Continuing the podcast series of “Duluth to Montgomery Reflections,” the Duluth NAACP welcomes Henry Banks, host of the Twin Ports-focused “People of Color” program on Wisconsin Public Radio. Banks meets with Ivy Vainio to discuss the various assumptions around the Civil Rights movement.

His journey to Montgomery included the debunking of myths, such as the reasons many black people were lynched or the role of white women in these crimes, and wrestling with the unanswered question of: “Did he do it?” Did James Earl Ray kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr?

In other cases, Banks discusses how legends came to life; standing in the place where Dr. King spent his last minutes; on the steps of a church in Montgomery where three little girls were killed in a racially motivated bombing; within the national museum and memorial; or before the pillar to Duluth’s own Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie.

These are all potent stories that, as Banks stresses, are American history. They are a part of Duluth’s history. These are the stories we must know in order to grow into the Duluth we are proud of.

Other episodes of “Duluth to Montgomery Reflections” can be found on the NAACP’s website or SoundCloud. New episodes are released the third Wednesday of every month.