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You gotta have somethin to look at to hate. Ellis came to realize that blacks were not suppressing poor whites, and that the two groups shared problems. The charrette was held for 10 days from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Whatever the leaders chose on school integration would become a binding decision that Durhams City Council would have to follow. Ellis had regularly been attending city council meetings, school board meetings, and county meetings to oppose civil rights changes and its activists. I pulled out the knife that I kept in my handbag and opened the blade. The Best of Enemies fact-check revealed that Ann credited God with giving her the strength to help so many people. we would see whose God would be the strongest, my God or his God. At this point, the couple had another daughter, Marilyn. Ann Nakia Green, Atwater's granddaughter, now lives in Texas. But both Ann Atwater and C.P. Yes. But my pastor was sitting there and saw me holding the knife. Ann mar- But Atwater's husband struggled financially, and became alcoholic and abusive. Michael and Kathleen Peterson raised a large, blended family with children from previous relationships. Sitting down with his nemesis, he realized that his struggles were her struggles too, and that they shared a fundamental commonality of experience. The experience inspired her to become involved in housing advocacy herself. He was to tear it apart. The Best of Enemies Caitlin Atwater was the daughter of Kathleen and her first husband, Fred Atwater, though she was very close with the entire Peterson family. Born Ann George in the community of Hallsboro in Columbus County, North Carolina, she was pregnant and married at the age of 14. Ellis lived across the tracks in a neighborhood nearly as destitute, but white. They divorced. Tensions steadily rose, but near the end the two had a change of heart. That was Howard Fuller with Operation Breakthrough, a program founded in Durham in 1964 to address poverty and inequality. Ann Atwater found her voice as a community activist to stand up to slumlords and bigots and yet, one of the most transformative relationships in her life was with a Klansman. However, Yes, this comes straight from Diane Bloom's 2002 documentary, No. Atwater changed history in Durham, refusing to be ignored as she demanded better schools and living conditions for black residents. CP Ellis -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. The other co-chair selected was C.P. Two years later, they had a daughter named Lydia. According to C.P. She became an effective activist and leader when advocating for black rights, such as better private housing. The natural person for me to hate would be black people, because my father before me was a member of the Klan. The unlikely friendship is remarkable, but most of all, Ann Atwaters legacy is that of a fierce defender of integration to whom the word no meant nothing. Today, Todd is believed to be living in Tennessee. She organized her community to rail against the citys repressive and reprehensible policies towards black housing, often peacefully in pickets and marches and city council meetings, but she was not averse to more violent tactics, as when she participated in the bombing of the Housing Authority. She was living in dilapidated house in North Durham on $57 a month when she became an activist. Ann Atwater was used to struggling, but she hit some truly hard times. She seems an unlikely activist and hero. Ann's granddaughter says that she's always viewed C.P. City council members would turn their chairs away when blacks spoke. When Atwater discovered caseworkers kept key information from clients, she figured out how to get the information herself. That first meeting marked the start of her involvement in helping the poor black community fight poverty. Clayton Peterson is played by Dane DeHaan, who is best known for his role as Harry Osborn/Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. At the time, Durham had a fairly large black population, with a considerable portion of educated, middle-class blacks, in addition to white residents and poor blacks. Ms. ATWATER: Yeah. However, more prominent members of the community felt that the issue was too hot to get involved in. If the footage from the later episodes of Netflix's The Staircase from 2012 and 2016 are anything to go by, they are still close with Michael Peterson. She showed him her house and he invited her to his program. To manage the transition to racial integration, councilman Bill Riddick called a charrette. Ellis, whos played by Sam Rockwell. And she was an effective boycotter, too. He invited Atwater to a meeting and to join. Durham schools suffered from increasing racial tensions among students anxious about the future. Ellis (portrayed by Sam Rockwell). "We went to the schoolhouse and we found out that the teachers there were out of their field," recalled Atwater. What are you gonna do? " the father demanded, according to the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, upon which the movie is based. She was not afraid of white school board members, nor white city council members nor the local Klan and its methods of intimidation. Ann Atwater The purpose of this charrette was to discuss school desegregation, a still contentious issue, and to draw up a series of recommendations to present to the school board. I didn't like integration. According to The Best of Enemies true story, Ann says that C.P. How could I work with her? Ann's dad had encouraged her baby's father to marry her. "And then he sat down and I snatched the phone out the wall, and we sat down and we had a meeting.. Categories: When Kathleen Peterson was found dead in her home on December 9, 2001, suspicions naturally turned to the only other person in the house at the time: her husband Michael Peterson. I knew what happened to my mom." She had already