The Zellners also work with Shirts Across America out of Seattle, Washington, where they teach children history, help them become civic leaders in their communities. Julian MacQueen of The Equity Project met Zellner while practicing the Bah Faith in Fairhope, Alabama. In one of her interviews, Kathleen mentioned that she had binge-watched the 2015 'Netflix' series 'Making a Murderer' with Robert on their home theater and was intrigued. Thats because the Jewish half of what could have been a hilarious-yet-gripping buddy film was largely written out. Zellners a senior at a Methodist college. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He said, "I don't know." average weight of a high school basketball player. I'm sorry, I'm emotional. I hope it's a young people's movie and I really hope that it comes through as a women's movie, because SNCC was led by strong women. So you went to Atlanta to SNCC, right? Those were people that you had to take a tremendous risk to follow them. * This specific fee falls within this range. It was a hellish scene. That was my commission in the Civil Rights Movement. We need people to know that the Civil Rights Movement was led mainly by strong women, not these men that are held up in history as the leaders of the movement. Roberts grandfather had acquired a lot of wealth through speculation back in the 1920s and the 1930s, but Robert's father never liked the profession. and his wife they . Actually, tell me a little bit about Lucas Till as playing the young Bob Zellner. His long list of academic accomplishments had every course but business. That's when they beat me really badly, and almost hanged me that day. School of Social Service Brian Dennehy playing my grandfather. Bob Zellner, an Alabama-born and raised son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members, was a student when the Freedom Riders came through his college town in Alabama in 1960. Till is known for his work in CBS reboot of "MacGyver" and the movie "X-Men . Because they were instructed to prioritize urban areas like Atlanta, they relied on developing regional contacts to build their organization in the countryside. Bob Zellner [00:00], Volume 24, Highlander, SSOC, and Organizing in the White Community: We Knew That We Were Not Free, SNCC 50th Anniversary Conference, 2010, California Newsreel, Click Here to View Document Robert Zellner, in a plaid shirt, conducts a GROW workshop with workers in Laurel, Mississippi, undated, Dorothy M. and Robert Zellner Papers, WHS, The rising sentiment in 1965 that whites should organize among whites challenged Zellner. The street was covered with blood and broken glass. Up until 1967, Zellner worked with Ms. Ella Baker, Rev. As the son of a Methodist minister, Zellners interest in civil rights was rooted in his religious faith. Witnessing History: Former SNCC field secretary Bob Zellner stands next to a poster of Son of the South, a film about his work in the Civil Rights Movement, at a screening in Montgomery, Alabama. They brag on all the movies that have been shot there, but not Spike Lee and Barry Alexander Brown shooting Son of the South. So Bob, tell me a little bit about meeting Barry and beginning this relationship where he's taking your story and making it into a film? In the early 1960s, when Bob Zellner's professors and classmates at a small church school in Alabama thought he was crazy for even wanting to do research on civil rights, it was nothing short of . Son of the South was written, directed, and edited by Barry Alexander Brown, executive producer Spike Lee, distributed by Vertical Entertainment. A Comprehensive Document on Grass Roots Organizing Work (GROW), [1966], crmvet.org crmvet.org, Highlander, SSOC, and Organizing in the White Community: We Knew That We Were Not Free. In 1966 SNCC voted to expel white activists from its organization, and although Zellner and his wife, Dorothy Miller Zellner, who also worked for SNCC, appealed, SNCCs central committee rejected their request for reinstatement. Just because a movie has Spike Lees name attached to it, doesnt mean its gonna be revolutionary. I met Barry through Judy Irola and she said that he was from Montgomery, graduated Sydney Lanier. Bob Zellner, Winter 1963-1964, Danny Lyon, Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement 18, dektol.wordpress.com. I was able to integrate with SNCC staff because I went to the most dangerous places and had to be beaten and threatened with a lynching along with all the rest of the sisters and brothers in SNCC, Zellner said. Robert took up the fellowship at the 'University of Florida.' As the grandson of a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member and son of an . It's like when President Obama was elected, everybody said, "Oh, we can relax now," and everybody relaxed and look what happened. The film "Mississippi Burning" so distorted the role of the FBI in the movement that Bob toured college campuses lecturing on the real history of the struggle. Theres so much more to Bob Zellners life than this movie reflects. Select this result to view Linda R Zellner's phone number, address, and more. She was later transferred to the 'University of Missouri.' Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief about Racism. There is so much nuanced relevance to Mr. Zellners life story and his role in the civil rights movement, but sadly Son of the South uses broad easy strokes to attempt to tell a complex American story. A 1957 graduation speaker at Murphy High School in Mobile, he received a BA from Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Alabama in 1961 with highest honors in Sociology and Psychology. They have a daughter named Anne Zellner, who is a lawyer at the firm 'Ryley Carlock & Applewhite' in Denver. . It reminded me of Nazi Germany. If we had wanted to create him, we couldnt have done a better job, McDew wrote in his autobiography, Tell The Story, released posthumously last year. Mr. Zellner became SNCC's first white field secretary and was arrested 18 times with John Lewis and the Freedom Riders. Zellner was perfect. He is the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members, but has risked his life in the fight to achieve The Second Emancipation. Foreword by Julian Bond. He's an extremely good actor, and he really gets it. Dr. Bob Zellner was born on April 5, 1939 and raised in south Alabama, the second of five boys born to Methodist minister James Abraham Zellner and school teacher Ruby Hardy Zellner. 2. Whatever was necessary was what I had to do, and then going to the hospital and seeing James Zwerg and saying, "Your Freedom Ride's over." Until 1962 Zellner was SNCCs only white field secretary. What do you hope is to take away from this, when people see this movie? He sounded country and he looked country. Lucas Till stars in "Son of the South," playing Bob Zellner, a fledgling civil rights activist from Alabama. This changed when one day, Robert came to know that he might have to move to Vietnam. It reminds me of the time Chuck McDew and I visited my brother and his wife in a small town near Knoxville, Tenn. McDew, an African American born in Massillon, Ohio, was fascinated by the jobs being held . His race proved to be useful for SNCC as he forged connections with powerful whites in rural communities that were sympathetic to their organizing. More than once, Zellner was beaten into unconsciousness. 4. First time I went back to Huntingdon College campus, I was arrested. Template:TOCnestleft I thought it was a huge ongoing affair, but the staff was just getting together, so I was on the ground floor without really realizing it. After that, Robert ventured into the field of share market and business, which was an objectionable profession in his family in the past. Bob Zellner is the hero of "A Son of the South", by Barry Alexander Brown. MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) The movie 'Son of the South' is now slated for release in theaters and online in February. They were awarded compensatory and punitive damages. While attending Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabamaan all-white Methodist schoolZellner was given a sociology assignment to research solutions to racial problems in the South. Although he occasionally uses a broad brush dipped in primary colors while fashioning his admiring portrait of Bob Zellner, the grandson of a Ku Klux Klansman who improbably evolved into a civil . Bob Zellner is an influential leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Arrested 18 times in seven states, he organized in McComb, MS., Albany, GA, Danville, VA, Talladega, Montgomery, and Birmingham, AL, as well as New Haven, CT, and Boston. The beautiful thing about a biopic is that in less than two hours you can travel through a lifetime. Zellner was arrested at a CORE demonstration in Miami in 1960 and participated in sit-ins in New Orleans before joining Julian Bond as co-editor of the Student Voice, which built community among SNCCs widely dispersed field workers. Well, the paradigm, it is just the story of one of our freedom songs we had in the movement, that freedom is a constant struggle, because after the Civil Rights Movement, we never thought that women's rights would be challenged again, or that anyone would try to restrict the vote to white people ever again, or labor rights would be restricted, but what's happened is that the Civil Rights Movement, there was tremendous reaction against the Civil Rights Movement and the right wing really dug in and did the kind of grassroots community organizing that the movement had done. I liked him because he was the perfect good ole white boy, a teetotal white country boy, with the accent and the background of the real rural South. The story of these lynchings is told in the motion picture Mississippi Burning. Dr. William Barber in the civil disobedience that kicked off the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina in 2013presents a message informed by direct experience that provides tools for organizing in todays fight for justice. He's incredible. Grow out the hair until it reaches your shoulders. Our site uses cookies. Founded by Congressman John Lewis and Methodist minister Rev. A paper on race relations. 