those snow castles with me.
270
00:19:50,609 --> 00:19:52,270
It's my fondest memory of her.
271
00:19:53,490 --> 00:19:56,830
These images are the only ones that
describe the woman that I knew.
272
00:19:57,580 --> 00:20:01,580
She's buried next to SE in a
cemetery by the busy road.
273
00:20:04,020 --> 00:20:06,179
Annette said shed talk to me on camera.
274
00:20:07,179 --> 00:20:10,129
So I asked her what she remembered
about Branch's grocery.
275
00:20:10,729 --> 00:20:11,929
This is my favorite,
276
00:20:12,030 --> 00:20:17,249
because it was like going home. I
was right here with my grandparents
277
00:20:17,350 --> 00:20:19,704
But the other men who
were in the neighborhood,
278
00:20:19,805 --> 00:20:22,393
when they got off
from work came here.
279
00:20:22,719 --> 00:20:26,740
With Mr. Dean you know stuff on
the front porch or in the store
280
00:20:27,109 --> 00:20:29,970
Mr. Roberts was there on the corner.
281
00:20:31,390 --> 00:20:34,600
Benny Ingram, in a blue house. And Mr.
Mickize 1-2-3-4 houses up.
282
00:20:40,679 --> 00:20:44,882
They don't just you know just you
know be here after work,
283
00:20:45,117 --> 00:20:47,959
sitting on the stoop, on the steps,
284
00:20:48,431 --> 00:20:51,663
smoking their pipes and
cigars and everything.
285
00:20:51,899 --> 00:20:55,251
And the kids would
be coming in and out of the store
286
00:20:55,352 --> 00:20:57,507
with cookies and candies.
287
00:20:58,069 --> 00:21:00,319
I'd be right there with them.
288
00:21:01,750 --> 00:21:04,500
Mr. Branch would say, alright
now don't give me trouble
289
00:21:04,619 --> 00:21:06,909
You give me trouble I'm gonna getcha.
290
00:21:07,010 --> 00:21:08,970
So it was just you
know just your life.
291
00:21:09,071 --> 00:21:10,916
It was definitely the
best point of the day.
292
00:21:11,017 --> 00:21:15,284
You get off that bus, and
"let's see how much money we got."
293
00:21:16,022 --> 00:21:21,100
And you count your money. And hit
those steps, get in the store.
294
00:21:21,671 --> 00:21:24,779
After the camera was off, she
told me something important.
295
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,249
She told me she'd asked around
about the shooting at the store,
296
00:21:28,350 --> 00:21:32,249
and that the elderly woman across
the street knew both witnesses,
297
00:21:32,350 --> 00:21:34,600
and knew what had happened.
298
00:21:35,810 --> 00:21:38,610
She also said she'd never
ever speak to me about it.
299
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:40,449
And she stuck to her word.
300
00:21:42,429 --> 00:21:45,202
One person who would speak
to me was Ed Vaughn
301
00:21:46,405 --> 00:21:49,074
Ed was a contemporary
of Martin Luther King's
302
00:21:49,609 --> 00:21:52,499
And has been a civil rights
activist his entire life.
303
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,601
He told me he didn't remember much
about the case but he was certain
304
00:21:56,702 --> 00:22:00,183
a boycott of Branch's grocery was
organized after the killing.
305
00:22:02,219 --> 00:22:05,850
I filmed our conversation in his
museum of African-American history.
306
00:22:07,179 --> 00:22:10,429
His words are full of
clues, if not answers.
307
00:22:10,629 --> 00:22:12,928
I used to go to Branch's all
the time when I went to school
308
00:22:13,029 --> 00:22:15,723
on that side of town, but I
didn't live on that side.
309
00:22:16,270 --> 00:22:21,899
However I remembered the store quite well
and I do remember the boycott of the store.
310
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,999
I remember that but once again you
know I had every time school was out.
311
00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:34,007
I'd come home and most times I would
walk by that store on my way home, cause
312
00:22:34,108 --> 00:22:38,669
I had to walk up from over there, you
know, no school buses for black kids
313
00:22:38,770 --> 00:22:40,490
So we had to walk.
314
00:22:40,899 --> 00:22:44,630
And so I walked by the store
on a fairly regular basis
315
00:22:47,380 --> 00:22:52,279
As I said, the first actual civil rights
movement in the modern south was led by myself.
316
00:22:52,380 --> 00:22:56,279
And that was the 1950 strike
at Carver High School
317
00:22:56,380 --> 00:23:00,279
Wherein, we had two health
officials from Houston County
318
00:23:00,380 --> 00:23:08,630
And they said while they were
speaking to 8 or nine hundred of us.
319
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,325
They said that the girls at
Carver High School
320
00:23:15,426 --> 00:23:20,465
had given venereal diseases to the
soldiers at Fort Rucker.
321
00:23:24,250 --> 00:23:27,058
And so we said, why are they saying this?
322
00:23:27,159 --> 00:23:29,639
And so we were kind of
rumbling and talking back.
323
00:23:29,740 --> 00:23:33,047
And so my homeroom teacher Mr.
Dickerson went up and asked
324
00:23:33,148 --> 00:23:37,688
them not to come and embarrass
our girls like that,
325
00:23:37,789 --> 00:23:41,365
and they rebuffed him and told him
to get away and then he grabbed both
326
00:23:41,466 --> 00:23:46,568
of them up because he was a big guy
about six five, 2/300 pound man.
327
00:23:46,669 --> 00:23:49,739
He picked them both up and took him out
to Lake Street and threw him in the ditch
328
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,419
And we were all right behind him.
329
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,826
Yelling: Get 'im! Kill 'im!
330
00:23:53,927 --> 00:23:58,557
And, the next day and even
before the next day,
331
00:23:58,658 --> 00:24:01,349
we knew that they were going
to make a move against
332
00:24:01,450 --> 00:24:03,749
Mr. Dickerson that they
were going to fire him.
333
00:24:03,850 --> 00:24:08,601
That same day that the health
officials that were there
334
00:24:08,702 --> 00:24:13,794
we had a meeting in our classroom
and we decided that if
335
00:24:13,895 --> 00:24:16,406
they bother Mr. Dickerson we
were going on strike.
336
00:24:16,507 --> 00:24:20,489
This is 1950, five years before
the Montgomery bus boycott
337
00:24:20,730 --> 00:24:22,798
And so we said we're going on strike.
338
00:24:22,899 --> 00:24:25,109
So the next day the
superintendent did exactly what
339
00:24:25,210 --> 00:24:27,819
we thought he would do
his name is Bruce Flury,
340
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,069
superintendent of schools.
And there was no such thing
341
00:24:30,170 --> 00:24:33,749
as a school board then,
the super ran everything.
342
00:24:33,850 --> 00:24:35,470
And so he was a real racist.
343
00:24:35,679 --> 00:24:41,015
And so the next day he fired Mr. Dickerson
He fired three other teachers who had
344
00:24:41,116 --> 00:24:46,048
nothing to do with the strike missed who
had nothing to do with the incident
345
00:24:46,149 --> 00:24:47,788
Mr. Hill out of Montgomery.
346
00:24:47,889 --> 00:24:50,209
Mr. and Mrs. Cator out of North Alabama.
347
00:24:50,859 --> 00:24:53,531
He fired all four of them
and only one had something
348
00:24:53,632 --> 00:24:56,249
to do with it, and that was Mr.
Dickerson.
349
00:24:56,350 --> 00:25:01,185
And so we said that we thought that the
major reason was he didn't like out-of-
350
00:25:01,286 --> 00:25:04,499
town teachers, because he felt he could
get away with local teachers better.
351
00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,980
So anyway we went on strike
after the teachers were
352
00:25:08,081 --> 00:25:10,963
fired and we shut the school
down for three weeks.
353
00:25:11,439 --> 00:25:12,689
Did he get reinstated?
354
00:25:13,990 --> 00:25:15,249
None of them got reinstated
355
00:25:15,350 --> 00:25:16,499
I got expelled from school.
356
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:17,930
I was only one expelled.
357
00:25:18,429 --> 00:25:20,568
No one else was expelled
because I'm the one
358
00:25:20,669 --> 00:25:23,498
who led the strike and
set up a strategy
359
00:25:23,599 --> 00:25:27,983
to make the strike strike 100 percent
effective it was 100 percent effective
360
00:25:28,084 --> 00:25:29,889
and the reason for that
is I went down to the
361
00:25:29,990 --> 00:25:33,211
bottom, which was the
hood, where all the
362
00:25:33,312 --> 00:25:38,364
thugs hung out and these were my buddies
either I shot pool with them every night.
363
00:25:38,469 --> 00:25:40,665
So I drank wine with them
and everything else all
364
00:25:40,766 --> 00:25:43,328
while I was in high school
and in elementary school.
365
00:25:43,429 --> 00:25:47,172
So we all drank wine together I knew them!
and so they
366
00:25:47,273 --> 00:25:51,703
they liked me because I had
a few leadership skills.
367
00:25:51,909 --> 00:25:57,470
And so when the strike came, I went to
them and said "look you got to help me."
368
00:25:57,669 --> 00:26:01,508
I don't want nobody coming from the north
side of town to Carver High School, which
369
00:26:01,609 --> 00:26:05,943
was on the east side and I don't want
nobody from the east side coming to Carver
370
00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:09,915
So we had blockades at the east at
the East Gate entrance and we had
371
00:26:10,016 --> 00:26:13,202
blockades at the North Gate entrance
372
00:26:13,562 --> 00:26:16,944
and nobody
came to school.
373
00:26:18,689 --> 00:26:24,117
When I came home and told my parents that
they expelled me and because there had
374
00:26:24,218 --> 00:26:29,334
been some rumors on their job by that
time my mother's employers had changed,
375
00:26:29,435 --> 00:26:32,571
and they were kind of hinting
to her that she ought to
376
00:26:32,672 --> 00:26:35,568
tell her son to end the strike?
377
00:26:35,669 --> 00:26:38,308
And my father also who was
a cleaner and a presser.
378
00:26:38,409 --> 00:26:40,659
They were getting some
pressure at their jobs.
379
00:26:41,850 --> 00:26:45,520
And every night we would have
dinner together at home.
380
00:26:46,050 --> 00:26:48,076
And my mother would make
gourmet meals she was a
381
00:26:48,177 --> 00:26:49,849
great cook and at the
time I wanted to I wanted
382
00:26:49,950 --> 00:26:55,021
to buy a hamburger from
the local five and dime
383
00:26:55,122 --> 00:26:58,401
store and I couldn't do
that because I was black.
384
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,010
But every night I would
have a gourmet meal.
385
00:27:01,149 --> 00:27:03,583
But anyway when integration
came, I bought a hamburger
386
00:27:03,684 --> 00:27:06,588
I said oh my god what what did
I get this nasty thing for?
387
00:27:06,689 --> 00:27:09,220
My mother cooked gourmet meals every day.
388
00:27:10,330 --> 00:27:12,970
Anyway we sat down at the dinner table.
389
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:20,230
I think we had stuffed pork chop
that night my mom was a great cook
390
00:27:20,580 --> 00:27:27,609
This was our home right here that
she bought during the Depression.
391
00:27:27,891 --> 00:27:31,143
And this was her home bought through
the homeowners loan corporation
392
00:27:31,244 --> 00:27:35,606
which was a FDR program to get
us out of the Depression.
393
00:27:35,969 --> 00:27:39,197
So anyway my mom and
my dad told me that
394
00:27:39,298 --> 00:27:41,558
evening cause my mom was
leader in the house.
395
00:27:41,659 --> 00:27:44,831
You know daddy whatever she said
he'd follow. And so she said
396
00:27:44,932 --> 00:27:49,084
she told me she say you stay
out as long as you want to.
397
00:27:49,679 --> 00:27:52,000
So you keep it going as
long as you want to.
398
00:27:52,109 --> 00:27:54,159
We are with you whatever you decide.
399
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:55,730
It's your decision.
400
00:27:55,831 --> 00:27:57,018
I said OK.
401
00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:58,369
So we're with you.
402
00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:02,710
And so I had decided and the group
that I had working with was.
403
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,058
That we had gone about
as far as we could go.
404
00:28:05,159 --> 00:28:09,789
We had picketed through midtown with
picket signs in all white area.
405
00:28:10,350 --> 00:28:14,045
We had taken it all up
around us 231 highway
406
00:28:14,146 --> 00:28:17,614
where people would go
through going to Florida.
407
00:28:17,780 --> 00:28:20,768
There was no interstate or
no circle at that time.
408
00:28:20,869 --> 00:28:22,118
There's still no interstate here.
409
00:28:22,219 --> 00:28:23,239
There was no circle.
410
00:28:23,340 --> 00:28:25,520
So we had gone by as far as we could go.
411
00:28:30,209 --> 00:28:33,609
And so we had decided that we had
gone about as far as we could.
412
00:28:33,929 --> 00:28:37,149
And we ended the strike.
413
00:28:37,629 --> 00:28:40,990
But the deal was that I
would get back in school.
414
00:28:41,129 --> 00:28:42,379
That was the deal.
415
00:28:46,014 --> 00:28:51,350
A cop tried to rape my mother on her way to work,
because my mother went to work every morning
416
00:28:51,451 --> 00:28:55,538
around 3:00 a.m. and he
confronted her in a little
417
00:28:55,639 --> 00:28:57,368
section called Five Points
on her way to work.
418
00:28:57,469 --> 00:28:59,558
It would be dark when
my mother went to work.
419
00:28:59,659 --> 00:29:02,321
I would look out the window
and see her leave walking,
420
00:29:02,422 --> 00:29:05,544
and she did it every day
for about 30, 35 years.
421
00:29:05,770 --> 00:29:09,368
And and so he told her he
told her to come upstairs.
422
00:29:09,469 --> 00:29:12,399
He wanted to have sex with him and
she said I'm not going to do that.
423
00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:15,450
And he said well you see this
gun and he said I'll show you.
424
00:29:16,010 --> 00:29:17,689
He said you'd better come home with me
425
00:29:17,790 --> 00:29:19,503
And she told him you had
better use the damn gun
426
00:29:19,604 --> 00:29:21,298
because I'm not
going nowhere with you
427
00:29:21,399 --> 00:29:27,848
She just walked out the work and when she
got to work she told her boss Mr. Meyer.
428
00:29:27,949 --> 00:29:36,199
And they called the police chief.
They confronted this policeman.
429
00:29:36,942 --> 00:29:41,709
And I guess they criticized him
or whatever they did to him.
430
00:29:41,810 --> 00:29:43,838
But anyway he didn't
bother my mother anymore.
431
00:29:43,939 --> 00:29:46,808
They didn't take him off the job but
he didn't bother my mom anymore.
432
00:29:46,909 --> 00:29:48,969
And when he'd see her.
he'd go the other way.
433
00:29:49,070 --> 00:29:52,279
So but I came from that kind
of family you know because
434
00:29:52,380 --> 00:29:56,018
my grandfather used to bring
people out of Abbeyville.
435
00:29:56,119 --> 00:29:57,169
I was born in Abbeyville.
436
00:29:57,270 --> 00:30:00,607
And my grandfather
used to bring out
437
00:30:00,708 --> 00:30:04,389
blacks who were
destined to be lynched
438
00:30:04,490 --> 00:30:06,850
And he would get them to Dothan
439
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,859
That was a safe house in Dothan
run by a man named Mr. Smart.
440
00:30:12,709 --> 00:30:15,840
And the train would leave Dothan
every night to 58 going north.
441
00:30:15,949 --> 00:30:17,739
And a lot of people left on the 58.
442
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,584
My grandfather would get
these folks out of Henry
443
00:30:20,685 --> 00:30:23,679
County who were in
danger of being lynched
444
00:30:23,780 --> 00:30:24,879
He was a mulatto.
445
00:30:24,980 --> 00:30:26,850
He was very fair skinned black man.
446
00:30:26,990 --> 00:30:29,311
His father was a white
man, and he didn't he
447
00:30:29,412 --> 00:30:31,479
didn't like his father
at all, by the way
448
00:30:31,580 --> 00:30:33,819
And he tried to kill
his father and he
449
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,239
couldn't kill him so he
killed his prize goat.
450
00:30:36,340 --> 00:30:40,709
My grandfather used to groom
this goat and take him to shows.
451
00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:47,649
And his name was Frank White and granddad
Frank killed a goat and ran away
452
00:30:47,750 --> 00:30:50,379
And he was militant as all hell
453
00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:58,730
Not only did he get folks out of Abbeyville
the people who were about to be lynched?
454
00:30:59,830 --> 00:31:02,090
But he also got his own family out.
455
00:31:03,010 --> 00:31:05,999
Cause my uncles were rough they were tough.
456
00:31:06,169 --> 00:31:10,889
They were all very fair-skinned black
guys and they would have problems.
457
00:31:11,359 --> 00:31:12,885
My grandfather didn't
have no problem because
458
00:31:12,986 --> 00:31:14,969
he knew how to maneuver
through the system.
459
00:31:15,070 --> 00:31:17,218
But they, being
young, didn't know.
460
00:31:18,227 --> 00:31:20,290
One guy kicked my grandfather
461
00:31:20,391 --> 00:31:23,624
in the butt, no I'm sorry my uncle
462
00:31:24,023 --> 00:31:27,649
Uncle J.B. in Abbeyville.
463
00:31:27,750 --> 00:31:28,637
And uncle JB
464
00:31:28,738 --> 00:31:32,096
When the guy turned around––Uncle JB had
a coca cola bottle. Hit him in the back
465
00:31:32,197 --> 00:31:36,174
of the head. And that was when coca-cola
bottles were like a little piece of steel.
466
00:31:37,250 --> 00:31:39,696
And so the man died eight days
later, but that same night
467
00:31:39,797 --> 00:31:43,306
my grandfather got him out of
Abbeyville and told him that
468
00:31:43,407 --> 00:31:46,698
if anybody tried to stop him to shoot.
