Deffnotant

Today is still officially recognized as Confederate Memorial Day in parts of the American South.

But this video isn’t just about a holiday.

It’s about how the ideology behind the Confederacy survived the Civil War and adapted through Reconstruction backlash, Jim Crow laws, the Southern Strategy, attacks on the Voting Rights Act, and modern redistricting battles across the South.

Most people have seen this photo.
Very few know the name of the man behind the camera.
Moneta Sleet Jr. wasn’t just a photographer. He was one of the most important documentarians of the Civil Rights Movement, capturing the grief, humanity, and intimate moments of the King family in ways few others ever could.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning image of Coretta Scott King after Dr. King’s assassination became one of the defining photographs of American history. But the man who took it remains largely unsung.
History isn’t only preserved by the people making speeches.
It’s also preserved by the people brave enough to document the truth.