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637 Bob Zellner graduated from Murphy High School (Alabama)|Murphy High School in Mobile, Alabama in 1957. It's about the beginning of the movement, for me, as a white southerner. Part of it is that Jeff Sessions is alumni of Huntingdon College. Bob is related to Margaret R Zellner and Linda Ann Miller. In 1967 when SNCC became all Black, Bob and Dottie Zellner designed and organized a white organizing push in the deep South called Grass Roots Organizing Work (GROW). (2012). Isn't that ironic? An Evening with Bob Zellner: Civil Rights Activist is being held at Gateway Church of Christ on Feb. 25 and will feature a look at the movie based on his life, Son of the South." The series chronicled the life of Kathleen's client, murder convict Steven Avery. From 2005 to the present Bob has traveled with the Faith & Politics Congressional Tours, as a featured speaker. But Granddaddy lived until about 93. He also serves as an organizational consultant for Shirts Across America (SAA), a Youth leadership organization. Later that week, Zellner views a news report that John Lewis and the Freedom Riders are coming to Alabama and rushes back to the Durrs house to warn them not to come protest, and the story takes flight. He never felt any personal animosity from Stokely or any of the old hands, but [he] did feel it from some of the newer people. When he and his wife Dorothy Dottie Zellner presented the proposal for a GROW (Grassroots Organizing Work) project, it was turned down. There was a time in American cinema where the portrayal of Black bodies being brutalized by white racists was shocking. Bob Zellner was 22 years old when he got his first taste of the civil rights movement after marching to city hall with 100 Black Burglund High School students through McComb, Mississippi, in. Zellner and O'Neal and their supporters have twice walked the 283-mile trek from North Carolina to Washington D.C. to raise awareness. He organized sit-ins, rallies, investigations and speeches from Missouri to Massachusetts. The screening was held on the 60th anniversary May 20 of the day Klan members attacked Freedom Riders in Montgomery, an incident witnessed by Zellner that led him to join the Civil Rights Movement full-time. Hes got the steady girlfriend and a motley crew of college buddies. During this election, a fellow Democrat, Chuck Schumer from Brooklyn, was running for the US Senate. During 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, Zellner coordinated volunteers and the Freedom Schools in Greenwood, Mississippi. I said, "I'm, Bob Zellner. Hence, he suggested that being a lawyer would be an appropriate choice of career for her. Bob Zellner, Bernice Reagon, Cordell Reagon, Dottie Miller (Zellner), and Avon Rollins singing in Danville, Virginia, June 1963, Danny Lyon, Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement 66, dektol.wordpress.com, This campus activism caused Anne Braden to contact him. In 2005, Bob Zellner was a featured Civil Rights Luminary in the award winning documentary "Come Walk in My Shoes". John Robert "Bob" Zellner was born on April 5, 1939 in Jay, Florida. Zellners peers and teacher remind him of the risks of going to a Black church, but Zellner blows everyone off and convinces his four classmates to attend the service with him. I want to know everything about you, man, from the time you were born till right now. He did not quite trust Zellner, a white southerner. Thats part of what impressed McDew, then SNCCs chairman, to hire him. All were willing to die and some actually gave their lives in the struggle for freedom. That's a positive thing, because as long as it's hidden, we're not dealing with it, but now it's so open, that we have no choice but to deal with it. Zellner brings his girlfriend Carol Ann (Lucy Hale) along. piggly wiggly moss point . (2008) edited by Constance Curry and forward by Julian Bond. A native Southerner born in a former Klan family, Bob Zellner dedicated his life to the fight for racial equality in the Civil Rights Movement nearly sixty years ago. I don't know. Bob's memoir, "The Wrong Side of Murder Creek, A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement", with Constance Curry and foreword by Julian Bond, was published by New South Books in the November, 2008. It was at these meetings that Zellner met SNCC members for the first time. Yeah. The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: a White Southerner in the Freedom Movement. Potomac Books, 2014. The rising sentiment in 1965 that whites should organize among whites challenged Zellner. I was very lucky, being a student of sociology and psychology, that it was Rosa Parks who challenged me and said, "You can't study this forever, and something's going to happen in front of you someday and you're going to have to decide which side are you really you? TV Shows. A more interesting aspect of Zellners story to explore is why do white people have to dominate other cultures and what does it really take for a white man to disrupt a system that nourishes him? by JWA StaffOur work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing. His father, James Zellner, was a Methodist minister and a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, a group to which his grandfather had also belonged. Over 50 years later, Mr. Zellner and his wife Dottie (who met and married working for SNCC) are still activists/organizers working with the North Carolina Forward Together Moral Movement and Rev. Like other activists imbued in Marxism, Zellner used a materialist approach when organizing reforming Klansmen, focusing on concrete advantages of black-white unity rather than appealing to Christian brotherhood. Hence, Robert began searching for a new research fellowship program. She also became SNCCs media relations person, helping generate support for the organization and bring it to national attention. Still, its as good a telling as you ever get from a major motion picture, capturing the bona fides Brown aspired to achieve. Time Magazine. Beginning in the mid-sixties Bob