Don't let nobody ask
469
00:31:46,799 --> 00:31:50,749
no question don't care who
it is, just start shooting.
470
00:31:50,850 --> 00:31:52,980
So he would meet him at a place
called Skipper Creek and
471
00:31:53,081 --> 00:31:55,723
bring him to Dothan and
take him to the safe house.
472
00:31:55,879 --> 00:32:00,540
And they would get to 58 out
at that night around 11pm
473
00:32:01,010 --> 00:32:05,189
And so my grandfather did that for many
people in Abbeyville and Henry County.
474
00:32:05,939 --> 00:32:07,769
So I came from that kind of family.
475
00:32:07,870 --> 00:32:09,008
And.
476
00:32:09,109 --> 00:32:11,028
All my uncles were pretty militant.
477
00:32:11,129 --> 00:32:13,088
And my mother was.
478
00:32:13,189 --> 00:32:15,050
And so I didn't have much choice.
479
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:18,850
It was in the genes.
480
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,630
No one gave me a clearer image
of the world in which the murder
481
00:32:24,731 --> 00:32:31,589
took place and contained within
his words was a valuable lead:
482
00:32:32,709 --> 00:32:34,039
The town of Abbeyville.
483
00:32:40,209 --> 00:32:44,120
I went to look at the old Branch house,
where they lived when the murder happened.
484
00:32:44,899 --> 00:32:46,149
It's gone now.
485
00:32:46,909 --> 00:32:49,650
There's a used car lot where
the house used to be.
486
00:33:10,060 --> 00:33:11,310
Everywhere I look,
487
00:33:12,260 --> 00:33:18,350
there's nearly nothing left of him.
I'd been in Dothan for a few weeks.
488
00:33:18,550 --> 00:33:23,379
When Annette called me again she told
me if I came down that afternoon
489
00:33:23,909 --> 00:33:25,619
They'd be cleaning the store.
490
00:33:25,740 --> 00:33:27,429
And I could finally film inside.
491
00:33:32,379 --> 00:33:35,146
Have you ever been in a
place that just feels
492
00:33:35,247 --> 00:33:38,023
like something terrible
happened there?
493
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:41,609
I know it doesn't make logical sense.
494
00:33:43,070 --> 00:33:44,320
But you feel it.
495
00:33:44,750 --> 00:33:46,000
In Branch's grocery
496
00:33:51,340 --> 00:33:53,540
Most of the store has been transformed.
497
00:33:54,100 --> 00:33:55,850
But the old counter is still there.
498
00:33:57,590 --> 00:34:00,810
My mom says SE always kept four
things under that counter.
499
00:34:02,260 --> 00:34:07,850
Two sets of brass knuckles, a
bullwhip and a loaded revolver.
500
00:34:35,139 --> 00:34:37,869
Off camera Ed Vaughn
told me something else.
501
00:34:38,940 --> 00:34:42,700
He told me that two other people had
been murdered in Branch's grocery too.
502
00:34:43,110 --> 00:34:45,518
The couple that bought the
store from Mamma Jeanie
503
00:34:45,619 --> 00:34:48,463
and her brother had a
badly abusive marriage.
504
00:34:49,810 --> 00:34:51,719
When the woman had finally had enough
505
00:34:52,250 --> 00:34:53,549
She killed her husband.
506
00:34:55,659 --> 00:34:57,020
She wasn't charged.
507
00:34:57,130 --> 00:34:59,765
So a few weeks later his
family came back and
508
00:34:59,866 --> 00:35:03,094
killed her and retribution
in the store too.
509
00:35:06,820 --> 00:35:09,600
Three killings in one small store
510
00:35:11,449 --> 00:35:14,909
Just try and tell me that
store isn't haunted.
511
00:35:20,860 --> 00:35:26,050
Bill Spann died at the Moody hospital,
the same place my mother was born.
512
00:35:33,929 --> 00:35:35,560
A guy was working on the roof.
513
00:35:36,179 --> 00:35:37,939
He came down and talked to me.
514
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,719
He wouldn't let me film inside
but he showed me around.
515
00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:48,040
While he told me over and over again
that the hospital was haunted.
516
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,790
His girlfriend wouldn't
even go there anymore.
517
00:35:54,810 --> 00:35:57,369
That's also why he wouldn't
let me film inside.
518
00:35:57,659 --> 00:36:00,209
Because he and his brother
were trying to sell it.
519
00:36:02,790 --> 00:36:05,987
The stain on the front door was
from someone who'd just blown his
520
00:36:06,088 --> 00:36:09,604
brains out standing there in front
of the old abandoned hospital.
521
00:36:15,469 --> 00:36:18,909
Ed Vaughn had something to say
about the Moody hospital too.
522
00:36:22,460 --> 00:36:24,540
That hospital was truly amazing.
523
00:36:25,069 --> 00:36:26,319
And the.
524
00:36:27,290 --> 00:36:28,629
Doctor there
525
00:36:28,790 --> 00:36:30,119
Was an alcoholic
526
00:36:33,067 --> 00:36:37,340
I was in a one operation where
the man was cut with a chainsaw
527
00:36:37,831 --> 00:36:43,099
they cut his arm off and gave
it to me and I threw it out
528
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:48,549
and the doctor was so so high he
couldn't really do the operation.
529
00:36:48,650 --> 00:36:55,709
So a black guy did the operation on
this white man and the black guy, Joe.
530
00:36:56,319 --> 00:36:58,348
I think Joe went until
about the third grade.
531
00:36:58,449 --> 00:36:59,948
But he was good at what he did.
532
00:37:00,049 --> 00:37:02,876
Which showed me that in the
military, when I went
533
00:37:02,977 --> 00:37:05,854
to the military, and they
trained medics in six
534
00:37:05,955 --> 00:37:08,606
months when I was in the army.
And then someone
535
00:37:08,707 --> 00:37:10,629
says "you know they don't
train these guys enough."
536
00:37:10,730 --> 00:37:13,679
I said well, I knew a guy who
never went to any school.
537
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:15,969
and he operated on
538
00:37:22,449 --> 00:37:24,520
I was sitting right there watching him,
539
00:37:24,839 --> 00:37:26,089
and...
540
00:37:26,290 --> 00:37:27,768
He was doing all kinds of stuff.
541
00:37:27,869 --> 00:37:30,198
He was calling the shots for the doctor.
542
00:37:30,299 --> 00:37:36,080
I threw it in the incinerator. I
didn't know I was supposed to save it.
543
00:37:36,181 --> 00:37:39,399
They wanted it to go to the state
lab, but didn't nobody tell me that.
544
00:37:39,500 --> 00:37:44,065
And in the incinerators where
they used to put the stillborn
545
00:37:44,166 --> 00:37:47,674
babies, back then they just
dumped them in the incinerator.
546
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:51,850
So I just took the dang arm out
and dropped it in the incinerator
547
00:37:52,199 --> 00:37:55,389
And I thought I was a
doctor 'cause I wore white
548
00:37:55,490 --> 00:37:59,014
bucks, you know? white buck shoes.
They were popular.
549
00:37:59,190 --> 00:38:01,848
I had on white pants and I
had my white jacket on.
550
00:38:01,949 --> 00:38:03,850
And people would think I was a doctor.
551
00:38:05,250 --> 00:38:10,339
Oh you're a doctor? And they called
me doctor. No I'm the cleanup guy.
552
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:13,200
But if I had stayed there
long enough I probably could
553
00:38:13,301 --> 00:38:16,993
have been a surgeon myself,
just working there.
554
00:38:18,650 --> 00:38:20,589
How was the care segregated?
555
00:38:20,690 --> 00:38:22,778
Well the blacks were
in the basement and it
556
00:38:22,879 --> 00:38:25,604
was very damp down there
and it was terrible.
557
00:38:26,199 --> 00:38:27,449
And so.
558
00:38:29,087 --> 00:38:34,660
So many times we would go
down there to the rest and
559
00:38:34,761 --> 00:38:37,720
we'd go down and we'd have
breaks down in the basement.
560
00:38:37,821 --> 00:38:39,434
But there would never be black
people down there because
561
00:38:39,535 --> 00:38:41,968
that was the worst hospital
in Dothan for blacks.
562
00:38:42,069 --> 00:38:45,402
And so that's where Bill Spann
ended up after being shot at
563
00:38:45,503 --> 00:38:49,495
Branches grocery, at the worst
hospital for black people
564
00:38:49,596 --> 00:38:53,856
in Dothan, where the head
surgeon was so drunk that he
565
00:38:53,957 --> 00:38:57,822
couldn't operate and orderlies
tried to save you instead.
566
00:40:31,150 --> 00:40:39,400
And now it's time for me to tell you about
the third sister–– the eldest, Jean.
567
00:40:45,139 --> 00:40:49,129
Jean is the only one of the three sisters
alive at the time of the murder.
568
00:40:50,449 --> 00:40:52,960
So she's also the only
sister in the old movies.
569
00:40:55,389 --> 00:40:56,638
This is Jean,
570
00:40:56,739 --> 00:41:02,600
Around the time she was introducing my
mother to folk music and civil rights.
