Who would ever think to put a Ku Klux Klan member and civil rights activist together in 1971 North Carolina?

His name is Bill Riddick. At the tender age of 30, Riddick organized a community summit that led to the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina.

In a racially tense climate, pairing outspoken black activist Ann Atwater with local Ku Klux Klan community was not only unheard of–but dangerous. The world will get to witness the events unfold once again this Friday in the film “Best of Enemies” starring Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures) and Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri).

When the cameras stopped rolling, the real community organizer that helped make history in Durham schools spoke with Ambo TV about what compelled him to put two unlikely people together.

Check out what Bill Riddick had to say in the video above.

 

(Photo: Bill Riddick)