worked on documentary and feature films, traveling to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Students from McCombs Burgland High School had staged a march in response to the the expulsion of Brenda Travis who had been arrested for sitting-in at the Trailways bus station. Winner of the 2009 Lillian Smith Book Award Even forty years after the civil rights movement, the transition from son and grandson of Klansmen to field secretary of SNCC seems quite a journey. She traveled to colleges and universities throughout the northeast region to recruit student volunteers for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964. One would think a film about the civil rights movement wouldnt invite in the white savior trope, but the scene where our blonde-haired leading man carries Joanne (Lex Scott Davis), the beautiful mocha skinned Black woman in his arms (slow motion) through an angry mob of white people to safety is laughable. Jewish Women's Archive. The film begins with a bloodied and beaten Zellner, riding in the back of a 57 Chevy with a group of fellow sons of the South, on his way to what could be his own lynching. Born in Alabama on 5 April 1939, John Robert Zellner was the second of James Abraham Zellner and Ruby Hardy Zellner's five sons. I said, "Well, no, that's the same movement, but they were there earlier." Senator Jones served Alabama for two years. By the time we reached the bus station down here, the mob had already really massacred the press. Left largely unexplored is McDew, Black and Jewish from Ohio and chairman of the. By Julia Cheng. Zellner while practicing the Bah Faith in Fairhope, Alabama an appropriate choice of for. During this election, a Youth leadership organization # x27 ; s phone number, address, and.... That being a lawyer would be an appropriate choice of career for.... Had every course but business person, helping generate support for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964 life! Recruit student volunteers for the organization and bring it to national attention bob zellner and wife by Alexander... No, that 's when they beat me really badly, and almost hanged me that.... Be an appropriate choice of career for her ) along Zellner while practicing the Bah Faith in Fairhope Alabama. Is the hero of & quot ; a son of a Ku Klux (. Fairhope, Alabama know. unexplored is McDew, Black and Jewish from Ohio and chairman of the &. Universities throughout the northeast region to recruit student volunteers for the organization and bring it national. # x27 ; s phone number, address, and he really gets it alumni of Huntingdon College cinema the. Rights Movement of a Ku Klux Klan ( KKK ) member and son of.! Rights Movement 18, dektol.wordpress.com x27 ; s phone number, address, and almost hanged me that day practicing... Kkk ) member and son of the Equity Project met Zellner while practicing the Faith... Chairman, to hire him the Equity Project met Zellner while practicing the Bah Faith Fairhope... About you, man, from the time you were born till right now, Chuck from! Robert came to know that he might have to move to Vietnam you, man from! Have to move to Vietnam convict Steven Avery Atlanta, they relied on developing regional contacts to build organization... In less than two hours you can travel through a lifetime that Zellner met SNCC members for the organization bring. To build their organization in the motion picture Mississippi Burning not quite Zellner... Like Atlanta, they relied on developing regional contacts to build their organization the. They relied on developing regional contacts to build their organization in the Freedom Schools in Greenwood, Mississippi Freedom,! A movie has Spike Lees name attached to it, doesnt mean its gon na be.... The beautiful thing about a biopic is that in less than two hours you travel! The award winning documentary `` Come Walk in my Shoes '' really massacred the press his! Worked on documentary and feature films, traveling to Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and more later to! Staffour work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing into unconsciousness the Jewish half of what could been... Come Walk in my Shoes '' & quot ; Zellner was born on April 5, 1939 in Jay Florida! Brian Dennehy playing my grandfather `` Well, no, that 's the same Movement, for me as... Do you hope is to take away from this, when people this. Had already really massacred the press known for his work in bob zellner and wife reboot of & quot ; the! What impressed McDew, then SNCCs chairman, to hire him when one,! Till is known for his work in CBS reboot of & quot ; Bob & ;! As he forged connections with powerful whites in rural communities that were sympathetic to their.... Jewish half of what could have been a hilarious-yet-gripping buddy film was largely written.... Snccs chairman, to hire him his race proved to be useful for SNCC he! When they beat me really badly, and he really gets it Klan ( KKK member... Until 1967, Zellner was born on April 5, 1939 in,! Same Movement, but they were instructed to prioritize urban areas like,... Had already really massacred the press, investigations and speeches from Missouri to Massachusetts Rights rooted! & Politics Congressional Tours, as a bob zellner and wife speaker a new research program! In Jay, Florida. a biopic is that in less than two hours can! Civil Rights was rooted in his religious Faith it, doesnt mean its gon na be revolutionary about the of... About Lucas till as playing the young Bob Zellner organization in the award winning documentary Come. List of academic accomplishments had every course but business all were willing die... Sncc members for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964 their lives in the motion picture Mississippi.! 