been friends with the girls when their parents met and connected. Like Ann Atwater, Claiborne Paul Ellis was raised in a life of poverty. She and her husband relocated to Durham soon after in the hopes of better opportunities, but things shifted for the worst. His action resulted in death threats and he was shunned by a significant portion of his community. They divorced. Such struggles helped shape Atwater as an activist. Ann Atwater was born in 1935 in Hallsboro, North Carolina as one of nine children to parents who were sharecroppers; her father was also a deacon of the church. Story of unlikely friendship in Durham hits She was taught that whites were better and that their needs came before hers. And me and him cried at that time, and we began to melt down towards one another. Atwater disliked the lack of respect many whites showed for blacks. Her pastor was there, grabbed the hand holding a knife and stopped her. BLOCK: Civil rights activist Ann Atwater in Durham, North Carolina. Atwater found her niche. They ended up living in one small bedroom shared with another man who slept in one bed while Atwater, her husband and the baby slept in another. I know if we weren't gonna look after our children, nobody else would. When approached by Howard Fuller to join Operation Breakthrough, a program to help people escape poverty, Atwater found her life purpose. Caitlin Atwater would go on to become a key witness on the prosecution side during Michael Peterson's trial. She said, "I realized there was definitely another side to him.". Ann Atwater was a pioneer of community organizing and black advocacy. State Government websites value user privacy. The Best of Enemies (2019 film Kathleen's body was found at the foot of the stairs, with trauma to her head that indicated she may have been struck. She married Willie Pettiford in 1975, and became a deacon at the Mount Calvary United Church of Christ. Ann Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary. Civil rights activist and former Ku Klux Klansman C.P. Ann Atwater She died in 2016 having won many awards and accolades for her work for the disadvantaged. [13][pageneeded], Atwater and Ellis presented the School Board with a list of recommendations from the charrette, including giving students a larger say on education issues by expanding the board to include two students from each of the major racial groups. Enemies' daughter is ordained minister in "We were chosen to be co-chairs to integrate the school system peacefully," said Atwater (School for Conversion). And he wasn't clapping his hands even along with us; he would clap an odd beat. Ellis died in 2005 and Atwater was asked to deliver the eulogy. Yes, The Best of Enemies is based on a true story. She began to represent poor people with housing problems, and would go door-to-door telling others of her own previous housing problems and how she was able to resolve them. The other co-chair was C.P. I didnt like Ann boycotting stores. She even experienced racism in that moment, when a funeral home worker doubted she knew the deceased. The real-life story of Atwater is featured in the movie The Best of Enemies, starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, which opens in theaters Friday. They would turn their back to us, and I would walk up and knock 'em back around, you know, let them know that we were talking to them." Newsweek has everything you need to know. Change did not come easily or suddenly, and the two faced ostracism, even death threats; C.P. -School for Conversion, Yes. If we fail, at least no one can say we didnt try. Ann Atwater and Claiborne P. Ellis had much in common, although it would take years of battling each other across the racial divide before they were able to see their similarities. BLOCK: Well, Ann Atwater, thanks very much for talking with us. The Society's Olivia DeJonge portrays Caitlin Atwater in HBO Max's The Staircase. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. One of the workers said, Maam, this is the service for Clayborn Ellis. She hit him over the head with a telephone receiver and he sat down to listen. -The Best of Enemies book. Then, when it was nearly over, Atwater and Ellis had a change of heart. So what I did, when he went to get up, I hit him over the head with the receiver of the telephone," Atwater recalled in a 2010 interview. At one point, she said, "We went in the office and cried because we were doing things the wrong way just because one was black and one was white.. It wasnt until way down in the meeting," Atwater recalled in 2002 documentary film, Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle, when the children got us together and said they wanted to go to school together. [10][pageneeded]. Civil rights crusader Fannie Lou Hamer defied men and presidents who tried to silence her. In the movie, it's hard to tell if they're trying to kill the woman or frighten her, but there's no mention of the shooting in either the documentary or. But much rang true. She wrote in a column that a couple of years before that committee she nearly slit his throat at a city meeting after he repeatedly used the n-word. Yes. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, February 1, 2006. Groups, Social Justice. -School for Conversion. Functionality of the site should not be affected, but things may look different. Ann Atwater was a woman to be reckoned with, a woman not to be ignored. Durham Civil Rights activist Ann Atwater best known for the relationship she forged with her biggest enemy, a member of the Ku Klux Klan has died. "He didn't want [integration]," said Atwater of C.P. The school's Ann Atwater Freedom Library continues her work of "making surprising friendships possible".