571
00:41:05,350 --> 00:41:06,600
And this is Jean now.
572
00:41:10,350 --> 00:41:11,600
And so is this.
573
00:41:14,350 --> 00:41:15,600
And so is this.
574
00:41:27,150 --> 00:41:29,908
Jean is a politically
active white supremacist,
575
00:41:30,143 --> 00:41:32,629
in a group called The
League of the South.
576
00:41:32,730 --> 00:41:34,644
Here's what the Southern Poverty Law Center
577
00:41:34,745 --> 00:41:37,824
has to say about the league.
578
00:41:38,550 --> 00:41:41,724
The godly nation envisioned
by the league should
579
00:41:41,825 --> 00:41:45,028
be run by an Anglo-Celtic
white elite, that would
580
00:41:45,129 --> 00:41:47,427
establish a Christian
theocratic state and
581
00:41:47,528 --> 00:41:50,480
politically dominate blacks
and other minorities.
582
00:41:50,630 --> 00:41:52,490
Originally founded by
a group that included
583
00:41:52,591 --> 00:41:54,834
many Southern
University Professors.
584
00:41:55,369 --> 00:41:59,490
The group lost its Ph.D.s as it
became more explicitly racist.
585
00:42:00,319 --> 00:42:02,899
The league denounces the
federal government and
586
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:05,993
Northern and coastal states
as part of the empire.
587
00:42:06,429 --> 00:42:09,671
A materialist and anti-religious society.
588
00:42:10,125 --> 00:42:14,830
In recent years it has become increasingly
rabid, writing about potential
589
00:42:14,931 --> 00:42:18,571
violence criticizing perceived
Jewish power and warning
590
00:42:18,672 --> 00:42:22,562
blacks that they would be
defeated in any race war.
591
00:42:23,369 --> 00:42:27,990
Here's the group's leader––a man Gene
reveres––speaking in his own words.
592
00:42:37,389 --> 00:42:42,440
There is this misconception
about what nationalism is.
593
00:42:42,610 --> 00:42:46,065
Most people when they hear the
term nationalism, they think
594
00:42:46,166 --> 00:42:50,384
of a political entity they think
about the American nation.
595
00:42:50,710 --> 00:42:54,649
They think about politics
they think about borders.
596
00:42:55,080 --> 00:43:00,019
Well yeah there are borders, but
the borders that distinguish what?
597
00:43:00,610 --> 00:43:05,485
Borders that distinguish not
a political unit a polity,
598
00:43:05,994 --> 00:43:10,859
but borders that distinguish
a people, a blood people.
599
00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:18,009
The Bible talks of that nations
and it means peoples, tribes,
600
00:43:18,110 --> 00:43:24,195
clans, groups of individuals
that are connected by blood.
601
00:43:24,429 --> 00:43:31,230
So when we talk about the Southern nation
we're talking about not political entities.
602
00:43:31,380 --> 00:43:34,696
We're talking first and foremost
about our people. And who
603
00:43:34,797 --> 00:43:39,654
are our people our people are
white Europeans southerners.
604
00:43:43,389 --> 00:43:46,586
Now we're mainly from the British
Isles, but we're also from other
605
00:43:46,687 --> 00:43:50,893
parts of Northern and Western Europe
and even parts of Central Europe.
606
00:43:51,279 --> 00:43:54,639
But we are a distinctive people.
607
00:43:55,509 --> 00:43:59,960
Based on blood and from
that blood comes culture.
608
00:44:00,949 --> 00:44:05,591
And from that culture comes our
political institutions and
609
00:44:05,692 --> 00:44:09,885
from the political institutions
come our borders and our
610
00:44:09,986 --> 00:44:16,019
nations, our nation states, as
we call them Germany, France,
611
00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:22,722
England, Scotland, Ireland,
Norway, Denmark Sweden.
612
00:44:23,069 --> 00:44:26,179
Dixie, they're all the same.
613
00:44:27,069 --> 00:44:35,319
We are a people we are a nation
we are a blood with the land.
614
00:44:50,469 --> 00:44:53,090
I'm not going to devote
much time to this group.
615
00:44:53,230 --> 00:44:55,789
I'm certainly not going
to offer them a platform.
616
00:44:56,020 --> 00:44:57,760
Their views are well-represented.
617
00:44:58,589 --> 00:45:01,139
But I thought you should
know you're dealing with.
618
00:45:02,500 --> 00:45:04,489
None of us has talked to Gene in years.
619
00:45:04,839 --> 00:45:06,409
Still I wanted to try.
620
00:45:07,089 --> 00:45:10,107
My mother told me she thought her sister
might be at a Confederate memorial
621
00:45:10,208 --> 00:45:14,654
ceremony, in the middle part of the
state, in a town called Verbena
622
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:19,270
I thought I might as well go
and try to meet her there.
623
00:47:07,900 --> 00:47:09,350
Like the League of the South,
624
00:47:09,790 --> 00:47:11,719
they emphasize family a great deal.
625
00:47:13,839 --> 00:47:17,753
At one point, the man in charge, the man
everyone wants to take pictures with
626
00:47:18,682 --> 00:47:22,468
gave a speech from
atop his literal high horse.
627
00:47:22,569 --> 00:47:24,429
Those were our families he said.
628
00:47:25,073 --> 00:47:28,916
Defending their homes against
invaders against great odds
629
00:47:29,418 --> 00:47:33,299
just like the Revolutionary War was
fought against great odds.
630
00:47:33,730 --> 00:47:36,300
And we aren't even allowed
to remember them.
631
00:47:37,900 --> 00:47:41,299
Speaking of memory, at the
time of the Civil War.
632
00:47:42,130 --> 00:47:45,949
There were over five hundred
thousand black slaves in Alabama.
633
00:47:46,989 --> 00:47:48,419
All of them carrying the names
634
00:47:48,520 --> 00:47:53,299
of those same families who were
defending their homes against invaders
635
00:47:54,009 --> 00:47:55,259
against great odds.
636
00:47:56,969 --> 00:48:00,129
The only black person at the
entire event was a firefighter,
637
00:48:00,380 --> 00:48:03,340
selling hot dogs to raise money
for his local department.
638
00:48:05,489 --> 00:48:08,530
You had the sense he didn't know
he was getting himself into.
639
00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:10,800
Do black lives matter?
640
00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:14,969
At this confederate memorial
641
00:48:15,449 --> 00:48:16,699
They don't even exist.
642
00:48:18,020 --> 00:48:19,730
I looked everywhere for Jean.
643
00:48:20,299 --> 00:48:21,549
But I never saw her.
644
00:48:22,670 --> 00:48:25,047
I think somehow she'd been tipped off
that I might be there.
645
00:48:25,148 --> 00:48:28,430
And so I drove straight to Selma
646
00:48:28,531 --> 00:48:32,772
Where black people and
their history actually exist.
647
00:50:10,739 --> 00:50:12,770
I finally mailed a letter to Gene.
648
00:50:13,679 --> 00:50:15,770
I was honest about what I was doing.
649
00:50:16,210 --> 00:50:20,600
I asked her if she talked to me about SE
Branch and what she knew about the murder.
650
00:52:00,389 --> 00:52:03,340
Ed Vaughn spoke about
Abbeyville, where he was born.
651
00:52:04,139 --> 00:52:06,500
A small town 27 miles from Dothan.
652
00:52:12,230 --> 00:52:14,499
On September 3rd 1944.
653
00:52:15,330 --> 00:52:20,679
The Rockhill Holiness Church in Abbeyville
Alabama rocked late into the night.
654
00:52:21,389 --> 00:52:26,199
It was nearly midnight when the doors of
the wooden one story church swung open.
655
00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:32,049
Releasing streams of worshipers, all
African-American, into the moonlight.
656
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:34,839
After a night of singing and praying.
657
00:52:35,389 --> 00:52:39,507
Resee Taylor, Fanni Daniel,
and Daniel's 18 year old
658
00:52:39,608 --> 00:52:42,734
son, West, stepped out of
the country chapel and
659
00:52:42,835 --> 00:52:46,257
strolled toward home alongside
the peanut plantations
660
00:52:46,656 --> 00:52:48,945
that bounded the Abbeyville
headland highway.
661
00:52:50,186 --> 00:52:53,541
Taylor, A 24 year old mother
and sharecropper noticed
662
00:52:53,642 --> 00:52:57,084
a green Chevrolet past
them at least three times.
663
00:52:57,338 --> 00:52:58,538
Young white men.
664
00:52:58,639 --> 00:53:00,180
Gawking from its windows.
665
00:53:00,929 --> 00:53:02,129
Taylor and Daniel.
666
00:53:02,230 --> 00:53:05,154
A stout 61 year old woman,
watched the car creep by one
667
00:53:05,255 --> 00:53:09,424
last time and roll to a stop
a few feet ahead of them.
668
00:53:10,659 --> 00:53:15,619
Seven men, armed with knives and guns, got
out of the car and walked toward the women.
669
00:53:17,279 --> 00:53:18,479
Herbert LaVette.
670
00:53:18,580 --> 00:53:23,690
The oldest of the crew at 24 and a
private in the US Army, shouted "Stop".
