jeanne theoharis

Rosa Parks is best known to Americans as a national treasure — the little old lady who sat down on a bus and “ended racism.” What we lose in that depiction is what happened before and afterward, which is to say most of the story of Park’s lifetime of activism. Soledad O'Brien, the award-winning journalist and producer, has just executive  produced the first ever full-length documentary on the Civil Rights icon, titled “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.” based on the book by Jeanne Theoharis, and directed by Yoruba Richen and Johanna Hamilton. The film tells a much fuller story of the woman best known for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The film is also being used to create a curriculum for K-12 students. Laura welcomes back Soledad for this revealing conversation on Parks, her legacy, and what the media got wrong. Why is it essential to dispel the myths and to fully understand the role that strategic organizing played in the actions of Rosa Parks, and the implications for her life, and ours today?

“Who knew Rosa Parks was a fan of the Black Panthers? Who knew Rosa Parks was as much of a fan of Malcolm X as she was of Dr. King? What does it say about this vision we had of Rosa Parks, where everybody knows her and yet even Hollywood celebrities can't identify this woman who's called the mother of the movement.”

“I talk about mistakes I made all the time. I don't mind. I'm happy to, I did them. They exist on tape somewhere. It's okay, let's fix it. Let's get better from it. I think we just need more introspection.”

Guest:

Soledad O’Brien, CEO of Soledad O'Brien Productions; Award-winning Journalist, Producer & Philanthropist; Executive Producer, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

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The Laura Flanders Show Crew:  Laura Flanders, Sabrina Artel, David Neuman, Nat Needham, Rory O'Conner, Janet Hernandez, Sarah Miller and Jeannie Hopper

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Jim Crow was not a regional sickness, it was a national cancer. Even at the high point of twentieth century liberalism in the North, Jim Crow racism hid in plain sight. Perpetuated by colorblind arguments about “cultures of poverty,” policies focused more on black criminality than black equality. Procedures that diverted resources in education, housing, and jobs away from poor black people turned ghettos and prisons into social pandemics. Liberalism, rather than lighting the way to vanquish the darkness of the Jim Crow North gave racism new and complex places to hide. Americans in the North made this history. They tried to unmake it, too.

Join The Peoples Forum and the editors and contributors of the anthology The Strange Careers of the Jim Crow North: Segregation and Struggle Outside of the South (NYU Press, 2019) for a two-day investigation into the system of institutionalized racism created by Northern Jim Crow.