Film about legal leader Franklin H. Williams wins award
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A documentary celebrating the contributions of Franklin H. Williams won a Telly award. Photo via NY Courts
By Rachel Vick
A documentary on a Queens-born civil rights leader and lawyer received an award for stand-out television, officials announced over the weekend.
“A Bridge to Justice: The Life of Franklin H. Williams,” created by the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission and State Court System, won a 2021 Silver Telly for Television Documentary.
“It is indeed an honor for the Commission to receive such a prestigious recognition and for the life of such a noble contributor to the civil rights movement to be shared with others far beyond the borders of New York,” said Hon. Shirley Troutman, Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and co-chair of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission. “I am re-energized every time I view the Ambassador’s story to strive to build on the legacy he started some thirty years ago.”
The documentary, narrated by Sterling K. Brown, examines the life of Williams, who led the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities to issue a report on the treatment of minorities in the court system.
His initial report revealed a severe lack of diversity on the bench and in management positions and pervasive racial bias that was also reflected in the 2020 study from the commission renamed in his honor.
"As we look to the new century, creation of an atmosphere without even the appearance of racial bias must be the prime objective of our courts…we should not open the wound unless we are prepared to heal it," Williams once said.
He also served as Thurgood Marshall’s assistant counsel and later special counsel to the NAACP, the first African American director of the Peace Corps and United States Ambassador to Ghana.
The film features footage of President Lyndon Johnson and Marshall discussing Williams, and interviews with former Chief Judges Sol Wachtler and Jonathan Lippman.
“The Williams Commission, a permanent court-based commission dedicated to promoting racial and ethnic fairness in the courts, is his enduring legacy,” said Hon. Troy K. Webber, Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department and co-chair of the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission
“Yet, for all his many accomplishments, Franklin H. Williams remains relatively unknown,” she added. “This documentary, we hope, will ensure that his story and contributions to civil rights will continue to be shared for generations and inspire others to do what is right in the struggle for equal justice.”
The documentary, which aired at the end of 2020, is available on Youtube.
