♪♪♪ malearrator:n 1949,thurgoodarshr of theaacp leg defensefund, tued spial counl, an obure newyork ll lliams, assist a case involvn in groland, flida who wered of rapina white man. in groland, flida who wered e of t suspectwas hunt downn a swam of rapina white man. and kill by a poe. two were taken out on a desolate road and shot by the sheriff,

one fatay. the rvivors re convied by an all-white jury on the strength of false confessis th resultefrom torre. l were iocent, b their nocence s of no nsequenc 1949 inhe deep uth. a white jury could simply never credit the word of a black man overhat of ahite gir it was sially an franin willis quicklfound mself thwn into e middle of a cultural and legal minefield. ♪♪♪ ♪♪ richard b. lowe iii: the irony is, at least to me, w very f people ew aboufranklinilliams.

i an, acro the boa, he but en you lk at hislife, yorean irony is, at least to me, impa this mahad. les: attney, civ rights leadere lifeme, he wld play ny corpdiplomatunited tions reesentati, and foundation president. later in life, he chaired the first court-based commission in thunited stes thatocused racial d ethnicairness ent. the cots, a coission tt williamsudicial mmission frankl h. willms jr.: war,ou don'temember the namef all th brigier genels. you rember theour-star genera gerals andhe five-ar genels, but u don't member the one-star generals. well, it'shat kindf thing. you knowmaybe heas a onstar genal who maged to win a febattles er here and a w.

enid gt: clear, frankl was t martinuther ki. win a febattles er here and a w. think th he work with much smler palee. it's iortant tunderstand wasn all mares, and ki. wasn'tll speecs by eloent ith struggl from thfirstt slave th ever raaway to peop who areridge figures ke frankn who cod easily mo in whitsociety. narratorfranklinilliams was bo7 in fluing, ques. mo in whitsociety. his anstors inuded nave amerins, blacfreemen,

in fluing, ques. naway sles, dutcand glish imgrants,iety. and evenlack sla owner franklin lived in a house with 18 people from four generations of family representing every shade imaginable. fras motheralinda lryouse with 18 wiiams, wod die bereerations ofanklin cebratednthis send. every shade imaginable. s fatheras a traling mucian nam arthur lliams, who habeen banhed fromhe hoehold bylinda's ther, frklin andis two oer brhers werraised by theirrandfath in frane suckedhe air o ofthadde ut throom whehe walkeinto it. i guess 'd call it chasma. s grandfher was-ame from familyf slave ning blas in virnia.t chasma. and add lowrwas a ve arront man w adored s grandcldren anhis chilen, anso thereas a comnity of black ki who liv not far from n

allod to plawith the itas a matr of his grandfh, so, itasn't a tter of lor. "you he enoughyou can ay wi your coins. u don't ve to goiplay wh t. so, itasn't a tter of lor. "you he enoughyou can ay ose kidsre not wi good enoh for yo" so, thcolor di't come til heas an adescent, "you he enoughyou can ay ose kidsre not wi gd then ihit hard sanklin j: one ofheme til hcidents at i thi started his sire forustice w he w in a scting typ anone day,hey allwanted tgo to . and got there d they sd, "y can't ce in, yore not allowein here. and henderstooand everne el understd why evybody elsen the grp was whe, anthey woun't let m in, and heent homend cried and i thk that st of staed him inking aut justi for afcan-amerans. enidcarolineobertsonwas his ry e

ed to goce skati with carolineobertsonnd other kids in e park in the wter time and mebody g the ideone ening th they shld kids in e park in go tthe movi. and was wonrful andhey d a goodime, andhen they lked outf the moe, mr. bertson was the waitin and th took frklin andhrew hiup again the wal and was the waitin th said, "u sticto your n kind. andd if i er see yowithrew hiu daughteagain,l and i willall the lice." a, that ce as a tmendouseshock a hiu daughteagain,l and grn up witthis kid." th had notinded hiplayingwith h, hiu daughteagain,l and buthe minu he turn 13 or , that bame whatt became and he w devastad by tha narratorby the te thadus lowryad passeaway, the quns home anklin gw upn was a stant mery. and wi americahen in t gripof the gat depreion,

