Wow this is my hometown and I've been searching for this and learned that the VHS was all the way at an Athens library. I finally get to see this.....I remember my parents talking about this when I was a child. They were both teens during the time of the trial. It's sad but true everything that was presented here. I still feel the division today whenever I visit.
That’s my Auntie Gail singing with the Gospelettes. I grew up in Dawson and heard of the Dawson 5 growing up. I’ve watched this documentary over 3 times, I guess for some type of understanding. I realize there is NO understanding in this. Today is my Aunts birthday and I just wanted to hear her voice. Rest in Heaven Auntie Gail. Prayers to any Dawson 5 who has transitioned or still living and those affected by this injustice during this time 🙏🏽💕
That's so nice to hear. I was the co-director of the project and hearing the Gosepelettes was one of the most riveting moments of our time spent in Dawson. We were in the church speaking with the minister to see if he could help us with any information regarding the case. In the background your aunt's group was practicing and we turned on our recorder. When we were editing the film we needed some music for the opening montage and the beautiful singing came to mind. It's great to know that the film is resonating within you as the topics it is addressing are still very relevant in our country.
To my knowledge, one of the Dawson 5 is still alive. I frequently think about these men. My father was their defense attorney. The music played here was beautiful.
@@eleanormeeker4188 Hello Eleanor. Thanks for reaching out. Though your Millard played a major role in the documentary and in bringing the case to our attention we never filmed any scenes with him on camera. We thoroughly enjoyed our interaction with him. He was a real humanist and he certainly made a substantial contribution in illuminating the racial injustice prevalent in rural Georgia in the 1970's. It is fair to say through his advocacy he saved many innocent Black men from being executed or from spending their lives in prison.
There is so much to unpack. The lasting psychological piece is extremely important. Those young men endured domestic threats and torture. This was awful, but certainly not the most heinous aggression against our community. I remember the trial. The courtroom was like a sauna. The heat was breath-taking and the air was still. Those young men were released from jail, but justice wasn't served. The murderer never served time in prison.
Here's one step: If you have land in your family, find out if it was previously owned by black people. Most of our ancestors had land but we were run off by violence, lost the land through fraud or predatory lending.
It seems that the store owner and the victim got into a heated argument. Then the store owner pulled a gun he had by the register just like the old man in truck described and shot the other! Then made up the story of the 5 black guys.
Thank you for this I needed to be reminded as a black female with 2 African American young men. I don’t take kind to ppl messing with my kind😎💪🏽👍DONT LET THAT GO OVER YA HEAD🫡
I was traveling through Dawson from Florida on my way to Auburn/Opelika in the nineties. We stopped at this little store in downtown, when my kids asked for the restroom the young white guy at the register put a handgun down on the counter. I asked him why did he need to show a gun when all my kid's did was to use the bathroom. He said, he was not comfortable around a lot of blacks. After my kids were finished I went in and urinated all over the toilet and floor.
@@ms.lisamurphy269 If he hadn't pulled that gun out around my kids, then he wouldn't have had to clean a pissed on floor and walls. He proved nothing other than he was a racist bigot. Scary ass white boy!
I can hear the Dawson news report now. Reporter: An eye with witness claimed to see 4 black men rob and shoot a man. 5 black men have been arrested. Racists in Dawson: I recon that math adds up to me.
Once the forced confession was made public the case fell apart. If you are interested there is a wikipedia page about the Dawson Five: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_Five
We are all gods childern . Love and be loved. Forget what stupid people have done there wicked ways will be judged by our Almighty. Lets join hands not as white people or Black people or any other race but as gods people and walk with each other to heaven's door.
I have mixed feelings about this documentary. It's very one sided and ignores a lot of evidence. I don't know the truth, but I know some truth. My uncle, Deputy Sherriff Jack Hammack, was a good man, one the best that ever lived. He was a vet who had served in Vietnam. I watched him give freely of his time and money to all that asked of him regardless of their race. In 1979, he received the Terrell County "Fool of the Year" award for his kindness and contributions to the community. My family lived across the street from Tiny Denton's store when this robbery and murder happened in 1976. We were at school. We lived there from 1970 to 1978. I rode the bus with the members of the Dawson Five. I remember when one of them pulled a knife on our bus driver and was kicked off the bus. One of my close friends was a half brother the Jackson brothers. I asked him the truth about the case. He remained silent. Interpret that how you want. There's no doubt that Terrell County had a serious problem with racial discrimination back then. It's one of the reasons I left there and joined the Air Force in 1983. I was happy to be away from the racial tension. There's been a lot of progress since then, but still more progress is needed.
you're a fool. Even the GBI agent admitted that they forced one of the guys to make a false confession. how does that make your uncle a "good man"..... he was crooked and a racist. Mixed feelings.... yeah I bet you do have mixed feelings because you don't want people to know the truth because of how it'll make you look.
