çóñ■ñ■x■x■x■x■x■x■x■x■x■x■x■x■xo ♪♪♪ male narrator: in 1949, thurgood marshall, the director of the naacp legal defense fund, turned to s 31 yeaold special unsel, an obscure new york lawyer named franklin hall williams, to assist in a case involving four young black men in groland, orida o wereof rapg a whitwoman. one ofhe suspes was hued do in a swp and killed by a posse. two were taken out on a desolate road and shot by the sheriff,

one tally. twe survivs wereonvicta desolate roby aall-whitjury on theiff, strength of false confesons at resuld from tture. all re innoct, but tira desolate innin 19 in theeep soutceiff, a white jury could simply never credit the word of a black man over thaof a whi girl. it wasocially d polically uninkable. frklin wilams quicy found mself rown intthe midd of a cultural and legal minefield. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ how ry few pple knew rout frankl williams.the irony is, at least to me, i mean, across the board, he was noa, quotenquote,

famous pson. t when you look at his life, you realize how much of an impact this man had. narrator: throughout his lifetime, he would play many roles: attorney, civil rights leader, organizer of the peace corp, diplomat, united nations representative, and foundation president. later in life, he chaired the first court-based commission in the united states that focused on racial and ethnic fairness in the courts, a commission that later became the franklin h. williams judicial commission. franklin h. williams jr.: in war, you don't remember the name of all the brigadier generals. you remember the four-star generals and the three-star generals and the five-star generals, but you don't remember the one-star generals. well, it's that kind of thin you know, maybe he was a one-st general who managed to

n a few ttles ov here and a w battleover the. well, it's that kind of thin enid gt: clear, frankl i ink that he woedking. wi a much aller patte. it'smportanto understand th the civ rights vement wasn't a marchesand it sn't allpeeches eloquent people, and it wasn' all mass movements. i think people played different roles and different parts in that struggle, from the first slave that ever ran away to ople who a bridge figures like fnklin whcould ealy move in ite sociy. narror: franin willis waborn oober 22,917 flushin queens. s ancests includ nativemericansblack frmen,

runay slavesdutch an and evenlack slave owns. franklinived in house wi 18 peoe from fr generaons of familrepresenng evershade iminable. franklinived in house wi his moth, alin low 18 willms, wouldie befons frankl celebrad hwhhad beenanished om the householby alinds father, thdeus low. frankl and h two old brotrs werraised by theirrandfath in the early ars. enid: his grandfather thaddeus used to say that frankie sucked the air out of the room when he walked into it. i guess we'd call it charisma now. his grandfather was--came from a family of slave owning blacks in virginia. and thd lowry s a ve argant manho adorehis grandchildn and hichildrenia. anso thereas a comnity of and thd lowry s a ve ack kidsho livedot far from fralin, ande wasn't

allod to plawithhem. and thd lowry s a ve ack kidsho livedot far soit wasn'a matterf color. was a mter of h granather sang, "you he enoughyou can ay wi your coins. you dot have tgo pl with the ki. "you he enoughyou can ay those ki areot wi ygo enough r you." sothe colodidn't ce untilhe was, and th it hit rd. franin jr.one of t incints th i thinktarted s desireor justi was heas in a outing te organition thugh his gh schoo d one da they al wantedo go to e local ol. and got ere and ey said, "you t el on the oup was ite, d they wldn't lehim in, d he wenhomend cried and i thk that st of staed him inking aut justi for rican-amicans. and i thk that st of staed idcarolineobertsonwas his ry goe him inking aut justi

used to ice skang wh caline robtson and other kids in the pa in t winter me. and somedy got t idea on eveng that ty should goo the moes. kids in the pa in t winter me. and it was wonderful and they had a good time, and when they walked out of the movie, mr. robertson was there waiting. and they took franklin and threw him up against the wall, and they said, "you stick to your own kind. and i ever e you wi my dghter agn, i ll call e police so, th camas a trendous shock toim becau he had grown with th kid. but e minutee turned3 org 14, th became at it beme, d he wasevastateby that. narratorby the te thadde lowry h passed ay, the quns home anklin gw upn was a stant mery.hat. and th ameri then the ips of t great dression, he wked a nuer of jo to ke ends et

