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When I heard about Billey Joe Johnson Jr.’s death, something about it wouldn’t let me go. A Black high school football star in Mississippi had mysteriously died after being pulled over by a White police officer.
I had to tell this story. And once I did start telling it, one of the things that was important to me was that it didn’t get the “true crime” treatment. I wanted to do something different – at the time, I wasn’t sure what that “difference” would be. Now, after working on this story for three years, the answer is clear to me: context.
We all have different experiences of America, and therefore, we all see it differently. But we as Americans are all tied to the history of this country; some of us just feel the weight more than others. As they tried to get to the bottom of the mystery, the Johnson family were made to feel like their concerns and questions were illegitimate. An investigation was done, the truth had been found, time to move on. But if you put Johnson’s death in context to not just Mississippi, but to America, his family had every right to question the results of the investigation.
We’ve been working on this serial for three years; it’s lived in my heart for 10. The first episode is out now, and we’ll be rolling out new episodes nearly every Saturday for the next two months. I hope you’ll go on this journey with us to meet a young man with a dream, hear from a family that refused to give up and bear witness to the history that binds us all.
Light,
Al Letson
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