Don't talk about integrity until you get some. You're bringing up an alleged incident on a school bus and the fact one of their alleged half brothers wouldn't speak on the incident to insinuate their guilt.
The video is one sided. It wasn’t intended to be balanced. My comment adds relevant information as someone close to the case from both sides. Just because it offends your biases doesn’t make it offensive or dishonest.
Wow this is my hometown and I've been searching for this and learned that the VHS was all the way at an Athens library. I finally get to see this.....I remember my parents talking about this when I was a child. They were both teens during the time of the trial. It's sad but true everything that was presented here. I still feel the division today whenever I visit.
That's my Mom and her Gospel Group on the intro. They were called The Gospelettes!!!
They sung they butt's off!
My mom used to live in Dawson till 1971 when she left to Newark to visit my aunt and decided to stay in NJ for good
Who was your aunt?
That’s my Auntie Gail singing with the Gospelettes. I grew up in Dawson and heard of the Dawson 5 growing up. I’ve watched this documentary over 3 times, I guess for some type of understanding. I realize there is NO understanding in this. Today is my Aunts birthday and I just wanted to hear her voice. Rest in Heaven Auntie Gail. Prayers to any Dawson 5 who has transitioned or still living and those affected by this injustice during this time 🙏🏽💕
That's so nice to hear. I was the co-director of the project and hearing the Gosepelettes was one of the most riveting moments of our time spent in Dawson. We were in the church speaking with the minister to see if he could help us with any information regarding the case. In the background your aunt's group was practicing and we turned on our recorder. When we were editing the film we needed some music for the opening montage and the beautiful singing came to mind. It's great to know that the film is resonating within you as the topics it is addressing are still very relevant in our country.
To my knowledge, one of the Dawson 5 is still alive. I frequently think about these men. My father was their defense attorney. The music played here was beautiful.
@@andy3355 Mr. Dintenfass, do you have anymore footage of my father, Millard Farmer, that you can share with me?
Hello Eleanor,
Blessings and a sincere thanks to your Father and his family! 🙏🏽
@@eleanormeeker4188 Hello Eleanor. Thanks for reaching out. Though your Millard played a major role in the documentary and in bringing the case to our attention we never filmed any scenes with him on camera. We thoroughly enjoyed our interaction with him. He was a real humanist and he certainly made a substantial contribution in illuminating the racial injustice prevalent in rural Georgia in the 1970's. It is fair to say through his advocacy he saved many innocent Black men from being executed or from spending their lives in prison.
My daddy was a deputy sheriff back then. I remember him working off the clock to sit at the jail at night to protect those guys.
My roots are in Dawson. Never lived there. Curious about this. It seems so wrong on so many levels.
My dad and grandaddy are from Dawson we were trying to find a picture of Sheriff Zeke Matthews and also of police chief Cherry
My daddy grew up. I spent my summers there in the 90's!
I remember watching this back then. I was just a kid and didn't fully comprehend the police's illegal action of forced confessions...
I was in junior high in Dawson at the time and remember it well. Thank God it all ended well for the accused.
There is so much to unpack. The lasting psychological piece is extremely important. Those young men endured domestic threats and torture. This was awful, but certainly not the most heinous aggression against our community. I remember the trial. The courtroom was like a sauna. The heat was breath-taking and the air was still. Those young men were released from jail, but justice wasn't served. The murderer never served time in prison.
Who was the murderer?
@@gunnerblankenship4132 some peck-uh-wud
Their defense attorney was one the greatest and I know awful stories about the Sheriff that I still can't say.
In the year 2022? You are still scared? Wow!!
@@cherrysmart3500 yes, in 2022 there is still reason to be scared in Dawson.
What do you about the sheriff?
Wow. This is oddly striking. My home town.
Watched this recently. Heard murmurs as a kid. We can do better. I feel there has been a start. We need to keep going. Tell me how.
Here's one step: If you have land in your family, find out if it was previously owned by black people. Most of our ancestors had land but we were run off by violence, lost the land through fraud or predatory lending.
