UNFINISHED: Deep South
A journey into the heart of America’s unfinished business.
Isadore Banks was one of the wealthiest men on the Arkansas Delta. For years he navigated the Jim Crow South, buying land, raising a family, building a fortune. Then, in 1954, he was lynched.
Banks was murdered just three weeks after the momentous Supreme Court decision that overturned segregation. The local sheriff insisted the killing wasn’t about race and refused to investigate the crime. Soon Banks’ hometown did all it could to forget him.
Sixty-five years later, Unfinished: Deep South investigates Banks’ murder, joining his family in their attempt to restore his legacy and solve the crime before the story goes cold forever. By illuminating one man’s life, this 10-part series explores the system of white supremacy that was and remains so deeply embedded in the American landscape, tracing its sinew through forgotten court records, fading FBI files, and the testimony of elderly witnesses.
“Truth crushed to earth will rise again. The Deep South podcast is a timely reminder of how the dark past still has repercussions today.”
THE DEEP SOUTH TEAM
Deep South is a collaboration between Market Road Films and Stitcher.
Created and reported by Taylor Hom and Neil Shea
Editors: Peter Clowney, Gianna Palmer, and Tracey Samuelson
Executive Producers: Lynn Nottage, Tony Gerber, Peter Clowney, and Chris Bannon
Senior Producers: Laura Colleluori and Stephanie Kariuki
Producing by: Lisa John Rogers, Shahruz Ghaemi, and Joy Okon Sunday
Mixing Engineer: Casey Holford
Music: Hubby Jenkins
Original Theme Music and Scoring: Casey Holford, with Ryan Thornton and Dan Costello
Additional Research: Jay W. Driskell and Carmen White
Fact Checkers: Soraya Shockley and Michelle Harris
Interns: Brooke LaMantia and Lukas Noguchi
Special thanks to Jim & Elaine Banks, Dorothy and Marcelina Williams, Geraldine White, Norma Radford, Barbara & Dr. Leonard Lawrence, Isadore Butler Banks, and the entire extended family of Isadore Banks, who gave generously of their time, their patience, and their memories.
Additional thanks to: Willie Gammon, Rosalind O'Neal, Rob Hom, Toby Moore, Ashraf Rushdy, Cherisse Jones-Branch, John Kirk, Pete Daniel, Bill Arnold, Story Matkin-Rawn, Rachel Walton, Margaret Burnham, Brian Hilburn, Tasmin Din, The Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University, and The 78 Project.