2022-02-11 12:29:58

"American Reckoning": 55 Years After KKK Murder of Mississippi NAACP Leader, Case Remains Unsolved

This month marks 55 years since the assassination of an NAACP leader. The new documentary “American Reckoning” seeks justice in the cold case of murdered civil rights activist and local NAACP leader Wharlest Jackson Sr. in Natchez, Mississippi. No one was ever charged with his 1967 murder, despite evidence pointing to the involvement of the inner circle of the local Ku Klux Klan. It’s one of many unsolved crimes targeting civil rights activists.

“The fact that no one has been indicted for Wharlest’s case or for these other cases shows the limits of the justice system,” says co-director and co-producer Yoruba Richen. Wharlest Jackson Sr.'s daughter, Denise Ford Jackson, recalls how her mother received redacted documents when trying to get to the bottom of her husband's murder. We also speak with Brad Lichtenstein, the film’s co-director.

 

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. Our reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. 

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#democracynow 1967 murder 55 years Brad Lichtenstein Denise Ford Jackson Ku Klux Klan Mississippi NAACP NAACP leader Natchez Wharlest Jackson Yoruba Richen

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