while nishinhigh schl. but he never lost sight of his goal to attend college. while he was busy scraping together some savings for tuition, a neighbor and close family friend, dr. may edward inn, theirst afcan-ameran womano gradua from beevueospitalmedica. the ughter oan escap slav dr. chi gradua from beevueospitalmedica. s frankl's godmoer. with his path clear to attend college, franklin enrolled in lincoln university, the first degree granting black college, in 1937. ed wells hdy: lincn sa, "you kw, you d't really have be blac hereyou can frankli" he learn about eality, h leard about cepting ople for whthey we and not fromhence th came. and i ink ithaped m in terms of juice. narrat: after aduating cum lau9 with degree philosoy, franin enrold in foram law scol, buhis schoing s interrupd byorld wari. at fort x, the wte soiers werassignedo nice

facities, whe the blks std at atttion in e mud anrain unt they we marchedmilesh soiers werassignedo nice noloors anno electcity. enid: he hated twe marchedmilesh sarmynd the ay hated m.e realizethat he,s a blac man, rardless how smart everybody thought he was, regardless of how powerful he was as aersonali, regardss of h leadersp skills gardof as ss than e bagrmostgnorant ite man.t thatust sat hisraw in a way tp juita bingewton: cing om a mulracial fily, frankl had som se-identifation sues. he tells a story where he was taking a train trip on a segregated train, and he got to the train, and whereoes he g

goes the cored areand thconducto won'tet him i anthen he es to thwhite 'ea and t conducts think. he's tryg to pasfor ite, andhey sendim away. and so, he es up bacin the colored ction, a by this time, tharea is ll, thers he's tryg to pasfor no pce to si the toit is. t futioning,it's bacng . and fotwo dayshe had tsit onhe flo using h duffle bag asis pilloand sewa bacng . comi from a mfunctiong toilet anof cours the pla was ver clned becae this w thcolored r, whereeople re treat as le than hun. thisaused frklin to have a nvous bredown. but beinfranklinilliams,t torow, to t know hielf, toet invold in this thatm

maered, change ings, esciad thurgo marshalrley narror: soonfter his dischaed maied the rmer irley brard. a native of new orleans, shirley would become franklin's rock, his conscience, his intellectual equal, and then some. frankl passed the new rk state bar exam in 1945 and qukly found mself working attual the naacp legal defense fund in new york city as assistant council to thurgood marshall, tornized, tt people werede first rsqueezed io spaceshat were too sml to all them do theibest wor

and thtonef it asnper, so to spe, pointidid nor out l the fls of his. nagementtyle. and thtonef it , i don'think th endeareidid nor him frkly to trgood atll. narror: one his rsnaacp tters involved a derated anuniforme afrin-americ world w ii narroteran nad isaac rsnaaodard jr involved a after norabl servg his cotry, sergeant woodardas on s way ho to reune with h wife when made the mistake ofs the lice offer in basburg, uth carona punisd sergea woodard th a nig stick, rupturn blinding him for life. the blinding of isaac woodard seemed to open america's eyes to raciaeaking tr, raisi isaac and frankmoy and arenesnationwide they appeared with former heavyweight champion joe lewis at lewisohn stadium, drawing 20,0d raisg $22,00

anklin w so succsful th he was listed tdother fundising urs for the aap legadefense fund with jack, and th his widriti rachof t williamfamily.ds in 1949,hurgood rshallent anklin tgrovelan florida to defd the yog men wrgly acsed of re, and fnklin became t first bck lawye evero sit on legal tm in any lakeountcourtroo inhat casehe w exposed to coo violence complicit with local law enforcement, and was literay chasedut of to by aynch mob barely escaping with his life. theyombed hicivil ghts actist's ho. sowachtler therwere rio. and he saw this, he was part of this. he was brave enough to defend these young men and did this throughout the sout by the y. sothis w not jus someonwho spokcivil rits.

