News reporter: Why did you take part in this demonstration today?
Young marcher: Well, I took part in this march today because of Martin Luther King
and for what he stood for...
Lauren: When we look at archival footage, we often don't know the whole story.
At American Experience, we see a lot of archival footage.
When we saw this footage of a young man taking part in the march after the assassination
of Dr. King, we really wanted to know who this young man was.
And in the age of social media, it seemed like we could probably figure it out.
I had a bet with my team that we would find him within a day.
What amazed us was just how quickly we had an answer.
Within an hour, we had both comments on Facebook and emails that came in with the name of this person.
What we learned, is that as is so often the case, there was much more to this story.
So our team headed to Memphis to meet the family.
Keith: I just happened to just reach down and just open up my phone and I went to my Facebook
page and the first thing I saw was Phil.
And I just sat there.
Then I looked to the guy behind them to the right.
That's Cranston, with the horn-rimmed glasses.
And I looked over to the other side and said, "That's Monte Lalang in the back."
And I said, "That's my sister back there with the sign as well." And I'm going like, "Wow."
We've been looking for this over 40 years.
Mattie: We were on our way back to the car.
When the reporter asked —
He didn't ask us, he just put the mic to Phil's mouth and he answered the questions.
Phil: This march is what he died for.
And I think if he died for it, I could carry out what he started.
Mattie: I wasn't worried because I know he knew how to express himself very well.
Oh, I was so proud of him.
Keith: I don't know how I got it.
I don't know how it got on my page.
I just saw it.
And when I saw it, the first thing I did — I saved it. And I kicked it out to everybody I could send it out to.
Regina: When I first saw it, I cried.
It just brought back a lot of emotions.
First of all, my brother, I missed him.
And I kept looking at it, too.
Kept replaying it, and replaying it.
Willa Faye: I said, this is my brother.
This is my brother, you know.
This is my brother!
And that's just how I felt.
Mattie: When Keith brought the tape, I just cried.
I couldn't believe it.
And I'm getting ready to cry now, but I'm not going to cry.
Regina: My cousin Marlin, he called me one night, like at ten o'clock at night.
He said, "I'm sitting here looking at the video." He said, "I keep looking at it, I can't put it
down." And he said, "I was crying when I saw it too."
Lauren: As it turns out, there was a family out there that was looking for this footage
of someone that they had lost 50 years ago.
Keith: Everybody loved the kid.
Willa Faye: He was a very caring person.
He was a very loving person. He felt, you know, like Dr. Martin Luther King.
He felt for people.
And you don't find these people every day.
Keith: When Phil attended that march, he was thirteen-ish.
One day he's healthy.
Friends, family, doing things. And the next day he's diagnosed.
Regina: Later on that year, 1968, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
He died the following year.
Lauren: We didn't realize the profound effect that it would have on the family to be reunited
with this footage.
Mattie: Just to hear that tape again, it just, like they were alive again.
They feel like they're alive now.
Keith: It was as if you had brought him home.
And you hear his voice, you see his eyes, you see his face, you see his physical presence.
Mattie: I feel like Phil is in this house right now. And I look at that tape in the morning
and at night before I go to bed.
It brought our family back together, with a closeness that we hadn't seen in a while.
So if nothing else, that served its purpose.


Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét