Plot Synopsis

Executive produced by Cornell William Brooks, THE PEOPLE V. THE KLAN is a four-part documentary series that tells the true story of Beulah Mae Donald, a Black mother in Alabama, who took down the Ku Klux Klan after the brutal murder and lynching of her son, Michael Donald. He was just 19 years old when he was found dead, hanging from a tree in Mobile, on March 21, 1981. The local Black community immediately suspected it was a Klan lynching, but local law enforcement was slow to acknowledge that the murder was racially motivated. Beulah Mae and local Black leaders refused to back down until Michael's killers and the hateful organization they belonged to were brought to justice. This series explores the systems that allowed the Klan to operate unfettered for so long and the activists of the Civil Rights movement who dismantled the Klan's hold on the nation. Beulah Mae Donald ultimately brought a massive lawsuit against the United Klans of America and successfully brought the hate group to their financial knees. Through interviews with key figures in the Donald story, the Civil Rights movement, and the modern movement for racial justice, the series confronts the past's inextricable link to the present-day discord in America. The series shines a light on the too-often marginalized agents of change in our society: The Black mothers of the movement, alongside the activists and attorneys who fight for racial equality in America. THE PEOPLE V. THE KLAN debuts on consecutive Sundays, with back-to-back episodes from 9-11pm ET/PT on April 11 and April 18, 2021.