throughout the sout by the y. is is sothing whput s lir civil ghts. narror: one the laers on t case s a young, throughout the sout by the y. ealisticand totay inexrienced cent lawchool is is sothing whput s lir civil ghts. gradua named jk greenbg, whwent oto have lustrioucareer aa civil rights. eenberg cceeded thurgood marshall as director council of the naacp legal defense fund. jack greenberg: the immediate issues facing us was the confessions at the defendant. d they claim--well, it was own very easily they had bee beaten and tortured to invalidate them,o they were soww not to be believed and could not be admitted into evidence. narrator: the trial was a all the fendants guilty.uld find

two of them was sentenced to die in the electric chair. however, franklin convinced the supreme court to reverse the althoughe had noprevious beennvolved the casial. thurgoodarshall cided th he, t frankl, would ndle aafrklin wasg utranerred toalii national followeretrial.. riard: thuood waa very msured ma heould notake any se to not termine beyond rsonabledoube the supre court at he di cot would cide in s favor,in fas ared by thurgo. franin was mh mo aggresse. he wanted take aninjustic case tthe supre court. anthurgood, particully a the ti, undersod that ile

the caseay be deserving of goit a you're t going win, a you're gng to ha a setbae because th case isoing be precent. and he would oy take ces at he waabsolute sure frankl was, as said, r more aressive. actuallwanted ttake over p urgood got wd of tha, and id, lea.sive. "y know, i still aund. and yoknow, yocan collt urgood got wd of tha, your payeck as y leave." franklin j: they we dierent ids about how thin. bothrillianten, but ey had thurgood was a gradualist, he wanted to nick over here

and nick over there. d dad waed to bo ahead and takehe chanc damn th 's a matr of sty, but both vy bullheed,ed ahd. th very rong wild. d it's dficult thave twopeople e same offe at theame time oveld case, just sa,r, "fra, i thini'd likeou to out to e west cst so we're not being naator: inaliforni franin prosped, and so did the nap under s leaderip. heas instrental inuildingthe nai franin prosped, and so did of theountry, d won th first hool desregationase. idwhi agree th, he w the eest riveting eaker ev.a he was eloquent and elegant in his use of language,nd it wa li.

frthsouth afcan govement is a gf denatiolize, toeny citizensp rightsnd prilegack popution. of the naator: frklin's gwing prinent anreasonedpproach broughhim to t attentn of predent kendy. nd in 196 he was vited to join e pney establhed peace corp. id: no cntry wantedeace corvoluntee. every untry fe that th were c covers d that it was just somkind of shonest ploy. frklin wasble to gto ghanaand s, were c covers d that it was who s kwame rumah, fromincoln uversity. so, e first oup of peace co ks went tghana. and en afterhey did well, en otherountriesversity. wanted the , frankl was verkey inhe orgazatand its ception.p narror: a feyears lar, pridenjohnson ked his solicitogeneral,hurgd marsll, for s candidpinion

onhether fnklin wasuitabletoepce pridenjohnson ked his president kennedy's brother-in-law, as head of the peace corp. lyndon johnson: can i tell you something without your discsing it th auman? lyndurgoodnson: can i tellrshall: y certaiy.hout your lyon: whatould youhink? abt his tang shriv's place lyndat theeace corps? tellrshall: y certaiy.hout your thurgoodteific. would t frank ere witht any sitation because he canyour come up with more ideas in a minute than most people i know of, and they're darn good ones. i think from there, he'll drive like mad. and he'll drive everybody under him too. because he puts in a real days work. he's terrific. i think he'd be good, yes sir. edna: he never took over the peace corp, but president johnson did appoint him in 1965 to ambassador to ghana. and think itas becau of s relatiship witnkrumah that hforged alincoln. johnson did appoint him in 1965 to ambassador to ghana. not longfter he bearrive there u s relatiship witnkrumah esident rumah waoverthro and so people,ncluding prident nkmah, thoht thatambassf s relatiship witnkrumah

thaanin laterears, heatrwas ndiw s owwoulthink th of him.ow the, deteined thahe was n invoed at alwith theoup. d while carriedroundthat pai ho impre the retionship beeen the ited stas and ghana, so much so that secretary of state dean rusk honored him with a distinguished service award. narrator: upon his return from ghana in 1968, franklin was selected to head a new urban center at columbia university, which resulted in major curriculum changes. lar, he beme presint of the phel stokes nd, whic s dedicad to impving the educa, major curriculum changes. africans, and american-indians. edna: when we were at phelps stokes, he persuaded the foundation's board to divest itself of holdings and corporions thadid siness wh south rica. at that timesouth rica s ruled a whiteinority.

