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Civil Wrongs

Institute for Public Service Reporting

Civil Wrongs is a project of the Institute for Public Service Reporting in collaboration with WKNO-FM. Here, we analyze the present-day effects of historical cases of racial terror in Memphis and the Mid-South.

© 2023 Civil Wrongs

Civil Wrongs is a project of the Institute for Public Service Reporting in collaboration with WKNO-FM. Here, we analyze the present-day effects of historical cases of racial terror in Memphis and the Mid-South.

© 2023 Civil Wrongs
5hr 37min
Thumbnail for "S4E3: Gnat on an Elephant".
Elaine Massacre of 1919
September 28, 202436min 15sec34.83 MB
Thumbnail for "S5E4: Community sing-along honors ’68 Memphis sanitation strikers".
April 14, 20253min 25sec3.29 MB
Thumbnail for "S5E3: Healing from racial trauma through breathing".
Dwania Kyles, one of the Memphis 13 who integrated schools in 1961, shares her healing journey from racial trauma.
March 3, 20259min 14sec13.33 MB
Thumbnail for "S5E2: History embedded in the sidewalk brings attention to ‘Naked Truth’ of America".
Miniature paintings by artist Ephraim Urevbu are now embedded in the sidewalk with QR codes that link to difficult stories of America’s racial past.
February 20, 202518min 45sec18.02 MB
Thumbnail for "S5E1: Reconciliation group heals terror of the past one relationship at a time".
The Weakley County Reconciliation Project encourages conversations around race and works to memorialize lynching victims.
November 26, 20247min 16sec6.99 MB
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How people are connecting past and present for a better future
November 24, 202439sec645.63 kB
Thumbnail for "S4E2: A Changing History".
The Elaine Massacre of 1919
September 28, 202420min 46sec19.96 MB
Thumbnail for "S4E1: Silent No More".
The Elaine Massacre of 1919
September 28, 202424min 17sec23.34 MB
Thumbnail for "S3 E2: Treatment or Punishment?".
The racist caricature that Black people are inherently lazy and morally corrupt is also widely used to characterize people with addiction – and some treatment facilities may be capitalizing on that misrepresentation to pay for their programming through "work therapy."
January 16, 202432min 37sec31.34 MB
Thumbnail for "S3 E1: The Sheriff and the Sharecroppers".
Slavery was still happening in eastern Arkansas in the 1930s — seven decades after Emancipation.
January 16, 202432min 1sec30.75 MB
Thumbnail for "S2E4 Why don’t we know this history?".
After the Civil War, Black people had secured their freedom. But even though they were legally free, they were far from equal. Over three days in May 1866, these issues would come to a head in the streets when white citizens lashed out in what would become known as the Memphis Massacre.
June 6, 202322min 4sec21.21 MB
Thumbnail for "S2E3 “They violated my person”: Sexual violence survivors".
After the Civil War, Black people had secured their freedom. But even though they were legally free, they were far from equal. Over three days in May 1866, these issues would come to a head in the streets when white citizens lashed out in what would become known as the Memphis Massacre.
June 6, 202315min 45sec15.14 MB
Thumbnail for "S2E2 “Memphis exploded:” Police brutality and the massacre ".
After the Civil War, Black people had secured their freedom. But even though they were legally free, they were far from equal. Over three days in May 1866, these issues would come to a head in the streets when white citizens lashed out in what would become known as the Memphis Massacre.
June 6, 202322min 30sec21.62 MB
Thumbnail for "S2E1 Tragedy and Resilience: Stories of the Memphis Massacre ".
After the Civil War, Black people had secured their freedom. But even though they were legally free, they were far from equal. Over three days in May 1866, these issues would come to a head in the streets when white citizens lashed out in what would become known as the Memphis Massacre.
June 6, 202320min 30sec19.71 MB
Thumbnail for "S1E3: False confessions today".
S1E3: False confessions today
October 13, 202223min 34sec17 MB
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S1E2: The Descendants
October 13, 202220min 49sec15.01 MB
Thumbnail for "S1E1: The Lynching".
S1E1: The Lynching
October 13, 202225min 12sec18.17 MB
Thumbnail for "Trailer: The Lynching of Ell Persons".
Trailer: The Lynching of Ell Persons
October 6, 20221min 35sec1.16 MB

S4E3: Gnat on an Elephant

Thumbnail for "S4E3: Gnat on an Elephant".
September 28, 202436min 15sec

Black farmers have lost 90% of the land they once owned since 1920. Oral histories of the massacre say land was stolen from victims and survivors. One local group, the Elaine Legacy Center, is digging into the research in hopes of community repair. 

Resources mentioned in this episode: 

The Elaine Legacy Center

Fund for Reparations NOW!

Reuters: U.S. Black farmers lost $326 bln worth of land in 20th century -study

TIAA Divest

The Arkansas Race Riot by Ida B. Wells

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: OPINION | BRIAN K. MITCHELL: Even in tragedy, memories fail us

Featured in this episode: Victor Zachary, Jennifer Hadlock, James White, Mary Olson, Rhondalyn Peairs, Lisa Hicks Gilbert, David Krugler, David Madlock, Katherine Holmstrom, Ples Spradley, Abigayle Reese, Annie Zachary Pike

Jaylen Archie and Quailvarious Brown reported and wrote this episode. The music is by Andrew J. Crutcher. The podcast was produced and edited by Christopher Blank with additional edits by Marc Perrusquia.

Correction, Oct. 4, 2024: This episode has been corrected to reflect that the landowner Ida B. Wells referenced in her report co-owned the land with his brother, who was one of the 12 men put on trial after the massacre.

Clarification, Oct. 10, 2024: This episode has been updated to clarify the Elaine Legacy Center’s stance on reparations for massacre descendants.

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S4E3: Gnat on an Elephant
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