This article about Ernest Withers was in todays, Sunday September 12th's Commercial Appeal. the link is posted above for those who missed it. The first reason I thought this article was important to post on the blog was the amazing black and white photos by Ernest Withers. As a black and white photographer myself, I found the images of the civil rights movement to be astonishing. A few more of his photos can be found here. He was know as the original civil rights photographer. He photographed the events in the Emmett Till murder, Little rock Nine, integration of Ole Miss, 1968 sanitation strike, as well as Dr. Kings Death. Secondly, the article gave light to parts of the civil right movement I have scarcely heard before. I have heard of the FBI and other secret government organizations being involved in Memphis during Dr. Kings death. This article dives into the FBI's involvement in Memphis like nothing I have read before. The article marks Ernest Withers as ME-338-R, a domestic intelligence informer. He had a front row seat to the civil rights movement and antiwar movements, that the government thought was a threat to national security. The government put up a fierce campaign against King. They also broke up a Black Panther style militant group called the Invaders in Memphis in the 1960's. Lastly, after reading this article I was most curious about what my fellow peers thought about it. Please comment on your thoughts of the FBI's involvement with the civil rights movement. Why was it considered a national threat? What was J. Edgar Hoovers reasons behind such dirty tricks? Then consider if the FBI had programs such as COINTELPRO, described in the article, over forty years ago; then what is the FBI doing now that you wont find out for another forty years?
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Good post Brittany. You will learn more about Cointelpro later in the class. See my future post about this later
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