[Gallery] On the Scene: The Best of Enemies Durham Special Screening
Durham, NC – In 1971, when the only black elementary school in Durham was burned down due to faulty-wiring, it forced the community-at-large to communicate their deepest concerns. Families everywhere in town had to have the conversation of school desegregation. This battle of views came down to two people who cared very deeply about their own families and communities. Ann Atwater who was an iconic powerhouse civil rights leader and KKK leader and Exalted Grand Cyclops, CP Ellis.
The movie, The Best of Enemies, is based on a true story about the extraordinary relationship to blaze a path in Durham in 1971. Through an incredible series of events — and against all odds — these two people with very different views and backgrounds formed an unexpected friendship that ultimately led to large scale social change.
2019, 48 years later, The Best of Enemies is a testament to the courageous people of Durham. With this true story being so close to home, the special screening held at the Carolina Theatre of Durham had been sold out for weeks. The Red Carpet premiere event featured Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson, who plays Ann Atwater, and Bill Riddick, the man who initiated the collaboration of Ann Atwater and CP Ellis.
Ann Atwater had a host of family and friends in attendance. Ms. Atwater’s granddaughter visited the Red Carpet premiere in awe that her beloved grandmother’s story was finally being shown on the big screen. Atwater’s friend of over 40 years, Mary Martin who met Ms. Atwater at the Charette, shared, “she was one of the greatest women/human beings in the entire world, as far as I was concerned. If anyone had a need she was there to see to it that those needs were met. Sometimes we would get started [in a conversation] before the sun went down and she would finish talking to me anytime during the night, sometimes I’d just have to take a nap.”
Though Ms. Atwater died in 2016, she specifically requested that Taraji P. Henson play her in the movie. Taraji had never heard the story but when she read the script – and with today’s racial and political climate – she jumped at the chance to give the audience another reason to have hope. She was shocked to find out the story was true and knew she had to take the role seriously. Mr. Ellis died in 2005,but after interacting with Ms. Atwater in the 1970s, his mind and views were changed forever.
The battle of the minds, racial tension, education equality in the deep south during Jim Crow is interesting to say the least. Bill Riddick summed it up perfectly, “I think, historically, Durham needs to look at this movie and kind of look at where they are today. We might look different, we might worship different, but Durham is one town.”
The Best of Enemies premieres nationwide on April 5th. The screening was a signature event of Durham 150, one of more than 150 community-wide celebrations and activations that will occur in 2019 in recognition of the incorporation of the City of Durham in 1869.
Photos: Kyndai Bridgers