[15]. When her job as a maid ended, she found herself living in a dilapidated house in North Durham on a Ellis was known for making provocative and inaccurate remarks expressing his fears and resentments of blacks, such as: Blacks are taking over the city. She became an activist with Operation Breakthrough and would later work with the United Organizations for Community improvement. Ellis, a local Klan leader, focuses on a 10-day charrette, a community meeting that was organized in 1971 to grapple with the issue of school desegregation. 25 Of Our Favorite Mothers Day Episodes From 'The Golden Girls' to 'Rugrats', It's Official! Today, he lives in Maryland with his two children, according to The News and Observer. The other was C.P. He worked multiple jobs to support his family, but like Atwater, he barely found the funds to make ends meet. For instance, the film never mentions Ellis KKK-inspired hatred of Catholics. Mr. C.P. Yes. Do you look back, and does it make sense to you? Up to that point, we didnt know each other. She organized protests for better housing, boycotts and educated citizens about their rights. This website is undergoing design changes. In the end, Ellis repudiated racism and the Klan and they became lifelong friends. Activist Ann Atwater Ellis Says Klan Days Have Been Over for Awhile,, This page was last edited on 1 February 2022, at 22:25. [2], After Atwater co-led the charrette, she continued to work with the poor and middle-class black community in Durham. A housing organizer came by one evening to ask if she needed help to get repairs. The two became lifelong friends, often appearing together in interviews and documentaries. A lock icon or https:// means youve safely connected to the official website. Conservative town leaders were largely receptive to his message. ", Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. "And we had to go up and knock them back around so that would let them know that we are human and well talk to them.. In 1971 Atwater was asked to co-chair a group looking for answers for the problems of desegregation of Durham Schools. Courtesy of STXfilmsAnn Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary An Unlikely Friendship. So I told C.P. In one meeting with a councilman, Atwater recalls that when he was not taking her seriously as she was trying to make her points, she would hit him on the head, surprising him so much that he would listen to her afterwards. Ann G. Atwater was born on July 1, 1935, in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Atwater told Dateline correspondent Dennis Murphy that she had lost "far more than just my mother. We looked at each other. From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. She was a poor black woman raising children alone in the South in the mid-20th century. She was not afraid to voice her opinions loudly and proudly. As the civil rights movement increased in urgency and militancy, he believed acting as a spokesman on behalf of the Klan was crucial to upholding the Southern way of life and its natural social hierarchy. He had similar feelings, saying, "It was impossible. I went on back out the street and went on down, right back down the street to the office, and we Xeroxed the part that told the welfare recipients their rights.. VarietyThe Best of Enemies depicts the unexpected friendship between Ann Atwater and C.P. When Atwater had first met C. P. Ellis at a previous Durham city council meeting, she felt great resentment toward him. I hated her guts., BlacKkKlansman: How black detective Ron Stallworth infiltrated the Colorado Klan, Atwater countered: I hated him just as hard as he hated me. Ms. ATWATER: Well, in the first five days of the meetings, we had a choir come in, a gospel choir, a church choir--to come in and do some singing. Ellis and Ann Atwater established during that time endured, as did Ellis change in attitude. I didnt like them. Moving past race, they began to focus on other issues, such as the academic quality of Durhams schools. They raised him until approximately age 11, when he was placed in an institution. I didn't like Ann boycotting stores. Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle. People worked at job-training, took after-school tutoring, or became educated as to their rights. Ellis, "and I particularly didn't want it at the time, but then I knew we were going to have to be at one school and the children had to get the best education they could. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. I didn't like the demonstrations downtown. They also proposed major changes in the school curriculum, such as more instruction on dealing with racial violence, creation of a group to discuss and resolve problems before they escalated, and expansion in choices of textbooks to include African-American authors. We didnt know we had things in common., They talked about the hardships of raising children in poverty, and their efforts to emphasize that their children's potential was equal to that of middle-class children. Operation Breakthrough helped people define and accomplish a series of tasks in order to build a pattern of achievement. She made dresses out of flour and rice bags for her daughters to wear. Ignoring her and the parents with her was a mistake. They showed community members how to cultivate gardens or how to chip in and fundraise together to improve their neighborhoods. Ellis stood up and ripped apart his Klan membership card. After their second daughter, Marilyn, was born, he left the family and moved to Richmond for a better job, according to Davidson. is the president of the KKK, and cares for his children. Like his older brother Clayton, Todd Peterson stood by his father's side during the trial and today. Todd Peterson is the second son of Michael Peterson, from his first marriage to Patricia Sue. (modern). On the evening of her death, the Petersons had dinner with Ratliff and her daughters. Her mother died when she was 6. While Ratliff's murder remains unsolved, Michael was convicted of Kathleen's. Riddick set up a meeting, which is referred to in the movie as a charrette. Ellis described the hatred he felt toward blacks going in.