hebuhe neverost sighof t mhigoal to tend colge.. while he was busy scraping together some savings for tuition, a neighbor and close family friend, dr. may edward chinn,he first africaamerio aduate fm bellev hospita medicaschool, fered toelp. thdaughterf an esced sle, dr. cnn was anklin'sodmother with his path clear to attend college, franklin enrolled in lincoln university, the first degree granting black college, in 1937. ally he to be blackolhere, u . heearned aut equaly, he learned out acceing peop r who th were an not om whencthey cam and i think it shaped him in terms of justice. with degrein phisophy,franklinnw not om whencthey cam hool, buhis schoing was interri

falities, ile the acks ood at aention ithe mude and ra until ty were mched mis away a put in nts with en: he hat the nomy and t army had him. he realid that h as a blk man,egardlesof how srt everybodthought was, regardle of how werful h was as personaty, regaless ofis leadehip skil, regaless of s familybackgrou, tt th just sain his cw in agnant . way thate couldn accept. juanitbing-newn: comin from multiraal famil frankl had som selfdentificion issu. 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

he goes the coled area d the nductorson't letim in segregated train, and he got to the train, and whereoes he g 'cse they ink he'sexican. and th he goeso the whe ar and theonductorthink he's ting to ps for timethe areas full, ere's place tsit, theoilet is not funconing, and r two da, he hado sit the flo using h duffle bag as h pillow d sewage coming anof cours the pla was fver clead becausthis was e cth caused anklin tlewere tre. have nervousreakdown but beinfranklinilliams,t to gro to get know hielf, toet invold in this thatm maered, tohange thgs, escially aer he meshirley

and thurod marshl. narror: soonfter his dischaen married e former shirlebr. native onew orles, shirl would come fralin's ro, s conscice, his tellectu equal,nd then me. who uld latebecome t firstyork ack juste trgood mahall, and on the usupreme urt. enidhe was athe nacpor le than a ar when wrote this fivpage memto thurgd ornized, tt peopleere mueezed io spaceshat were o small allow tm to dtheir be work. and e tone oit wareally aogant. and can image that trgood d not apeciate ts whippe

snappe so to sak, poinng ouall the aws of h and can image that trgood d not anagementtyle.ippe so, i n't thinthat endred hifrankly thurgooat all. nderated anuniformetrgood dafrin-americ world w iia afr honoray aac seing his untry, sergeantoodard w on hiway homeo reunitwith his wife wn he madthe miste ofalking bk to a wte bus driversomethina black n ju didn't in the uth. the poli officern batesbg, soutcarolinaunished rgeant woodard th a nig stick, rupturn blinding him for life. the blinding of isaac woodard seemed to open america's eyes to racial injustice, and isaac and franklin went on a nationwide the beaking tr, raisi woodard seememoneand awaress.a's eyes to rey appead with fmerd isaac and favyweighchampionoe lewiswide at lisohn stium, drang 2000 peopl

franin was ssuccessf that hwas enlied to dother fundraisg tours r the ncaap lel defensfund wit frrican-amican celrities such as ckie robson.dother jaie, and en his wowe rach, becameifelong iends of the wliams faly. in 19, thurgd marsha sent anklin tgrovelan florida to defenthe younmen wrony beme the fst blackawyer eveanlake couy courtrm. in tt case, was exped local laenforcemt, and wviolen h literay chasedut of to by aynch mob in tt case, was exped lrely escing withis life.iolen h sol watler: there we riots. th bombed s civilrights aiv. in tt case, was exped lrely escing withis life.iolen h d he sawhis, he was pa os he was roughoutheo defen thesyosoh, by thway.is so, is was n just meone whspoke cil rights

thiss something who t hilife on e line for cil rights narrator: one ofhe ideastic, antotallyinexpericed l laers on t case s a youn greeerg succded thurodil, marshall as director council of the naacp legal defense fund. jack greenberg: the immediate issues facing us was the confessions that the defendants supposedly made. and they claimed--well, it was shown very easily they had been beaten and tortured to make these confessions. and so, we had to somehow invalidate them, so they were not be belied and cld nobe admitd into edence. rrator: e trial s asomehow tresty andhe jury uld findwere all the fendantsuilty.

two ofhem was sentenced to die in the electric chair. however, franklin convinced the supreme court to reverse the convictions and order a new trial. althoughe had noprevious beennvolved the cas thurgo marshaldecided at henot franin, woulhandle whatas shapi up as a nationla frankl was ansferreto califnia. richar thurgd was very meared man. he wld not te any se to the supre court at he di not dermine bend reasoble dot is howe put ithat the urt wouldecide ihis favo in fav of the se that si arguedy thurod. frklin wasuch re aggreive. wanteto take y injuste caseo the sueme cour and urgood, rticular at thtime, unrstood tt while

the ca may be serving gointo the sreme cou, if youe not gog to win becausthat casis going to be . you' going thave a sback and he wld only ke cases thar could w. frankl was, as said, r more aressive. he actlly want to take ovep thgood gotind of ttd, ansaid, to lve.e. ou know,'m stillround. d you kn, you cacollect your pe ansaid, to lve.e. franklinr.: theyere bo brillia men, buthey had differenideas abt howect your pe things suld be hdled.

andad want to bowlhead d take t chance,amn the torpeds, full eed ahea it's aatter oftyle, bu bothery bulladed, th very rong wild. and it difficu to havewo psa office the samtime.e and thurod was icharge, so at e grovand casehe just id, "fnk, i thk i'd li you to go out tthe westoast so we're n ch otherp." grrator: califnia,t so we're n anklinrosper, and soid e naacp der his adership. he was itrumentain buildg the acp in t westernhird of the cntry, anwon thefirst sc. enwhi agree th, he w the grst rivetg speakeever.and heas eloqut and elant in s use ofanguage,nd it wa like poetry listen him. hanklin wliams: artheidn is a gra design short o

the uth afrin governnt toenationaze, to dy cizenship ghts and priviles toe blk populaon. narrator: franklin's growing prominent and reasoned approach brought him to the attention of president kennedy. and in961, he s inviteto jo the admistratioat the newly established peace corp. and in961, he s inviteto id: no cntry nted pea corp vonteers.e every untry fe that th were c covers d that iwas just somkind of shonest ploy o. anklin w able too to gha and spk to theresident who wakwame nkmah, o was hiold budd from linln univeity. and th after ty did soell, th other cntriest tghana. so, anklin w very kein the ganizati of the ace corp and its ception. narratora few yes later, presii

on wther fralin was itable replaceergeant river,nion presidt kenneds brher-in-l, lynd: athe peaceorps?k? abouhis taki shriver place on wther fralin was itable re head ofhe peaceorp.ion i wod put frk there thout y hesitation because he can 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. andnolong aft heecause o hirived, tre was aoup.h presidt nkrumawas overrown ansome peoe, inclung esident rumah, tught tha ambassor willis was pa of it, thate helpedverthrow the g,

th he was nt thereo betrayhis o. esident rumah, tught tha ambassor willis was pa of ambassad williamwas destated tt anyone would ink thatf him. and in ler yearshe wavindicat, and itas determed that was not involv . and ile he cried arod thatain, he rked so rd to ghan so mucho that sretary state dn rusk hored him with distingshed rvice awd. rrator: on his rurn fr ghana i1968, frklin was selectedo head aew urban center, which sulted i majocurricul changes later,e becameresidentf wadedicateto improng the educatioof amerin blacks afcans, anamericanndians. na: whene were a phelpstokes, hpersuadethe foundati's boardo dist itselof holdis and corpations tt did businessith soutafrica. athat timesouth afca waruled by white mority. theyerpetuat the cially sregated polici of apareid.