671
00:53:25,449 --> 00:53:29,870
He cocked the gun at the back of her
head and said "I'll kill you if you run"
672
00:53:30,637 --> 00:53:35,082
LaVette walked her to the car
and shoved her into the back seat.
673
00:53:35,980 --> 00:53:40,190
Lavette was the first of six
men to rape Taylor that night.
674
00:53:41,619 --> 00:53:44,863
When they finished, someone
helped her get dressed tied a
675
00:53:44,964 --> 00:53:48,794
handkerchief over her eyes and
shoved her back into the car.
676
00:53:50,839 --> 00:53:52,089
Back on the highway.
677
00:53:52,310 --> 00:53:54,969
The men stopped and ordered
Taylor out of the car.
678
00:53:56,900 --> 00:53:59,890
"Don't move until we get away
from here," one of them yelled.
679
00:54:01,159 --> 00:54:03,600
Taylor heard the car
disappear into the night.
680
00:54:04,069 --> 00:54:05,610
She pulled off the blindfold.
681
00:54:06,139 --> 00:54:07,389
Got her bearings.
682
00:54:07,850 --> 00:54:09,360
And began the long walk home.
683
00:54:10,989 --> 00:54:12,239
A few days later
684
00:54:12,489 --> 00:54:16,730
A telephone rang at the NAACP branch
office in Montgomery, Alabama.
685
00:54:18,549 --> 00:54:20,590
E.D. Nixon, the local
president, promised to
686
00:54:20,691 --> 00:54:23,564
send his best investigator
to Abbeyville.
687
00:54:25,719 --> 00:54:27,560
Her name was Rosa Parks.
688
00:54:28,869 --> 00:54:30,118
In later years.
689
00:54:30,219 --> 00:54:34,432
Historians would paint Parks as a sweet and
reticent old woman, whose tired feet caused
690
00:54:34,533 --> 00:54:39,188
her to defy Jim Crow on Montgomery city
buses. Her solitary and spontaneous act,
691
00:54:41,980 --> 00:54:45,619
the story goes, sparked
the 1955 bus boycott.
692
00:54:45,860 --> 00:54:48,300
And gave birth to the
Civil Rights Movement.
693
00:54:49,540 --> 00:54:51,799
But Rosa Parks was a militant race woman
694
00:54:52,210 --> 00:54:53,460
A sharp detective
695
00:54:53,980 --> 00:54:55,529
And an anti-rape activist
696
00:54:55,630 --> 00:54:58,759
Long before she became the
patron saint of the bus boycott.
697
00:55:00,549 --> 00:55:02,606
After meeting with Resee
Taylor, Rosa Parks
698
00:55:02,707 --> 00:55:05,264
helped form the Committee
for Equal Justice.
699
00:55:06,489 --> 00:55:09,476
Eleven years later this group
of homegrown leaders would
700
00:55:09,577 --> 00:55:13,453
become better known as the
Montgomery Improvement Association.
701
00:55:15,460 --> 00:55:17,322
The 1955 Montgomery Bus
Boycott, often heralded as the
702
00:55:17,423 --> 00:55:22,782
opening scene of the Civil Rights
Movement, was in many ways
703
00:55:22,883 --> 00:55:26,563
the last act of a decades long
struggle to protect black
704
00:55:26,664 --> 00:55:31,827
women, like Taylor, from
sexualized violence and rape.
705
00:55:34,839 --> 00:55:39,400
I spent the afternoon filming the town,
searching for Rosa Parks childhood home.
706
00:55:41,049 --> 00:55:42,710
The town was mostly deserted.
707
00:55:44,139 --> 00:55:48,230
For the better part of the afternoon,
the only people encountered were white
708
00:55:48,819 --> 00:55:52,194
Nobody seemed to know anything
about the Rosa Parks home,
709
00:55:52,803 --> 00:55:57,244
a state monument to the most famous person
ever to come from the town.
710
00:55:57,460 --> 00:56:00,470
As the light began to
disappear I ran into a
711
00:56:00,571 --> 00:56:03,983
young black man leaving
the corner market.
712
00:56:04,350 --> 00:56:06,169
Perhaps unsurprisingly
713
00:56:06,270 --> 00:56:08,740
He immediately told me
where to find the house.
714
00:56:12,969 --> 00:56:15,159
This is the home Rosa Parks
returned to, in order
715
00:56:15,260 --> 00:56:18,163
to organize a defense
committee for Resee Taylor.
716
00:56:19,239 --> 00:56:21,080
She was 31 years old at the time.
717
00:56:22,641 --> 00:56:26,252
It is difficult to imagine the
courage it must have taken
718
00:56:26,353 --> 00:56:30,273
Rosa Parks to leave Montgomery
and return to a small
719
00:56:30,374 --> 00:56:33,830
town in the middle of nowhere
Alabama, where white men
720
00:56:33,931 --> 00:56:37,367
had absolute impunity to
rape and murder black women.
721
00:56:37,909 --> 00:56:42,150
All in order to organize the defense
of one of those abused women.
722
00:56:45,589 --> 00:56:49,830
She did this more than 10 years before
she also led the Montgomery bus boycott.
723
00:56:51,239 --> 00:56:55,029
And it was also five years before Ed
Vaughn led the strike at Carver High.
724
00:56:59,969 --> 00:57:05,139
The first modern civil rights movement was
led by a woman just 27 miles from Dothan
725
00:57:07,139 --> 00:57:08,389
Dale Spann.
726
00:57:09,290 --> 00:57:12,940
And it was organized in response
to racist sexualized violence.
727
00:57:17,790 --> 00:57:21,189
Just try and convince me
that's all a coincidence.
728
00:57:24,226 --> 00:57:30,189
The death certificate says that Bill
Spann was removed to Lewisville Alabama
729
00:57:30,290 --> 00:57:32,188
a town 51 miles north of Dothan,
730
00:57:33,556 --> 00:57:35,041
and it seems to have been were
731
00:57:35,142 --> 00:57:38,961
black people who died in abject
poverty were taken back then
732
00:57:40,996 --> 00:57:42,743
Starting at the gas station,
733
00:57:42,869 --> 00:57:44,845
I began asking people
where I might
734
00:57:44,946 --> 00:57:49,188
find the grave of an African-American
man buried in the 1940s.
735
00:57:50,150 --> 00:57:51,780
Nobody seemed to know anything.
736
00:57:53,360 --> 00:57:56,112
The old man who ran the gas
station pointed across the
737
00:57:56,213 --> 00:57:59,633
street to city hall without
so much as making a sound.
738
00:58:04,650 --> 00:58:08,050
When I told the clerk at city hall
that I was looking for a grave
739
00:58:08,400 --> 00:58:10,629
she eagerly pulled out a thick ledger book.
740
00:58:11,730 --> 00:58:14,330
But she couldn't find the
name and seemed puzzled.
741
00:58:17,400 --> 00:58:19,509
She asked me if he was a relative of mine.
742
00:58:20,670 --> 00:58:21,920
I told her no.
743
00:58:22,529 --> 00:58:25,059
I explained that he was
a black man from Dothan
744
00:58:25,350 --> 00:58:27,180
Who'd been buried in Lewisville.
745
00:58:36,460 --> 00:58:38,368
She returned the ledger to its
place on the shelf before
746
00:58:38,469 --> 00:58:41,594
telling me they didn't have
those kinds of records.
747
00:58:43,969 --> 00:58:45,480
On my way out of the building
748
00:58:45,949 --> 00:58:47,760
I was gestured into the library
749
00:58:48,139 --> 00:58:50,010
By a black woman in her late 20s.
750
00:58:51,049 --> 00:58:53,880
She wanted me all the way
to the back of the library
751
00:58:54,339 --> 00:58:56,710
where no one could hear us speak
752
00:59:00,409 --> 00:59:02,759
I explained to her what
I was trying to find.
753
00:59:04,850 --> 00:59:06,100
She took my number.
754
00:59:07,290 --> 00:59:09,040
And said she'd try to help me.
755
00:59:11,790 --> 00:59:16,210
In the meantime I drove to Cottonwood
on the outskirts of Dothan.
756
00:59:18,199 --> 00:59:23,249
I went there because everyone
told me it was the Klan town
757
00:59:23,350 --> 00:59:27,600
Because it was outside city limits and
gave them greater freedom to operate
758
00:59:32,110 --> 00:59:38,310
The town wasn't very interesting to
look at. For some reason in Cottonwood
759
00:59:39,389 --> 00:59:42,400
All I wanted to do was film trees.
760
01:00:34,560 --> 01:00:36,759
I was approached by two teenage boys.
761
01:00:37,830 --> 01:00:39,669
They asked me what I was doing.
762
01:00:40,679 --> 01:00:41,929
One of them said
763
01:00:42,449 --> 01:00:44,200
people don't do things like that
764
01:00:44,610 --> 01:00:45,860
In Cottonwood.
765
01:00:50,199 --> 01:00:53,760
They left and I quickly
started putting my gear away.
766
01:00:57,600 --> 01:00:59,560
They returned a few minutes later.