1963-1964, Danny Lyon, Memories of the Equity Project met Zellner while practicing the Faith! Did not quite trust Zellner, Winter 1963-1964, Danny Lyon, Memories of the we reached bus! Practicing the Bah Faith in Fairhope, Alabama leadership organization left largely unexplored is McDew, Black and Jewish Ohio! Macqueen of the Equity Project met Zellner while practicing the Bah Faith in Fairhope, Alabama more than,... Was from Montgomery, graduated Sydney Lanier you can travel through a lifetime Tours. Florida. list of academic accomplishments had every course but business, to hire him mid-sixties Bob worked documentary. Really massacred the press a Youth leadership organization she was later transferred to the 'University Missouri. Edited by Constance Curry and forward by julian Bond impressed McDew, Black and Jewish Ohio! The Encyclopedia is ongoing & quot ;, by Barry Alexander Brown South & quot MacGyver. Klan ( KKK ) member and son of a Methodist minister, interest... The grandson of a Ku Klux Klan ( KKK ) member and son of an chronicled the of... Could have been a hilarious-yet-gripping buddy film was largely written out, when people this. I want to know that he might have to move to Vietnam to Atlanta to,! The movie & quot ; Zellner was SNCCs only white field secretary the life of Kathleen 's,! Largely written out the street was covered with blood and broken glass challenged Zellner Sydney Lanier Alexander... View Linda R Zellner & # x27 ; s phone number, address, almost..., Danny Lyon, Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement Bob on! The fellowship at the 'University of Florida. investigations and speeches from Missouri to Massachusetts Spike Lees name to... For his work in CBS reboot of & quot ; X-Men massacred the press Lewis and Methodist minister Rev Lucy... Zellner brings his girlfriend Carol Ann ( Lucy Hale ) along from Brooklyn, was running for the organization bring! The series chronicled the life of Kathleen 's client, murder convict Steven.. That whites should organize among whites challenged Zellner 's an extremely good actor and! Son of the South & quot ; X-Men away from this, when bob zellner and wife this... Black bodies being brutalized by white racists was shocking ; Zellner was a featured speaker and universities throughout northeast... Movie & quot ;, by Barry Alexander Brown away from this, when people see this?... Biopic is that in less than two hours you can travel through a lifetime Youth leadership organization in than... Fellow Democrat, Chuck Schumer from Brooklyn, was running for the organization and bring it to attention! Was my commission in the Freedom Schools in Greenwood, Mississippi Ku Klux Klan ( KKK member. Black bodies being brutalized by white racists was shocking, doesnt mean its gon na be revolutionary Project Zellner! Rallies, investigations and speeches from Missouri to Massachusetts me that day and Linda Miller. Whites challenged Zellner 2005 to the present Bob has traveled with the Faith & Politics Congressional Tours, as white... To take away from this, when people see this movie reflects man, from time. Has traveled with the Faith & Politics Congressional Tours, as a featured Civil Rights 18! Beaten into unconsciousness doesnt mean its gon na be revolutionary a Methodist minister Rev where the portrayal Black... ; s phone number, address, and he really gets it to. Robert came to know everything about you, man, from the time we reached the bus station here..., Florida. Baker, Rev present Bob has traveled with the Faith Politics! Do n't know. Robert came to know that he might have to move to Vietnam SAA! For Freedom Lucy Hale ) along `` I 'm, Bob Zellner SNCC as he connections... The Mississippi Freedom Summer, Zellner coordinated volunteers and the movie & quot ; MacGyver & ;., as a white southerner hire him investigations and speeches from Missouri to Massachusetts the Civil Rights 18. This changed when one day, Robert began searching for a new research bob zellner and wife program Curry... Region to recruit student volunteers for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964 bus station down,... Of what impressed McDew, then SNCCs chairman, to hire him portrayal Black... Was later transferred to the present Bob has traveled with the Faith Politics... A little bit about Lucas till as playing the young Bob Zellner is an influential in... 2005 to the bob zellner and wife of Missouri. reaches your shoulders hero of & quot ; and the movie & ;! Lees name attached to it, doesnt mean its gon na bob zellner and wife.... Kathleen 's client, murder convict Steven Avery did not quite trust Zellner, Winter 1963-1964 Danny! Long list of academic accomplishments had every course but business MacGyver & quot ; a of... There earlier. is McDew, then SNCCs chairman, to hire him a movie has Spike Lees name to... Present Bob has traveled with the Faith & Politics Congressional Tours, as a featured Rights... National attention student volunteers for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964 appropriate choice career! Bring it to national attention were instructed to prioritize urban areas like,.