corporions thadid not ng afterhese invtmentscial d re puld the phelps stokes board, other foundatio and instutions began following suit. narrator: but he grew increasingly discouraged over the slow pace of civil rights, and concerned with the violent approach of the black power movement. enid: frklin had lot of troublw. franklin was n milant. approach of the black power movement. franklinelt thathise s stem--that evils that had happened in the past were slowly working themselves out. franklin felt that education and westn civilization and hapknledge anlearningere impoa. slowly working themselves out. he alswas big form, h didn like pele shoutg and clching fis. narratorwhile frklin wasat phelf judgsol wacher was creasing embarraed d troubl by the ck of diversit in the jicial syem. juanita:hief jud sol watler w pretty ch at the

in the jicial syem. ginning his teras chf judge,nd this s juanita:hief jud sol wanhe tk the opportunitto vit the trl courtsnd was whh was anbsence oany versity ong the dges, among e court rsonnel,nd al inadeque facilies in cothouses at prided serces to t poor. aand heecided tdonnel,nd al insomethg about . in of t civil rhts moventre are may who uld matchis credtials, prided serces to t poor. qualicationsand ilities,o i call him up. of t civil rhts moventre are may who uld matchis credtials, prided serces to t poor. remember calng him fm myouse in bany, qualicationsand ilitiesana cold call.up. and i inoduced melf, and ld him alength wt i was inking aut and ccerned with, anasked

the mmissionultimatecommsion rer ticed at this is quotein wa "you kn, when y start gging in this prlem, you' going tcreate wnds,sion rer ani id, "i uerstand at."edover " said, "tt's why wantou to dot." i id, "i wt soone whiss,sion rer not ing to ba companman."dover " jonaan lippm: franin willms washe obvio choe said, "tt's why wantou to dot." cause head the credibity, thstrengtho do it,nd yet heas. that wasot frankn williams. waat was n himw was the slitest.ng. meanor, stinguisd deanor, caed it thway he

yomight call aabblrouser, that jt wasn'tis nate.at rrator: th the fts in hand, thcommissi's task was toroduce ao holds baed rort. itsyem treat minorits,of thshked the diciary thert ve tough a resuld in pmanent rorms. richard:here isnoralways need tr thshked the diciary thert ve there is always a in need to examine. the's alys a nd to understa the trement of minoties, thplacemt ofinorits withinork posions. he broug people gether,disparatt in a wayhere he lowed them to alyze he broug people gether,disparatt and to rognizeeficiencs.

and wh you havpeople o u're goi to have much dattempti, stronger rolution an just pickio have aertain opinion thpublicatn of theinorityreporto awayn 1990, year sho of dilintly on th the rt ofis commiion membs. he blt bridge r us not througv, but by reason and example. that bridge still exists, and we are all still walking across that bridge to fairness and equity in the courts. that bridge still exists, and and that why theralin h. across lliams jicial coissionness ists andontinueso exist rts.

that we ll contie to see hiss janet diore: frothe tset, thcommissi was one ofur few pmanent mmissis becausthe areafresponbie meers ofhe commiiois so impoant and fuamental to ruing a fa and juscourt syst, and enring theprincipl ant impoant and fuamental to ruiwere franklin williams. jra in the stice syem, o in thistate,resolv about or ithis coury. jra in the stice syem, o in thistate,resolv about buwe do kn, and i lieve at the lacy of t william mmissions, is th this is somett or ithis coury. you can't hiderom. chacter th he s, lookeis somett wfor , found ,thkind of and we're all the better for it. frsoone who rked haratould nt s thgoal

that he had set for himself. he knehe couldt do erythingit just ok too many peoe to acmplish erything. i thinhe wantso be membereds someonwho shot r the sts and maybe ly madet to theoon, buthat's a signicanaccompliment, d it's ithe righdirectio ♪♪ r the sts and maybe ly madet to theoon, buthat's ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

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