767
01:00:59,670 --> 01:01:01,990
As I was about to get in
my car and drive off.
768
01:01:03,639 --> 01:01:04,889
"Are you Travis?"
769
01:01:05,080 --> 01:01:06,830
One of them asked me directly.
770
01:01:08,790 --> 01:01:10,040
I was shocked.
771
01:01:10,380 --> 01:01:12,600
And answered reflexively, Yes.
772
01:01:15,060 --> 01:01:16,990
"Don't go anywhere" he said.
773
01:01:18,540 --> 01:01:21,639
My dad's coming and he
wants to speak with you.
774
01:01:24,369 --> 01:01:27,319
I firmly got back in the
car locked the door.
775
01:01:27,730 --> 01:01:29,810
Started the engine and drove off.
776
01:01:32,920 --> 01:01:37,049
I was on the outskirts of town when a
sedan came barreling up behind me.
777
01:01:37,150 --> 01:01:38,400
Driven by two men.
778
01:01:40,730 --> 01:01:45,100
I took a strange and circuitous route but
they followed me every step of the way.
779
01:01:46,440 --> 01:01:48,870
I didn't want them knowing
where I was staying.
780
01:01:49,020 --> 01:01:54,250
So I pulled into a Ruby Tuesday restaurant,
sat at the bar and ordered lunch.
781
01:01:56,339 --> 01:01:59,679
By the time I came back
outside, the car was gone.
782
01:02:00,569 --> 01:02:02,500
I guess Jean had received my letter.
783
01:02:03,839 --> 01:02:05,089
My cell phone rang.
784
01:02:05,790 --> 01:02:07,179
It was a Lewisville number.
785
01:02:10,190 --> 01:02:12,330
It was the young woman from city hall.
786
01:02:12,799 --> 01:02:14,639
She asked me not to use her name.
787
01:02:16,139 --> 01:02:17,638
He's in Mount Zion she said.
788
01:02:17,739 --> 01:02:20,679
Behind the church, in an unmarked grave.
789
01:02:21,630 --> 01:02:22,880
And she hung up.
790
01:03:55,060 --> 01:03:58,547
Four years of research
led me here outside the
791
01:03:58,648 --> 01:04:03,334
small town of Lewisville Alabama.
Population 519.
792
01:04:08,850 --> 01:04:11,630
This is where I believe
Bill Spann is buried.
793
01:04:13,179 --> 01:04:16,968
Everything I know about
him, about his family,
794
01:04:17,172 --> 01:04:21,626
after all these years of
research, after spending
795
01:04:21,727 --> 01:04:24,806
time in libraries, in
archives searching public
796
01:04:24,907 --> 01:04:29,149
records even after hiring
a private investigator.
797
01:04:29,250 --> 01:04:31,100
This is what I know:
798
01:04:33,730 --> 01:04:35,940
I know what's in the two
newspaper articles.
799
01:04:37,480 --> 01:04:39,449
I know what's in his death certificate.
800
01:04:41,429 --> 01:04:45,539
I know he's buried in Lewisville
801
01:04:45,640 --> 01:04:50,100
and I know that black people buried in
Lewisville were only buried in one place.
802
01:04:54,710 --> 01:05:00,360
I also know that the name Bill Spann
isn't inscribed on any legible tombstone
803
01:05:00,619 --> 01:05:08,479
in the entire graveyard. And that poor
blacks were buried in unmarked graves.
804
01:05:17,219 --> 01:05:19,869
My great-grandfather murdered that man.
805
01:05:20,190 --> 01:05:26,909
Bill Spann he shot him in cold
blood and got away with it.
806
01:05:31,589 --> 01:05:37,119
I'm showing you images of the place Bill
Spann is buried in an unmarked grave.
807
01:05:39,259 --> 01:05:43,080
I filmed the graveyard
using an expensive camera.
808
01:05:46,089 --> 01:05:47,480
I was paid to do it.
809
01:05:54,159 --> 01:05:58,080
Two families they both live in Alabama.
810
01:06:00,139 --> 01:06:04,020
One of them is white and
one of them is black.
811
01:06:07,369 --> 01:06:09,330
One of them is the family of a murder,
812
01:06:11,339 --> 01:06:13,600
and one of them is the
family of the murdered.
813
01:06:19,850 --> 01:06:22,100
One of them is buried in an unmarked grave,
814
01:06:23,350 --> 01:06:25,100
and one of them is filming it.
815
01:06:36,639 --> 01:06:39,140
That's a pretty precise
expression of racism.
816
01:06:47,890 --> 01:06:51,249
♪ Singing♪ Oh Lord, time
don't get no better yeah.
817
01:06:51,350 --> 01:06:58,600
I'm going down the road, I'm
going away to leave you.
818
01:06:58,950 --> 01:07:03,249
Every time don't get no better here.
819
01:07:03,350 --> 01:07:07,020
Down the road I'm gone.
820
01:07:07,770 --> 01:07:14,600
Every time it get no better.
Oh down the road I'm gone
821
01:07:35,540 --> 01:07:36,869
I'm back in Alabama.
822
01:07:38,210 --> 01:07:40,650
I needed to drive the road to Atallah
823
01:07:44,540 --> 01:07:45,790
I can feel it.
824
01:07:47,009 --> 01:07:48,339
I'm getting close.
825
01:07:51,159 --> 01:07:52,409
I can feel it.
826
01:07:54,670 --> 01:07:56,600
There's no close to getting.
827
01:08:01,690 --> 01:08:06,070
In 1963, William Moore was murdered
somewhere along this road.
828
01:08:16,299 --> 01:08:18,739
♪ Singing♪ Walking down an Alabama road.
829
01:08:19,819 --> 01:08:23,249
Remembering what the Bible told.
830
01:08:23,350 --> 01:08:25,600
Walking with a letter in his hand.
831
01:08:26,869 --> 01:08:29,560
Dreaming of another Southern land.
832
01:08:30,370 --> 01:08:33,600
Walking down an Alabama road.
833
01:08:34,870 --> 01:08:37,639
He went by the name of William Moore.
834
01:08:38,440 --> 01:08:42,120
Now what are you doing, William Moore?
835
01:08:42,669 --> 01:08:44,779
Why the letter in your hand?
836
01:08:45,870 --> 01:08:48,350
There's only one southern land
837
01:08:48,910 --> 01:08:51,509
And he went by the name of William Moore
838
01:08:53,219 --> 01:08:55,230
What is the glory of one man?
839
01:09:02,320 --> 01:09:05,940
What price the dream was and
what price the glory of one man?
840
01:09:11,100 --> 01:09:14,770
Moore was a white activist from
the Congress on Racial Equality.
841
01:09:16,100 --> 01:09:20,514
He was walking alone from Chattanooga
Tennessee to Jackson Mississippi
842
01:09:20,632 --> 01:09:25,240
to deliver a letter to the governor of
Mississippi denouncing segregation.
843
01:09:26,940 --> 01:09:28,240
On the day of his murder.
844
01:09:28,870 --> 01:09:31,509
Moore argued with a local
man named Floyd Simpson.
845
01:09:32,900 --> 01:09:36,308
A passing motorist found Moore's
body about a mile down the road,
846
01:09:36,409 --> 01:09:41,174
shot twice in the head at close
range with a 22 caliber rifle.
847
01:09:43,320 --> 01:09:45,929
The guns ownership was
traced back to Simpson.
848
01:09:46,469 --> 01:09:48,730
But no charges were ever filed against him.
849
01:09:50,299 --> 01:09:53,049
Moore died a week before
his thirty-sixth birthday.
850
01:09:55,079 --> 01:09:57,610
That murder too is largely forgotten.
851
01:09:59,469 --> 01:10:02,600
The only reason I know about
it is Phil Och's song.
852
01:10:05,020 --> 01:10:08,280
There's nothing to mark the exact
spot on the road to a Talla.
853
01:10:09,249 --> 01:10:11,600
So you just have to guess
where it happened.
854
01:10:15,150 --> 01:10:21,719
Despite all my research the public face of
S.E. branch remains more or less intact.
855
01:10:23,190 --> 01:10:26,379
Over and over I'd circle
in near to the truth.
856
01:10:27,450 --> 01:10:32,820
Over and over, the truth would
disappear like the morning fog.
857
01:10:35,762 --> 01:10:39,262
I asked those who knew him
to write me something at least.
858
01:10:39,904 --> 01:10:42,536
Those requests were ignored too.
859
01:10:43,506 --> 01:10:45,388
Save by his granddaughters.
860
01:10:46,842 --> 01:10:52,419
One by one each of the three sisters
wrote me, beginning with my mother.
861
01:10:54,537 --> 01:10:56,882
The image they create together is
862
01:10:56,983 --> 01:11:00,067
even more troubling than
what I knew before.
863
01:11:01,780 --> 01:11:05,209
When I concentrate I can
see everything as it was
864
01:11:06,579 --> 01:11:08,670
Most of all I see his hands,
865
01:11:09,450 --> 01:11:13,249
With those hands my grandfather
threatened to kill my grandmother,
866
01:11:13,350 --> 01:11:17,906
sending her running to our house across
town in the middle of the night out
867
01:11:18,007 --> 01:11:20,665
of breath screaming
"let me in Mary
868
01:11:20,766 --> 01:11:24,733
now your daddy's
going to kill me."
