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On April 8, 1968—four days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—five Black youths in Benson, North Carolina, attempted to set fire to a Ku Klux Klan building in the heart of North Carolina's Klan country. The Benson Five delves into this forgotten moment of Black resistance against racial terror, exploring Black Power, racial oppression, and the enduring legacy of the Klan in North Carolina. The Benson Five fights back against racially sanitized narratives of small town Southern history.
About
Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Black children from Sorrow Valley, a predominantly Black community in Benson, organized a commemorative march in his honor. Shortly thereafter, the Ku Klux Klan drove through the neighborhood in an act of intimidation and provocation.
In response, five young Black men from Sorrow Valley attempted to set fire to the Klan's local headquarters. While the damage was minimal, the youths were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. This harsh punishment ignited a grassroots campaign and widespread public outcry.
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The feature documents the crime through interviews with surviving Benson Five members Frederick Donnell Lockamy, Leo Stewart, Jr., and Percy Valle Barfield, alongside family members and residents. Their testimonies vividly depict life in the rural South for Black communities during this volatile era.
The Benson Five challenges the narrative that Black communities under Klan terror were passive or helpless. It highlights their courage, proving that even in the face of great adversity, Black communities have always found ways to fight back.
The Benson Five
The Benson Five—Debois "Scotty" Gathers, (18), Jesse Jones, (20), Percy Valle Barfield, (16), Frederick Donnell Lockamy, (16), and Leo Stewart, Jr., (17).