In other words, being fully committed is a way to show you are true to the cause. He grew up in rural Alabama, the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members and ministers. Late last week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a major rewrite of the state’s election rules. Other Phone. For years, Zellner worked closely with Brown in writing the screenplay, and he notes that the movie was primarily created from his memories and stories that the two of them developed together. “I’m part of the lynch mob — I just had to be part of the racist mob.”. While northerners often likes to think of themselves as historically more tolerant, he notes that this part of the world has hardly been a bastion of equality. You've read 7 of your 7 free articles this month.Please subscribe to continue reading. “A Traitor to His Race”: How Bob Zellner Broke Racial Barriers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Accessibility, © 2020 Times Review Media Group All Rights Reserved. View Site. He grew up in rural Alabama, the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members and ministers. April 18, 2021 – I met Bob Zellner in 1960 at the Shaw University, Raleigh NC, conference that founded SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the youth shock troops of the 1960s civil rights movement. When his father broke away from the Klan, it notes, his mother made Sunday school shirts from the white robes. Lucas Till stars in "Son of the South," playing Bob Zellner, a fledgling civil rights activist from Alabama. Bob Zeller Photography, San Angelo, TX. Join Facebook to connect with Bob Zellner and others you may know. COURTESY VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT, Brian Dennehy in a scene from "Son of the South." That made him a special target for the mob that greeted young Black protesters. The group first had to break through some of the racial animosity that they found there. I thought it would be great for Autherine Lucy and Alabama,” Zellner said. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. At first, money was difficult to raise and nobody wanted to invest in it. 11964. Kairoscenter.org. “Tut Edwards, the store’s owner, was a UU [Unitarian Universalist] and a follower of Huey P. Long as a progressive populist,” he added. Bob Zellner, then co-chair of the Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force, was arrested in 2000 during a Shinnecock-led protest at Parrish Pond in Southampton. Please register for this program, which is part of the series Necessary Bridges, co-sponsored by the Shelter Island Health and Wellness Alliance, at www.silibrary.org. “Barry had a difficult time in writing the script — condensing 50 or 60 years into 120 minutes. A grandson of a Klansman comes of age in the deep south and eventually joins the Civil Rights Movement. “I did a lot of my growing up in East Brewton, Alabama, on the wrong side of the tracks and the poor side of town. As a result, over the course of the last half century, he has been beaten or arrested more times than he can count. Other Fax. Because we believe the most common power we should all have is the power of our vote. Seeking information with which to write research papers on race relations, Zellner and four fellow students attend an event held in a Black church to mark the fifth anniversary of the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott.The event is conducted by Ralph Abernathy and … Below is an interview with Bob Zellner, edited for length and clarity. Email Addresses. 122 records for Bob Zellner. In this day of free agency and switching teams, Bob Feller remained loyal to the city and the team for over 70 years. “Son of the South” is available for streaming and can be rented or purchased on several digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Video, VUDU, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, FandangoNow and Redbox On Demand. When I was 12 or 13, I worked in a small grocery store and I was struck by the way the Black customers were treated versus white customers. “It’s very important and they’re not going to give it up easily. I think one of the reasons is they pay a huge price for the sentiment,” Zellner said. How Bob Zellner Broke Racial Barriers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee "SNCC Personnel including Julian Bond and Bob Zellner," 1962. “That’s when I realized I had a different feeling than my peers. A veteran of the 1960s civil rights movement, she served as a recruiter for the Freedom Summer project and was co-editor of Student Voice, the student newsletter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.She is active in the Palestinian solidarity movement. 188 likes. “With this film, Barry Alexander Brown and Spike Lee are putting their talents in the field of arts to address these questions that are really on the front burner,” he said. The Wrong Side of Murder Creek, by Bob Zellner with Constance Curry, is available from NewSouth Books, Amazon, or your favorite local or online book retailer. He was not just white, but from Alabama, and his father and grandfather had been members of the Ku Klux Klan. On February 19 at 7PM on Zoom, please join the Shelter Island Public Library for a webinar with Bob Zellner, civil rights leader and former East End resident, who has devoted his life to the fight for racial justice. The movie, which was filmed in Montgomery in 2019, focuses on the real-life experiences of Bob Zellner, an Alabama native and the grandson of … Shelter Island, New York It was a symbol that made me feel at home in the Hamptons,” he said facetiously. By the time the movie ends, I had just joined the SNCC staff. Zellner’s autobiography, The Wrong Side of Murder Creek, was recently adapted into a feature film produced by Spike Lee, called Son of the South, and is currently available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. For Zellner, who has suffered brutal beatings at the hands of violent police, segregationist lynch mobs and the Klan, reliving some of the more harrowing moments of his youth on film wasn’t easy. Dorothy "Dottie" Miller Zellner is an American human rights activist, feminist, editor, lecturer, and writer. I am a wildlife photographer, specializing in photographing the avian variety. Zellner was SNCC’s first white field secretary. President Joe Biden was quick to call the law “Jim Crow in the 21st Century,” offering a modern-day reference to legislation enacted in southern states in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that codified racism. Notably, that arrest came during a protest against state legislation that would require voter photo identification and restrict early voting or same-day registration, tactics that civil rights groups have long argued suppress voter turnout among minorities and the disenfranchised. The movie is based on Bob Zellner's 2008 book "Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement.” On Saturday, while at the Alabama Book Festival, Zellner … “I was always asking why we had to treat the Black customers different from white customers. “I think they did an incredible job of making a motion picture with a small budget,” Zellner added. Get the latest North Fork stories, recommendations, and upcoming events right to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Bob is a veteran of the Civil Rights movement. Before long, Bob Zellner, Jack Minnis, and other GROW organizers were making frequent visits to Laurel. Dedicated to Zellner’s friend of 60 years, the late Georgia civil rights icon John Lewis, and based on “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek,” the film was written, directed and edited by Barry Alexander Brown. Please log in or create an account to continue reading. View Bob Zellner’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. It stars Lucas Till as a young Bob Zellner and takes place in Brown’s hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, where the true events occurred. “I’ve had to separate myself from my character in the movie,” explained Zellner. To see what’s new, click “Start the Tour” to take a tour. “I was told, ‘Don’t let anyone hear you say that.’ Even if you didn’t agree, you were supposed to keep your mouth shut.”. Since he began working as a civil rights activist in his native Alabama in the early 1960s, Bob Zellner, the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members, has remained vigilant and on the front lines in the fight against racism. Bob Zellner, then co-chair of the Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force, was arrested in 2000 during a Shinnecock-led protest at Parrish Pond in Southampton. Bob Zellner, Writer: Son of the South. Bob Zellner arrested in Louisiana. We're happy you are enjoying our content. Those were not poor, unemployed, uneducated white working people. Rosalie Keliʻinoi: "Ka Makuahine o ka ʻAha ʻŌlelo" Affiliate Hawaii . “There’s quite a bit of the book that wasn’t covered,” explained Zellner in a recent phone interview. “I refer to him as ‘the character,’ not me. When Bob … In 2010, the "Cleveland Indians Man of the Year Award" was renamed the "Bob Feller Man of the Year Award". We welcome your feedback. “There is a difference in the way people talk about and handle it, but racism is the same whether it’s down South or up North,” Zellner said. COURTESY VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT, Angry mob in a scene from "Son of the South." Phone Numbers (608) 225-9555. The details of the incident are shared in Zellner’s 2008 autobiography, “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom movement.” In a chapter titled “Up South,” Zellner, a retired Long Island University professor, credits the presence of Southampton Press photographer Dana Shaw for stopping New York State troopers from breaking his arm during the arrest. 