W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: Tha Artivist Remembers Ernest Withers (1922-2007)...

Sanitation workers' strike. Memphis, Tenn. March 28, 1968 / Ernest Withers, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Mass.

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat these two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: `Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

Ernest Withers As Himself, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Mass.

Tha Artivist Remembers Ernest Withers (1922-2007)...
By R2C2H2 Tha Artivist
11/20/2007

Almost four years ago yours truly had the honor of meeting one of the preeminent master photographers of the 20^th Century, the late great Ernest Withers a.k.a. The Undisputed Dean Of The American Civil Rights Movement Photographers…

I called Mr. Withers on the phone to say that I wanted to meet with him soon in his studio...Like most great people, who are very accessible and generous with their time, he told me to feel free to come by anytime in the day…I was shocked because I know Mr.Withers has been busy with photography art for over 60 plus years since his days at Manassas High School, where he was encouraged in his pursuit of photography by none other than boxing great Joe Louis’s photogenic first wife…

He went on to pursue his ambitions while in the army during WW 2 and when he came home he became one of the first African American police officers in Memphis, Tn’s history…His was a life full of firsts and Kodak moments no pun intended…Mr. Withers’ first big break came when he braved the racism and hate of Southern whites in notorious Sumner, Mississippi to document through the gift of his photography the historic travesty known as the Emmett Till trial back in 1955…Facing danger and uncertainty at every turn and click of his camera, Mr. Withers nonetheless braved the elements like Daniel in the lions den to capture the most iconic photo of the entire trial, that of Emmett Till’s preacher uncle, Moses Wright, standing up and courageously pointing out the White men in the courtroom who came in the middle of the night to drag his nephew out of his home and into the darkness of history and the unknown…Testifying against a White man was definitely a no no in Mississippi and no White man up till that time ever went to jail for the murder of a Black person…So what Bro. Wright did was blasphemy in the Jim Crow South, but what Withers captured in that watershed moment was true human courage in its most sincere element…Soon after that Mr. Wright was put on a train heading to Chicago through the efforts of the late great Medgar Evers and other unsung heroes of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement…

Mr. Withers soon created a pamphlet filled with his unique photographs concerning the trial…They sold very well in Black communities throughout the country…

Before he knew it Mr. Withers was a photographer very much in demand…He was a true GRIOT or a storyteller and historian with a camera...He documented some of the most iconic images in BLACK life And American Pop Culture of the last 60 years…Every famous person especially Black celebrity you can think of from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s Mr.Withers probably photographed and he probably even photographed them before they were stars and household names...

He was the first to photograph Dr. King riding a bus in Montgomery after the end of the successful Montgomery Bus Boycotts…He was the one that snapped the famous I AM A MAN photographs of the striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tn back in 1968…He also was the one that developed the film that witnessed the death of the star of the movement, Dr. King, on the hotel balcony of the Lorraine Motel back on April 4, 1968…

It could arguably be said that Ernest Withers was the most important African American photographer in the last 60 years if not all times…

So it was truly an honor to meet the master up close and personal…4 years ago as if it happened yesterday I journeyed to his studio on world famous Beale Street…

When I met him and shook his hand I can tell he was a man of true quiet dignity, strength and conviction…This was a guy who focused on the positive more than the negative no pun intended...This was a guy who was every sense of the phrase a true family man who made sure his wife and eight kids had shelter, were clothed and fed…This was a man who valued education and made sure that every one of his kids in his large family went to college and graduated…Overall,. this was a man who believed that his family was just as important as his photography…

I talked to Mr. Withers for almost two hours…I asked him several questions, but there were several in particular that I asked and the answers he gave in response have stayed with me since that meeting…Those are the ones I wanted to share with you all…

I became overwhelmed by all of his famous iconic photographs of people like Ike And Tina Turner, Muhammad Ali, Isaac Hayes, Howling Wolf, Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin…Although I didn't know the author of these wonderful pics when I was younger, I nonetheless were quite familiar with many of them because of my volunteer work at the National Civil Rights Museum and the fact that many of Withers' images are now part of the national memory and conscience...I became even more grateful for meeting the man who played an important part in how I perceive our people in the mainstream media and history...He also shot a very famous photo of the two kings of blues and rock and roll, B.B. King and Elvis Presley, in their youth and together on world famous Beale Street (the first time to be done!!!)…All his photos were displayed proudly in his studio…

Immediately realizing the importance of this man and his life’s work I asked Mr. Withers how does it feel to be so revered and loved around the world but yet be so taken for granted by your own community…

He stated to me very calmly and coolly that every prophet is without honor in his hometown and country…He also stated lines from the famous Rudyard Kipling quote from his oft quoted poem “If”:

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise…

I asked him about his experiences covering the Emmett Till trial and what did he think about how racism is still prevalent in today’s society...He once again coolly replied that you shouldn’t let hate consume you because it will rob you of your gifts to humanity as well as of your life…You should stay focused on love and give love and be opened to receive it in turn...And once again he quoted the previous Rudyard Kipling’s lines from “If”…

I knew this man practiced what he preached…

He told me about his experience being one of the first 8 Black police officers in the Memphis Police Department…He coolly told me how his commanding White officer would constantly call him and his other Black colleagues Niggers…In Other words Blacks were getting Don Imused and Michael Richards On in the work place at that time with no regard to human decency and professionalism…He once again coolly and calmly told me don’t let hate be your master and rob you of your destiny…

I also asked him about another iconic photographer, the late great Gordon Parks…Not only did Mr. Withers have nothing but praise for his contemporary, but he went into his wallet to pull out a picture of him, Gordon Parks and Russell Simmons together in New York City at Gordon Parks’ 90th birthday or I like to say Life Affirmation Day party…It blew me away only because I didn’t need a photo to know that Mr. Withers was a giant who was respected by other giants...But it did make me realize that if you follow your passions and stay true to yourself then to borrow some more lines from Rudyard Kipling’s powerful “If”:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

If Rudyard Kipling Only Knew That He Was Writing An Eulogy For One Of The Greatest Humanitarians And Artists To Ever Grace This Earth…Mr. Withers Was A Truly A Man For All Ages!!!