869
01:11:25,299 --> 01:11:27,129
"Your daddy's going to kill me."
870
01:11:31,870 --> 01:11:34,427
Those are the hands that pushed
me down onto Jeannie's bed and
871
01:11:34,528 --> 01:11:38,473
held my wrists hard while he
pressed his body against mine.
872
01:11:39,620 --> 01:11:41,310
I don't remember how old I was.
873
01:11:42,219 --> 01:11:43,469
I didn't dwell on it.
874
01:11:46,539 --> 01:11:51,039
They are also the hands that held the
gun used to shoot a black man to death.
875
01:11:54,329 --> 01:11:56,894
Those are the hands that
drove the car, with me
876
01:11:56,995 --> 01:12:00,153
sitting next to him, to the
Elks Club on bingo night.
877
01:12:01,289 --> 01:12:04,389
The hands holding my baby boy, you,
878
01:12:04,939 --> 01:12:06,139
on his lap.
879
01:12:06,240 --> 01:12:08,440
In the photos taken just before he died.
880
01:12:11,589 --> 01:12:13,630
He is smiling because
it pleases him that his
881
01:12:13,731 --> 01:12:16,533
first great grandchild
favors him so much.
882
01:12:22,950 --> 01:12:24,200
Finally
883
01:12:24,360 --> 01:12:26,080
After months and months of waiting
884
01:12:26,770 --> 01:12:30,040
The third sister finally
join the conversation too
885
01:12:31,629 --> 01:12:34,100
"I wanted to get a letter off
to you because I will be
886
01:12:34,201 --> 01:12:37,604
busy with my secession politics
for the next few days."
887
01:12:38,799 --> 01:12:42,560
"I didn't want you to get the idea that
I wasn't going to respond to you."
888
01:12:43,539 --> 01:12:48,409
"Also your family and I don't want you
to interpret my response as cold".
889
01:12:50,230 --> 01:12:51,480
"You don't know me."
890
01:12:52,060 --> 01:12:54,559
"You can't know someone
you haven't been around"
891
01:12:55,709 --> 01:12:57,500
"And I don't know you either."
892
01:13:00,929 --> 01:13:03,205
"It won't take long for me to
tell you what I think about
893
01:13:03,306 --> 01:13:06,933
your project to investigate
the past of Edwin Branch".
894
01:13:07,980 --> 01:13:09,970
"So let's get this out of the way."
895
01:13:12,249 --> 01:13:16,142
"I remember hearing but don't
remember from who whether Art or Mama
896
01:13:16,243 --> 01:13:20,523
Jeannie that a black female had run
into the store asking for help."
897
01:13:21,280 --> 01:13:24,380
"Because she was chased by a
black man with a butcher knife"
898
01:13:26,100 --> 01:13:28,929
"He chased her into the
store and refused to stop."
899
01:13:29,639 --> 01:13:32,540
"And my grandfather shot
him to protect her."
900
01:13:38,480 --> 01:13:40,217
"I doubt there will
be any witnesses and
901
01:13:40,318 --> 01:13:43,134
probably all legal info
has long been purged."
902
01:13:44,150 --> 01:13:46,290
"I can't stop you from 'investigating'."
903
01:13:47,270 --> 01:13:50,101
"I can only tell you that I
would prefer you dropped it."
904
01:13:50,959 --> 01:13:52,530
"My mother would be horrified."
905
01:13:52,910 --> 01:13:54,219
"And so would my father."
906
01:13:55,320 --> 01:13:56,919
"My mother loved her parents."
907
01:13:57,539 --> 01:13:59,169
"Flawed as they both were."
908
01:14:00,719 --> 01:14:04,089
"I have different memories of my
grandfather than my sisters do"
909
01:14:04,969 --> 01:14:10,110
"All of mine with the exception being
the horrifying call on Christmas Eve."
910
01:14:10,400 --> 01:14:12,009
"I'm sure you've heard about it."
911
01:14:12,110 --> 01:14:13,360
"We're positive."
912
01:14:15,089 --> 01:14:19,179
"I have good memories of being at the store
and several fishing trips with them"
913
01:14:21,530 --> 01:14:23,489
"Both of my grandfathers were flawed."
914
01:14:25,520 --> 01:14:28,077
"I can't stop you from doing
what you decide to do but I'm
915
01:14:28,178 --> 01:14:32,624
responding to your letter as
best and as honestly as I can"
916
01:14:36,350 --> 01:14:39,454
"The only hate I have ever
seen at the rallies I attend
917
01:14:39,555 --> 01:14:43,624
and organize, was black
hatred against other blacks."
918
01:14:44,549 --> 01:14:48,969
"We are not a heritage organization,
we are Southern nationalists."
919
01:14:49,620 --> 01:14:52,989
"We don't pledge allegiance to the U.S.
flag or sing the national
920
01:14:53,090 --> 01:14:57,894
anthem, we salute the Confederate
flag and our anthem is Dixie"
921
01:15:00,889 --> 01:15:03,545
"We are fighting against
cultural genocide.
922
01:15:03,968 --> 01:15:07,032
Cultural genocide it
becomes physical genocide"
923
01:15:09,030 --> 01:15:12,369
"I am no longer interested in
debating causes of the civil war"
924
01:15:12,539 --> 01:15:14,499
"or trying to teach history lessons."
925
01:15:15,270 --> 01:15:17,259
"I have no time for that anymore."
926
01:15:19,049 --> 01:15:21,879
"I will continue to
correspond if you wish."
927
01:15:22,679 --> 01:15:23,929
––Jean.
928
01:15:31,440 --> 01:15:33,819
I shared Jean's letter
with both of her sisters.
929
01:15:34,350 --> 01:15:36,339
Jill, especially, was furious
930
01:15:37,139 --> 01:15:38,740
And she quickly wrote her reply.
931
01:15:43,249 --> 01:15:47,360
"Dear Travis, I am writing this
letter to you post-interview"
932
01:15:48,450 --> 01:15:51,632
"I originally felt that SE
Branches obvious actions and
933
01:15:51,733 --> 01:15:55,533
responsibility in the murder of Mr.
Bill Spann spoke loudly enough."
934
01:15:57,549 --> 01:16:01,280
"After reading a letter written to
you by my oldest sister, Mary Jean."
935
01:16:01,450 --> 01:16:05,130
"I have decided to share some lesser
known qualities of my grandfather."
936
01:16:08,209 --> 01:16:09,600
"When I was around 11"
937
01:16:09,950 --> 01:16:11,299
"He began molesting me."
938
01:16:12,919 --> 01:16:15,479
"I have only one clear
memory of the incidents"
939
01:16:17,499 --> 01:16:21,499
"He was a loud, aggressive man who
intimidated other grown men."
940
01:16:23,360 --> 01:16:28,730
"I had no power against him and never
told a soul until just a few years ago"
941
01:16:30,150 --> 01:16:33,139
"I instinctively knew that it
would only make things worse."
942
01:16:33,620 --> 01:16:35,650
"And that I would receive no support"
943
01:16:38,990 --> 01:16:40,719
"I always knew him to be violent."
944
01:16:40,820 --> 01:16:43,839
"I had heard stories of physical
abuse to my grandmother."
945
01:16:45,370 --> 01:16:48,500
"He treated her nearly as
a master would a slave"
946
01:16:57,560 --> 01:17:00,339
"After reading the letter
that my sister wrote to you"
947
01:17:00,440 --> 01:17:02,927
"I felt compelled to question
her newly found memory of
948
01:17:03,028 --> 01:17:06,474
the accounts of the evening that Mr.
Spann was murdered."
949
01:17:08,629 --> 01:17:12,808
"SE branch hated blacks
and had no regard for women.
950
01:17:14,425 --> 01:17:17,530
It is my opinion that Mary Jean
has submitted an outright lie
951
01:17:17,631 --> 01:17:21,449
disguised as an alternative
to what we know to be true."
952
01:17:21,730 --> 01:17:25,250
"One: Mr. Branch was charged with murder"
953
01:17:28,179 --> 01:17:34,610
"Two: Mr. Branch was an
abuser not a rescuer women."
954
01:17:35,350 --> 01:17:38,900
"Three: Mr. Branch was well
known for his intense racism."
955
01:17:40,709 --> 01:17:45,601
"Well we may never know all the truth
I know in my heart that Mr. Branch
956
01:17:45,702 --> 01:17:50,178
did not kill Mr. Spann while
defending an African-American woman"
957
01:17:50,350 --> 01:17:53,039
"and it seems strange to
me that Mary Jean would
958
01:17:53,140 --> 01:17:56,624
suddenly remembered this
accounting of the evening."
959
01:17:58,709 --> 01:18:02,169
"Mr. Branch was an evil
man who did evil deeds"
960
01:18:03,579 --> 01:18:10,249
My only wish is that the Spann family will
know that Bill Spann's life mattered.
