The Story of Ann Atwater with Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove

Recently co-host Tyler Burns had the opportunity to watch the forthcoming film Best of Enemies starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell. The film chronicles the unlikely relationship between Civil Rights activist Ann Atwater and KKK leader C.P. Ellis. After watching the film, Tyler had mixed feelings about its framework and messaging. He decided to get to the bottom of Ann Atwater’s life by talking to someone who knew her personally. Following the controversial Best Picture Oscar win of the movie Green Book, we felt it would be helpful to have a deeper conversation about the framing of these stories.

Listen as we have a discussion with Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove about the real story of Ann Atwater. Jonathan is the Director of The School for Conversion, an education center that Ann Atwater devoted her time to as a freedom teacher, mentoring young activists on the principles of freedom organizing for change. You might have heard of Jonathan’s name in connection with the Reverend Dr. William Barber. He worked with Dr. Barber on the reclamation of Poor People’s Campaign, and co-authored a book with him called “The Third Reconstruction”. Jonathan’s most recent book is entitled “Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion”.

For more about our reaction to Green Book, check out Ally Henny’s reaction on our website: http://thewitnessbcc.com/did-green-book

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