It seems that the store owner and the victim got into a heated argument. Then the store owner pulled a gun he had by the register just like the old man in truck described and shot the other! Then made up the story of the 5 black guys.
Thank you for this I needed to be reminded as a black female with 2 African American young men. I don’t take kind to ppl messing with my kind😎💪🏽👍DONT LET THAT GO OVER YA HEAD🫡
Goes both ways...
I was traveling through Dawson from Florida on my way to Auburn/Opelika in the nineties. We stopped at this little store in downtown, when my kids asked for the restroom the young white guy at the register put a handgun down on the counter. I asked him why did he need to show a gun when all my kid's did was to use the bathroom. He said, he was not comfortable around a lot of blacks. After my kids were finished I went in and urinated all over the toilet and floor.
You the real MVP. Sent from Americus
Wow. Kinda proved the guys point.
Did you poop in the corner behind the drink cooler ?
@@ms.lisamurphy269 If he hadn't pulled that gun out around my kids, then he wouldn't have had to clean a pissed on floor and walls. He proved nothing other than he was a racist bigot. Scary ass white boy!
That's pretty disgusting. You and the person you encountered.
OMG that is so sad
I can hear the Dawson news report now.
Reporter: An eye with witness claimed to see 4 black men rob and shoot a man. 5 black men have been arrested.
Racists in Dawson: I recon that math adds up to me.
dawson doesnt have news
I wonder where the proud young racist is to day is he still racist 🤔
He earned his way to success and a beautiful life
I wonder how many of these dudes grandchildren killed each other in gang violence?
right here, i'm in albany, not born but raised, blacks and whites here are equally as moronic
Nothing has changed
They Definitely Did My Dad And The Rest Of The Guys Wrong….😢
Did the young men have to go to prison ? If so, how long? Did they do the crime? I am confused about this case.
Once the forced confession was made public the case fell apart. If you are interested there is a wikipedia page about the Dawson Five: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_Five
@@andy3355 l read the article. I am so glad that they were able to live a productive life .
We are all gods childern . Love and be loved. Forget what stupid people have done there wicked ways will be judged by our Almighty. Lets join hands not as white people or Black people or any other race but as gods people and walk with each other to heaven's door.
Believe me. Dawson is not like that anymore, thankfully.
I lived in Dawson for 16 years. It’s still a racist town
To many Yankees moving in ?
👹 EVILS!!
Sounds like a out spider did that, probably a white
I have mixed feelings about this documentary. It's very one sided and ignores a lot of evidence. I don't know the truth, but I know some truth. My uncle, Deputy Sherriff Jack Hammack, was a good man, one the best that ever lived. He was a vet who had served in Vietnam. I watched him give freely of his time and money to all that asked of him regardless of their race. In 1979, he received the Terrell County "Fool of the Year" award for his kindness and contributions to the community. My family lived across the street from Tiny Denton's store when this robbery and murder happened in 1976. We were at school. We lived there from 1970 to 1978. I rode the bus with the members of the Dawson Five. I remember when one of them pulled a knife on our bus driver and was kicked off the bus. One of my close friends was a half brother the Jackson brothers. I asked him the truth about the case. He remained silent. Interpret that how you want. There's no doubt that Terrell County had a serious problem with racial discrimination back then. It's one of the reasons I left there and joined the Air Force in 1983. I was happy to be away from the racial tension. There's been a lot of progress since then, but still more progress is needed.
you're a fool. Even the GBI agent admitted that they forced one of the guys to make a false confession. how does that make your uncle a "good man"..... he was crooked and a racist. Mixed feelings.... yeah I bet you do have mixed feelings because you don't want people to know the truth because of how it'll make you look.
You want them to be guilty so bad. Another pitiful racist smh
@@jehlikecandiI want to know the truth. You want what you believe about the case to be true. There is a difference. It’s called integrity.
Don't talk about integrity until you get some. You're bringing up an alleged incident on a school bus and the fact one of their alleged half brothers wouldn't speak on the incident to insinuate their guilt.
The video is one sided. It wasn’t intended to be balanced. My comment adds relevant information as someone close to the case from both sides. Just because it offends your biases doesn’t make it offensive or dishonest.
It ant dying.
This country is dieing
The Southern Accent is dying, how many people still talk like that in Georgia today ?
This film only paints one side of the picture and that isnt even close to being accurate.
You wish