America remembers the Tulsa race massacre of 1921 that destroyed countless Black lives.

Before that event, a similar riot occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898 that had seemingly been erased from history and destroyed Black businesses, murdered innocent victims, and drove countless families out of town.

In the documentary film American Coup: Wilmington 1898, as part of the American Experience series for PBS, filmmakers Brad Lichtenstein and Yoruba Richen brought this dark moment in United States history back to light so it won’t be forgotten.

Here is the official synopsis:

American Coup: Wilmington 1898 tells the little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898—the only coup d’etat in the history of the United States. Stoking fears of “Negro Rule,” self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government. Black residents were murdered, and thousands were banished. The story of what happened in Wilmington was suppressed for decades until descendants and scholars began to investigate.

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LRM Online’s Gig Patta chatted with filmmaker Brad Lichtenstein about the project, which involved extensive research, old photographs, animations, interviews with historians and descendants, and the remembrance of this event.

Brad Lichtenstein is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of 371 Productions. In 2022, he won the Primetime Emmy for When Claude Got Shot, which premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival and was featured in the PBS series Independent Lens 2022. He was also nominated for two additional Emmys for the VR film Ashe ’68 and the 2012 PBS Independent Lens film As Goes Janesville. He earned two Dupont Awards for the 2016 Al Jazeera America series Hard Earned and the other for the 2001 film Ghosts of Attica. His 2022 film American Reckoning for the PBS series Frontline was nominated for a Peabody and News & Documentary Emmy for Best Historical Documentary.

American Coup: Wilmington 1898 premieres on PBS on Tuesday, November 12.

Watch the exclusive interview with Brad Lichtenstein below. Let us know what you think of the interview.

For news and interviews, contact Gig Patta at [email protected]. Follow https://x.com/GigPatta, https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGigPatta, https://www.instagram.com/gigpatta or https://www.tiktok.com/gigpatta for all his postings and musings in entertainment.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive, PBS