|
Some of the most enduring photos of the civil rights movement were taken by Ernest Withers, a Memphis, Tennessee, native who earned the trust of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders.
But he had a secret: He was also taking photos for the federal government.
This week, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Wesley Lowery brings us Withers’ story in an adaptation of the podcast “Unfinished: Ernie’s Secret,” from Scripps News and Stitcher.
First, we learn about Withers’ legacy and tour a museum of Withers’ photographs with his daughter, who deconstructs his famous “I Am a Man” photo of striking sanitation workers. Civil rights leader Andrew Young explains that without Withers’ photographs, they wouldn’t have had a movement.
It wasn’t until after he died that a Memphis reporter named Marc Perrusquia gained access to thousands of reports and photos taken for the FBI by Withers and made public the details of his double life. While some who knew Withers believe he betrayed the cause of civil rights, others are more forgiving: They see a larger narrative about the U.S. government’s unchecked power to spy on its own citizens and extinguish ideas and movements it felt were a threat.
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in January 2023.
|