not lo after tse invesents we pulled the phes stokes board,ther fouations d institions began foowing su. rrator: t he greuations incrsingly dcouragedver e slow pe of civ rights, and ct began foowing su. approa of the black wer movent. enid: anklin h a lot o troue with mitant blks. frankl was notilitant. franklinelt thate was proud toe an amecan. frankl was notilitant. frklin felthat thi syst--that evils that had happened in the past were slowly working themselves out. frklin felthat edution d westercivilizaon and hapknledge anhe past were slolearni were imrtant.es out. he also s big onorm, he didn'tn and clening fist narrat: while anklin w at phes stokesnew yorkhief judge sowachtleras incrsingly earrassed and oubled bthe lackf dirsity juana: chiefudge solwachtleras e the judial syst.

ginning his teras chf judge,nd this s juana: chiefudge solwachtleras e the 19-ate 1980 the judial syst. and heook the portunitto vit the trl courtsnd was dismayedand quitfrankly shocken which s an absce of diversitamong thjudges, aurthousethat peonnel, a ovided svices tohe poor. d he deced to do somethg. sol: don't tnk that ere e many pple in t history the civ rights vement o could tch his edential sol: don't tnk that ere e many pple in t history alificatns, and abilits, so i . i remeer calng him fm myouse in bany, ani introded mysel and i told himt length what i s

whher he wld underke the chairmanip of it and hifirst aner, and notid thathis is qted in s, "you ow, whenou stardigging to this oblem, yore goingo createounds,and woud ov or curewith a bd aid." yore goingo createounds,and woud said, "inderstanthat." i said"that's y i nt you tdo it." i said"i want meone whis nogoing toe a compy man." becae he hadhe credility, e sheas not aock thror.te that w not fralin willms. was notomeone w was yeing, scrming. that w at was n himillms. the slitest. demeanordistinguhed meanor, lled it e way he

saw it, t not--y know wh? you ght call rabble user, at just sn't hisature. its port, hily critil of thway the w york ste court stveryough andesultedin perma. ocked thjudiciarto the richar there i theris alwaya alwane to exame.itor there's ways a nd to derstandhe treatnt of richar there i noritiesthe placent minorits exame.itor there's ways a nd to derthin worpositionof broughteople tother, sparate oups, buhe did i

astnger resution th justg, picking d choosi those w. ha a certa opinion narrat: frankl passed away i19f e publicion of t minorit reportwhich heorked so diligely on wi the res of h commissn member built aridge fous not through olence oanimosit but by reason and example. that bdge stilexists, d we a all sti walkingcross at bridgto fairns anequity ithe cour.xample. willms judicl commison exis and connues to ist so

at we wi continuto see his goodork in o lives. janet fiore: fm the outset, e commison was o exis and connues to ist so of our f permane commisons becae the ar of reonsibili for themembers the o syem, anensuringhentato prinples andhe decen that were franklin williams. nathan: don't he all of the pblems relved abo syem, anensuringhentato prinples andhe decen that ra in the stice syem, in thistate, nathan: don't he all of the pblems relved abo syem, anensuringhentato prinpl in thisountry.that but we dknow, ani believ that t legacy the wilams commison is, ithat thiis sothing th you n't hiderom. i belie that aassador williao charactethat he s, looke for , found , and we're althe bett for it. franklinr.: i thk he uld wanto be rembered as someone o workedard at the goal

frhenew he cldn't do everytng,t uat he haset for mself.s many peoe to complishverythin fthink heants to do everytng,t remeered as meone whshot for the ars and ybe onlymade its a signifant accolishment and it in the ght direion. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

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