Mississippi Goddam Chapter 1: The Promise

Reveal

The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

News

4.7 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2021

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Billey Joe Johnson Jr. was a high school football star headed for the big time. Then, early one morning in 2008, the Black teenager died during a traffic stop with a White deputy. His family’s been searching for answers ever since.

Ten years ago, Reveal host Al Letson traveled to Lucedale, Mississippi, to report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. While there, locals told him there was another story he should be looking into: Johnson’s suspicious death.

During a traffic stop with a White deputy, police say Johnson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. But for Johnson’s family, that explanation never made sense.

In the first episode of this seven-part series, Letson returns to Mississippi with reporter Jonathan Jones to explore what happened to Johnson – and what justice means in a place haunted by its history.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Alan. I hope 2022 has been a good year for you. But to be honest, it's been a tough one for us.
0:08.0	This year, Reveal was struck by a financial crisis that jeopardized our very existence.
0:14.0	But we've rallied, and all the while that was happening, our staff forged ahead to produce ambitious investigations
0:22.0	that exposed corruption and abuses that the powerful interests did not want revealed.
0:27.0	Because that's what we do. If we're going to keep telling these kind of stories though, we're going to need support from you.
0:34.0	To support fearless investigative nonprofit journalism, please donate by December 31st.
0:41.0	Just visit revealnews.org slash 2023. Again, to donate to the show and to support our work into the future.
0:48.0	Please visit revealnews.org slash 2023. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
1:00.0	Hey folks, this is Alex. And before we get started with today's episode of reveal, I have to give you a heads up.
1:06.0	So today's show is the beginning of a multi-part series that covers some intense issues related to racism.
1:13.0	Because of that, within the first two minutes, you'll hear me repeat a racial slur that has been used against me.
1:20.0	This is an incredibly personal show for me. It took a long time for us to get it together.
1:26.0	So I just wanted to thank you for listening, but also give you a heads up.
1:30.0	Okay, here we go.
1:32.0	From the Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, this is reveal. I'm Alex and the year is 1991.
1:46.0	I'm a senior in high school, living in a little town outside Jacksonville, Florida.
1:53.0	A middle class, black family, and a mostly white neighborhood. On the surface, this is the American dream.
2:02.0	A big house, corner lot, manicure lawn, and a pool. But if you know what to look for, you can see the cracks.
2:10.0	Confederate flags are everywhere you turn. Neighbors who refuse to talk to you because of your blackness.
2:16.0	And the occasional racial slur you hear in the wind, or spray painted on the street.
2:23.0	Racial intimidation, both large and small, was just a part of life.
2:27.0	So much so you don't even think or reflect on it. You just bury it deep so you can live.
	...

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