37 North Ferry Road In the mid-1950s, when Zellner was in high school in Mobile, Alabama, Autherine Lucy became the first Black student to attend the University of Alabama. They were solid, middle-class bourgeoisies. As a result, over the course of the last half century, he has been beaten or arrested more times than he can count. It led to the first of his many arrests in multiple states. As the son of a Methodist minister, the SNCC website explains that Zellner’s interest in civil rights was rooted in his religious faith. As a native southerner who lived and worked in New York for many years, Zellner is in a unique position to compare attitudes toward race in the two geographical areas. COURTESY VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT. “Barry would record the stories then do a version of the script and give it to me and say, ‘What do you think and what do we need to change?’ We worked on it that way from beginning to end.”. Bob Zellner (left) and Mayor Adam O’Neal at the Rally to Save Rural Hospitals in Washington D.C. (Photo: Kairos Center) What happened after … Klan fundraisers from the South would go north to raise money. DANA SHAW Bob Zellner… Fax Numbers (608) 849-5257. Fellow Alabamian and former Shelter Islander Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning civil rights history of Birmingham, Carry Me Home, will facilitate the discussion. In addition to limiting the use of drop boxes for ballots, the new legislation imposes stricter voter ID requirements, allows state takeovers of local elections and even bans handing out water to voters waiting in long lines. National Contest Participant View Site. 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 remarkable. Zellner’s social activism began in earnest in 1961 when, as a 22-year-old Freedom Rider and SNCC’s field secretary, he traveled from Atlanta to Albany, Georgia, to test two U.S. Supreme Court decisions outlawing segregation of interstate travel facilities. Zellner, Bob Biography: Robert Zellner was born April 5, 1939 in southern Alabama. You will likely not see that kind of mutual loyalty and admiration ever again." Watch a segment from Injustice Files at the show’s website. - DANA SHAW, Sharonne Lanier and Lucas Till in a scene from "Son of the South." And that’s a topic Bob Zellner knows something about. Executive produced by Spike Lee, “Son of the South” is based on Bob Zellner’s award-winning 2008 autobiography “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A … He had to teach me the caste system. When asked if he first became aware of social and racial injustice as a college student, Zellner said that it actually began long before then. Bob Zellner is on Facebook. COURTESY OF VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT, Lucas Till in a scene from "Son of the South." But with every battle, progress was made, and though since his early days in the movement attitudes have changed greatly, Zellner noted that many members of his own family have gone back to their Klan ways and to this day, discussions on certain topics are avoided altogether during get-togethers. COURTESY VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT, Lucas Till and Lucy Hale in a scene from "Son of the South." Please click the“contact/advertise” link in the menu bar to email us. TIME Magazine has included author and civil rights activist Bob Zellner as part of their “One Dream” multimedia project, commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.. Back in February 2000, Zellner, then co-chair of the Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force, was arrested after showing up to ease tensions at a Shinnecock-led protest at the Parrish Ponds development near what was then Southampton College. But, Bob transcended more than that era. “I was interested, even as a child,” he said. I have moderate to severe PTSD. On April 5, Zellner will celebrate his 82nd birthday, and in a fitting and timely tribute to his many years of activism, Zellner’s life story — specifically, his role as the first white field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the early 1960s — has made it to the big screen in “Son of the South,” a film from executive producer Spike Lee. In his half century or more of organizing and studying race in North America, Zellner has come to believe that the underlying issue surrounding race is the caste system, which he maintains is far more rigid than a class system. by Bob Zellner ( 45 ) $8.69. We mobilize volunteers for voters around the country, while investing in the next generation of leaders and building lasting community. Barry wanted to make a movie about Alabama in Alabama. But the activist’s long arrest record isn’t limited to southern states. “It’s very strong, and whenever it’s challenged, people will do extraordinary things to maintain the caste system,” Zellner said. In his role on the anti-bias task force in Southampton, Zellner recalled, he investigated all sorts of incidents where symbols of hate, including nooses, would be used as intimidation or to create a political divide or controversy. Other Phone (608) 807-7420. Find Bob Zellner's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. “But I did do a cameo in the hanging scene,” he added. “Is democracy worth trying to save, and if so, what do we have to do to save our democracy?”