Ep5: Confronting Racism - How a Black Activist and a Klansman Found Common Ground

Osha Gray Davidson joins the pod squad to discuss the unlikely friendship between Anne Atwater, a Black community activist, and C.P. Ellis, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, as they worked together on the desegregation of Durham, North Carolina's public schools in 1971. Osha Gray Davidson is an American journalist, author, and historian known for his work on civil rights, environmental issues, and social justice. His writing often explores race, inequality, and transformation themes in American society. His book, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South (1996), chronicles the true story of an unlikely friendship between Black activist Anne Atwater and former Ku Klux Klan leader C.P. Ellis in Durham, North Carolina. The book was adapted into a play by Mark St. Germain and later into the 2019 film The Best of Enemies, starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices