Ann Atwater
Encyclopedia
Ann Atwater is a civil rights
activist. She also attends Mount Calvary UCC in Durham, NC She was the subject of a 2002 film entitled An Unlikely Friendship, the story of a relationship between Atwater and C. P. Ellis
, a former Ku Klux Klan
leader.In 1971 there was a great deal of turmoil in the Durham NC City Schools because of a court-ordered desegregation. Bill Riddick, motivated by fears of violence among the students organized a ten-day community meeting called a charrette where the whole community came to try to solve this problem. The first step was to create a steering committee that was representative of the whole community. Riddick identified Ann Atwater, a poor African American welfare mom and civil rights activist and Ellis to co-chair that meeting.
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist. She also attends Mount Calvary UCC in Durham, NC She was the subject of a 2002 film entitled An Unlikely Friendship, the story of a relationship between Atwater and C. P. Ellis
C. P. Ellis
Claiborne Paul Ellis was a segregationist turned civil rights activist and trade union organizer. Ellis was at one time Exalted Cyclops of a Ku Klux Klan group in Durham....
, a former Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
leader.In 1971 there was a great deal of turmoil in the Durham NC City Schools because of a court-ordered desegregation. Bill Riddick, motivated by fears of violence among the students organized a ten-day community meeting called a charrette where the whole community came to try to solve this problem. The first step was to create a steering committee that was representative of the whole community. Riddick identified Ann Atwater, a poor African American welfare mom and civil rights activist and Ellis to co-chair that meeting.