. Mr. Bob Zellner, Owner; Additional Contact Information. “It would be at their places of business, or on the side of buildings. In 2013, Zellner, a former Southampton resident, was arrested in North Carolina, where he now lives. The other aspect is our Black sisters and brothers always think you can be in the movement for a while, and then you can go back to being white.”. But he raised it in Alabama, and shot it in Alabama and it is being supported by the state of Alabama.”. Because it’s so difficult to go against family, friends and long-standing attitudes, it would seem that southerners who fight for civil rights are often the most committed advocates of racial equality, and Zellner would tend to agree. Bob Zellner was white. Fact From Fiction: Clavin’s New Book Explores The Life Of Daniel Boone, ‘Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution’, ‘Becoming Dr. Ruth’ At Bay Street Theater, Parrish Art Museum’s Salon Series Livestream Concerts, Southampton Arts Center ‘EARTH — Artists As Activist, Chris Kelly’s Solo Show At Colm Rowan Fine Art Gallery, ‘Her Name Is Chef’ On Hamptons Doc Fest Website, Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton Share A Story. “I credit Barry and Spike Lee, who both have deep roots in Alabama. I live in San Angelo, Texas. February 19, 2021 @ 7:00 PM COURTESY VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT, Lucy Hale and Lucas Till in a scene from "Son of the South." We're happy you are enjoying our content. Since he began working as a civil rights activist in his native Alabama in the early 1960s, Zellner, the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members, has remained vigilant and on the front lines in the fight against racism. “Racism, if you clean it up, sells very well in the North and it can get you political power.”. It causes [my wife] Pamela and I an incredible amount of grief, and some of those scenes were so real from the past, they were emotional to watch. On February 19 at 7PM on Zoom, please join the Shelter Island Public Library for a webinar with Bob Zellner, civil rights leader and former East End resident, who has devoted his life to the fight for racial justice. Based on the Bob Zellner’s autobiography “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek.” Affiliate Maine . You have to limit it. A SNCC member and field secretary, he attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery. “I think it’s true that some of the most dedicated anti-racist people are southerners. While Bob was a kid, his father took the dangerous step of renouncing his Klan membership. 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. Lucie Noonan and Grace Belanger Junior Division Group Website Word Count: 1200 words Media Time: 1:47 Bob has 8 jobs listed on their profile. He was sorry to teach me, but it was a survival technique.”. Bob Zellner is the son of a Methodist minister, a senior attending all-white Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama in 1961. Bob Zellner is a veteran of the Civil Rights movement. Eastern Long Island was a lucrative place to raise money. Bob Zellner, then co-chair of the Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force, was arrested in 2000 during a Shinnecock-led protest at Parrish Pond in Southampton. Bob Zellner is a writer, known for Son of the South (2020), Breath of Freedom (2014) and Moyers & Company (2012). February 19, 2021 @ 8:30 PM, Shelter Island Public Library “It was instructive to me to look at the socioeconomic backgrounds of many involved in the insurrection at the Capitol. You've read 4 of your 7 free articles this month. At twenty-two, he rode from Atlanta, Georgia to Albany Georgia on the Central Georgia Railroad on December 10, 1961. You can also read about Bob Zellner from the Southampton Press and Monterey County Weekly, or visit Zellner’s own Zellner Blog. “Long Island also has an interesting history because of that rich soil which is Bridgehampton loam — it was a plantation area during slavery and there was a strong slave culture on Long Island.”. So he limited it to my childhood and my introduction to the movement. “I did some research as a historian and I discovered a close connection between the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina and eastern Long Island. While investing in the menu bar to email us Zellner is the power of our vote the dangerous of... 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