Special thanks to community partners, the Davis Democracy Initiative at Punahou School and the African American Lawyers Association of Hawaii (AALA).
How to Sue the Klan is the story of how five Black women from Chattanooga used legal ingenuity to take on the Ku Klux Klan in a historic 1982 civil case, fighting to hold them accountable for their crimes and bring justice to their community. Their victory set a legal precedent that continues to inspire the ongoing fight against organized hate.
“Before making this film, I was not aware of such a powerful legal strategy that was born in my hometown,” director John Beder said in a Good Docs blog post. “I hope the film inspires students and law students to join the field of civil rights law and educators to share the incredible resources and tools of resistance and justice being spearheaded by our communities on the ground.” The film is produced by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who was the focus of the 2022 Netflix documentary Civil.
Director John Beder will be in attendance for a post-screening Q+A after both screenings and he will be joined by Justin Hansford, executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center in a conversation moderated by committee member Daphne Barbee-Wooten on Friday, February 14.
Preceded by
Oasis
Directed by Daniel Croix and Jonathan Logan. 2024. USA. 9 min.
Oasis follows the story of Robin Collin’s a high school English teacher who is fired for teaching Black literature and history. In her journey to fight for her job she finds communion in fellow educators, a bookstore, and archives. Ultimately unveiling new visions and hope for the future of black education.
About the Panelists
John Beder
John Beder (he/him) is an Asian American award-winning and Emmy® nominated documentary director and producer. A native of Boston MA, John currently resides in Chattanooga, TN with his wife and producing partner Katie DeRoche. John became interested in filmmaking while studying for his Bachelor of Music in Performance at Boston University. In 2014 John debuted his first documentary, Composed, which explored how musicians cope with stage fright and the intense pressures of auditions. Following the success of Composed, John was approached by a team of producers to make a film exploring the benefits of palliative care. Dying in Your Mother’s Arms was published by the New York Times as part of their Oscar-winning Op-Docs series, and became the most popular Op-Doc of 2020. John’s many projects have won awards, Emmy nominations, and public acclaim. He and his wife Katie DeRoche continue to research and produce films that explore the areas that they care most about like public health, climate change, and social justice.
Justin Hansford
Justin Hansford is a Howard University School of Law Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center. Professor Hansford was previously a Democracy Project Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and an Associate Professor of Law at Saint Louis University. He has a B.A. from Howard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a founder of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives. Professor Hansford also has earned a Fulbright Scholar award to study the legal career of Nelson Mandela, and served as a clerk for Judge Damon J. Keith on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
