American Reckoning (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Reckoning is a documentary film which premiered on 15 February 2022.

 

It is an episode of the long-running program Frontline, which is broadcast on PBS.

 

The topic of this film is the struggle for civil rights in the US, with special focus on events in the town of Natchez, Mississippi, during the 1960s.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Writers, producers, and directors: Brad Lichtenstein and Yoruba Richen

** Language: English

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 84 minutes

 

Several persons are interviewed in the film. 

 

Here are the names of the participants (listed in the order of appearance):

 

** Wharlest Jackson, Jr. - son of Wharlest Jackson, Sr. (1937-1967)

** Denise Jackson Ford – daughter of Wharlest Jackson, Sr.

** Debra Jackson Sylvester – daughter of Wharlest Jackson, Sr.

 ** Stanley Nelson – editor of the Concordia Sentinel, Ferriday, Louisiana

** Leland Boyd – son of a Klan member

** Debra Taylor – daughter of a Klan member

** Charles Evers (1922-2020) – former field director, Mississippi NAACP – brother of Medgar Evers

** Cheryl Glover – niece of Wharlest Jackson, Sr.

** Akinyele Umoja – author of We Will Shoot Back (2013)

** Tony Byrne – former Natchez alderman

** Ser Clifford Boxley – Natchez activist

** Richard “Dip” Lewis (1939-2016) – founding member, Deacons for Defense

** James Stokes – spokesman, Deacons for Defense

** Janice Jackson – daughter of James Jackson

** Joseph Ryan – former FBI agent (involved in the investigation of the car bomb which killed Wharlest Jackson, Sr. in 1967)

** Paula Johnson – co-director, Cold Case Justice Initiative, Syracuse University, College of Law

** John Lewis (1940-2020) – civil rights activist - politician - Congressman (the Democratic Party)

** Cynthia Deitle – former chief, FBI Civil Rights Unit

** Roy Austin – former US Deputy Assistant Attorney General

 

Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements of the talking heads. 

 

Archive footage allows us to see and hear several persons who were no longer alive when this film was made, including the the following:

** Wharlest Jackson, Sr. (1937-1967) - treasurer of the local branch of NAACP

** Exerlena Jackson (1936-2009) - wife of Wharlest Jackson, Sr.

** Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) - minister in Alabama - civil rights activist

** Roy Wilkins (1901-1981) - executive director of NAACP 1964-1977

 

Much of the archive footage used was filmed by Ed Pincus and David Neuman in Natchez in 1965 and 1967. Most of this footage has never been shown in public before.

 

As stated above, the focus of the film is the struggle for civil rights in the town of Natchez, Mississippi. Topics covered include the following:

 

** A car bomb attack of 27 August 1965

The target = George Metcalfe

Result = the victim was injured but survived

 

** A car bomb attack on 27 February 1967

Target = Wharlest Jackson, Sr.

Result = the victim was killed

 

** The struggle for civil rights in Natchez

The list with 12 demands to the city

The boycott of white businesses

Result = victory

 

** The inner circle of the KKK

The Silver Dollar Group

 

** The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act which was passed in 2008

 

What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 85 percent which corresponds to a rating of 4.3 stars on Amazon.

 

This rating is good, but in my opinion, it is not good enough. 

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

If you are interested in American history - in particular the question of civil rights - this film is definitely something for you.

 

REFERENCES

 

Eyes on the Prize

 

A documentary film in fourteen parts about the struggle for civil rights in the US. 

 

The series premiered on US television (PBS). 

 

Each episode runs for almost 60 minutes.

 

** Season One

Six episodes covering the years 1954-1965 were shown in 1987.

 

** Season Two

Eight episodes covering the years 1965-1985 were shown in 1990.

 

For more information about this topic, find and read the following articles which are posted on the website of Frontline:

 

** “A Different Kind of Story: The Making of American Reckoning” by Patrice Taddonio

 

** “A New Job. A Racial Barrier broken. Then, a Bombing” by Patrice Taddonio

 

** “How Rarely-Seen Archival Footage Brought a Civil Rights-Era Story to Life” by Priyanka Boghani

 

*****

*****

 *****