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Ben Crump just added some fresh hardware to his shelf.
The high-profile civil rights attorney snagged a regional Emmy for producing the short documentary “How to Sue the Klan,” a film that revisits one of the most daring courtroom takedowns of the Ku Klux Klan in modern history.
Crump, along with filmmakers Cameron S. Mitchell and Raji Ramanathan and director John Beder, co-produced the 35-minute documentary, which won in the Outstanding Short Form Documentary category at the 40th Midsouth Emmy Awards in Nashville. The award, handed out by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Midsouth Chapter, marks the latest honor for the project.
Crump, who earlier this year was named by the National Newspaper Publishers Association as the top Black newsmakers of the first quarter of the 21st century, has long championed the case as a blueprint for using civil litigation to confront organized hate.
“How to Sue the Klan tells the grueling story of the brave women of the Chattanooga Five in their fight against injustice,” Crump said. “The film’s plot mirrors our modern times, as we still battle the ugly face of racism in our country with civil action. I am honored to be part of the outstanding team that brought this story to life and look forward to sharing it with the world.”
The Emmy win is not the documentary’s first headline. The project has also taken home an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Documentary Short and has screened at festivals nationwide. It was later acquired by PBS for its “Reel South” series, bringing the Chattanooga Five’s story to a national audience.
The documentary’s team took to social media to mark the Emmy moment.
For Crump, whose résumé already includes producing the Netflix documentary “Civil” and hosting A&E’s “Who Killed Tupac?: The Search For Justice,” the Emmy adds another layer to a career built at the intersection of law, media and activism.
But at the heart of the latest win are five women who turned terror into testimony and testimony into judgment, proving that sometimes the most devastating blow to hate is not delivered in the streets, but in a courtroom.
“Receiving an Emmy for [the film] is really about honoring the extraordinary courage of these five Black women from Chattanooga,” Crump stated. “They took on one of the most fear-driven organizations in American history and changed the law’s role in confronting hate. Our hope is that the film inspires a new generation of lawyers, organizers, and everyday people to use every tool we have to hold violent extremists accountable.”
Source: Published without changes from Washington Informer Newspaper