961
01:18:10,350 --> 01:18:12,600
"Thank you, Jill"
962
01:18:16,000 --> 01:18:18,600
A few weeks later Jill
sent me another message.
963
01:18:18,999 --> 01:18:24,020
She told me that she'd spoken to her
cousin Diane, daughter of SE Branch Jr..
964
01:18:25,660 --> 01:18:27,978
Who recalled the following
965
01:18:28,079 --> 01:18:33,730
SE was owed money by a black man. He went
to collect that money at the man's house.
966
01:18:35,329 --> 01:18:37,579
SE found him hiding under a bed.
967
01:18:38,060 --> 01:18:39,310
Dragged him out.
968
01:18:39,549 --> 01:18:41,270
And shot him dead on the spot.
969
01:18:42,950 --> 01:18:47,469
SE was always proud that he'd never so
much as spent a night in jail for it.
970
01:18:51,579 --> 01:18:54,369
Which is to say accidentally
971
01:18:55,480 --> 01:18:57,719
we had stumbled on to a second murder.
972
01:19:00,049 --> 01:19:01,680
The details don't match up.
973
01:19:03,499 --> 01:19:05,609
It's obviously a different incident.
974
01:19:08,200 --> 01:19:10,790
This time we don't even
know the man's name.
975
01:19:16,270 --> 01:19:17,520
Harper Lee.
976
01:19:17,799 --> 01:19:19,850
Suddenly returns to the story now.
977
01:19:21,929 --> 01:19:24,931
Unexpectedly near the
end of her life she
978
01:19:25,032 --> 01:19:29,014
publishes her second
book Go Set a Watchman.
979
01:19:30,799 --> 01:19:33,839
Ostensibly the sequel to
To Kill a Mockingbird.
980
01:19:35,262 --> 01:19:38,965
It is more accurately described
as its predecessor,
981
01:19:39,865 --> 01:19:45,019
the first draft and suddenly one recognizes
To Kill a Mockingbird.
982
01:19:45,120 --> 01:19:46,371
For what it is,
983
01:19:47,652 --> 01:19:51,480
the public face of Atticus Finch.
984
01:19:54,441 --> 01:19:57,551
But the private face of
Atticus Finch exists too.
985
01:19:58,428 --> 01:20:02,504
You confront it directly
in Go Set a Watchman
986
01:20:05,350 --> 01:20:11,152
The segregationist. The racist.
987
01:20:11,911 --> 01:20:17,090
The bully. The hypocrite.
988
01:20:22,900 --> 01:20:24,530
It's near the end of my journey.
989
01:20:27,270 --> 01:20:30,339
My image of SE Branch remains incomplete.
990
01:20:31,889 --> 01:20:37,620
Why did he kill Bill Spann? Why was
he charged with first degree murder?
991
01:20:39,230 --> 01:20:41,169
Had he threatened Bill Spann before?
992
01:20:44,418 --> 01:20:45,618
Why,
993
01:20:45,719 --> 01:20:47,109
after he was charged,
994
01:20:47,749 --> 01:20:49,270
did the charges disappear?
995
01:20:51,980 --> 01:20:53,230
He's an enigma.
996
01:20:54,589 --> 01:20:57,100
But he's an enigma with a well-kept grave.
997
01:20:58,209 --> 01:21:02,100
With family photos, with
home movies,
998
01:21:02,968 --> 01:21:07,576
and with stories passed down
through the generations.
999
01:21:12,929 --> 01:21:15,650
There's a story I could never
quite fit in elsewhere.
1000
01:21:17,100 --> 01:21:19,080
Somehow I think you should know it.
1001
01:21:23,620 --> 01:21:25,070
Several people told me.
1002
01:21:26,700 --> 01:21:27,950
That every so often.
1003
01:21:29,610 --> 01:21:33,243
SE would pack things into a
black leather doctor's bag
1004
01:21:34,119 --> 01:21:38,985
and drive off into the country, where
he would pose as a doctor.
1005
01:21:39,700 --> 01:21:41,030
Treating poor blacks.
1006
01:21:47,889 --> 01:21:50,750
Bill Spann remains nearly altogether blank.
1007
01:21:52,579 --> 01:21:55,011
There are Spanns in Dothan and
Abbeyville and I contacted
1008
01:21:55,112 --> 01:21:58,413
every single one I could
find in the phone book.
1009
01:21:59,360 --> 01:22:01,530
But nobody seems to be related to Bill.
1010
01:22:04,088 --> 01:22:05,288
Lilly too
1011
01:22:05,389 --> 01:22:07,259
has disappeared without a trace
1012
01:22:08,910 --> 01:22:12,759
Even the private investigator I
hired can find nothing of them.
1013
01:22:19,039 --> 01:22:22,486
In fact the only thing the private
investigator told me was that
1014
01:22:22,587 --> 01:22:29,070
he knew for certain that my great
grandfather wasn't a good man
1015
01:22:29,350 --> 01:22:32,580
had done a lot of bad
things, and was 'friendly',
1016
01:22:32,681 --> 01:22:36,943
as he put it, with the
sheriff's department
1017
01:22:43,690 --> 01:22:51,940
But he found nothing about Bill Spann or
Lily Spann, or any of their descendants
1018
01:22:57,660 --> 01:23:00,390
Two families, they both live in Alabama.
1019
01:23:02,310 --> 01:23:03,580
One of them is white.
1020
01:23:05,560 --> 01:23:06,949
One of them is black.
1021
01:23:09,969 --> 01:23:17,900
One of them starts with a name
one of them ends with a name
1022
01:23:20,350 --> 01:23:23,600
whiteness can incinerate a family.
1023
01:23:24,400 --> 01:23:25,738
With the heat
1024
01:23:25,839 --> 01:23:27,589
equal to a bomb.
1025
01:23:29,749 --> 01:23:31,049
Give it enough time
1026
01:23:32,770 --> 01:23:35,709
and whiteness will incinerate the world.
1027
01:23:38,310 --> 01:23:40,270
I'm driving on the road to Attalla
1028
01:23:41,810 --> 01:23:45,579
I'm listening to Phil Ochs singing
about a man who was murdered there
1029
01:23:48,200 --> 01:23:49,919
He's singing directly.
1030
01:23:50,020 --> 01:23:50,828
At Me.
1031
01:23:50,929 --> 01:23:53,680
♪ Singing♪ And they shot
him on the Alabama road.
1032
01:23:54,770 --> 01:23:57,570
Forgot about what the Bible told.
1033
01:23:58,339 --> 01:24:01,169
They shot him with that letter in his hand.
1034
01:24:01,910 --> 01:24:04,730
As though he were a dog and not a man.
1035
01:24:05,509 --> 01:24:07,509
They shot him on the Alabama road
1036
01:24:09,829 --> 01:24:12,810
Did you say it was a shame when he died?
1037
01:24:13,490 --> 01:24:16,460
Did you say he was a fool because he tried?
1038
01:24:16,889 --> 01:24:19,940
Did you wonder who had fired the gun?
1039
01:24:20,669 --> 01:24:23,729
Did you know that it was
you that fired the gun?
1040
01:24:24,289 --> 01:24:26,820
Did you say it was a shame when he died?
1041
01:24:31,929 --> 01:24:33,859
Someone's following me again.
1042
01:24:34,839 --> 01:24:36,469
They have been for a while.
1043
01:24:37,549 --> 01:24:38,799
I slowed down.
1044
01:24:39,400 --> 01:24:40,650
And so did they.
1045
01:24:42,249 --> 01:24:43,499
I Speed up.
1046
01:24:44,310 --> 01:24:45,560
And so did they.
1047
01:24:46,919 --> 01:24:48,889
And I go faster.
1048
01:24:49,480 --> 01:24:50,760
And faster.
1049
01:24:52,179 --> 01:24:53,429
And so do they.
1050
01:25:15,350 --> 01:25:18,600
♪ Singing♪ Can you talk to him? x5
1051
01:26:12,350 --> 01:26:16,600
♪ singing♪ Oh my Lord winter is here.
1052
01:26:21,350 --> 01:26:29,600
and I spend my summer days resting
in the shade by the willow tree.
1053
01:26:33,350 --> 01:26:41,600
I heard the fog march
through town last night
1054
01:26:46,350 --> 01:26:52,600
Footprints in snow. My country's
heartbeat's grown cold
1055
01:26:57,350 --> 01:27:05,600
I will close your eyes. The
country's blind with you.
1056
01:27:06,460 --> 01:27:08,970
The castles on the coast
are filled up with smoke
1057
01:27:11,360 --> 01:27:13,469
Hold your tongue or fall.
1058
01:27:36,350 --> 01:27:40,249
I'll find the hole in the fisherman's net.
1059
01:27:40,350 --> 01:27:47,429
Dive deep or sink or swim. faster now
1060
01:27:47,530 --> 01:27:53,100
Swim faster now
1061
01:28:08,850 --> 01:28:13,600
Take my hand. We'll take the Lord's
1062
01:28:15,350 --> 01:28:23,600
'Cause I heard tales of the shire,
music and fire, deep in sandstone eyes
89455
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