A couple of weeks back we took a short trip up to Boston and while there caught an Ernest Withers exhibit at the Panopticon Gallery at The Hotel Commonwealth. From his early photographs of BB King and the Beale Street music scene, to his coverage of the Emmett Till murder case, to his intimate photos of Martin Luther King, Withers' work has long been synonymous with the American Civil Rights Movement. But last September, Memphis paper Commercial Appeal revealed something no one ever would have suspected - Ernest Withers was an FBI informant.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien utilizes this revelation as the basis for her new documentary "Pictures Don't Lie" premiering this Sunday, February 20th at 8pm. O'Brien's documentary primarily deals with the revelation's impact on Withers' family, friends, and his identification as a civil rights icon.
What remains unclear is why Withers cooperated with the FBI. Was he forced to or was it willingly done so? Some suggest that he may have in fact served as a double agent, feeding the FBI false or misleading information about his civil rights compatriots. Either way, it's a interesting development in our history.
Commercial Appeal has the full expose complete with FBI documents, interviews and other evidence posted in two parts. Click here for Part One, Part Two. And Huffington Post has an interview with Soledad O'Brien about her documentary.
PHOTO CREDIT: Copyright Ernest Withers.
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