Claudia Lacy, Lennon Lacy’s mother and Dr. Rev. William Barbor, of the NAACP
By Charlotte Smith
Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
The new year will bring a documentary, Always In Season, about Lennon Lacy. Lacy was a 17 year old West Bladen High School Football player, found dead in August of 2014.
He was hanging from a swing set, in a mobile home park not far from his home. Lacy is missed greatly by family and friends in Bladen County.
The local police investigated the scene and ruled the case a suicide. The SBI and FBI also investigated the case. The outcome of each law enforcement investigation was Lacy’s death was due to a suicide.
However, Dr. Rev. William Barbor, of the NAACP, the Rogers Law Firm, family and friends of Lacy do not agree with the law enforcement’s findings. Many have speculated Lacy was murdered.
Dr. Barbor said after a memorial service for Lacy in 2015, “We are not just going to bury our children, and then have a good service, and forget their memory.”
Claudia Lacy, Lennon Lacy’s mother, still believes her son was lynched due to inconsistencies in her son’s death. Ms. Lacy said after a memorial service, “People ask me how I am able to deal with it, and I tell them, I look at Mother Mary. Mary had to watch them hang Jesus, she was there and saw all that. Mary is my strength. She paved the way for me. I have no doubt in my mind that God is going to take care of me.”
Since 2014 Ms. Lacy has been searching for answers about her son’s death.
Writer and Director Jackie Olive gave a summary of the upcoming movie stating, “ When 17-year-old Lennon Lacy is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014, his mother’s search for justice and reconciliation begins while the trauma of more than a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present.
The site explained, “Despite inconsistencies in the case, local officials quickly ruled Lennon’s death a suicide, but his mother, Claudia, believes Lennon was lynched. Claudia moves from paralyzing grief to leading the fight for justice for her son.”
According to the IMDb.com website the documentary, Always In Season, will debut on January 26, 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival.
The documentary was written by Don Bernier and Jacqueline Olive according to the IMDb.com.
The production companies credited for the documentary are: Multitude Films (production), Naked Edge Films, andTell It Media.
Related articles:
https://bladencounty.org/petition-to-re-open-lennon-lacy-investigation-circulating-on-social-media/
https://bladencounty.org/district-attorney-jon-david-addresses-closing-of-lennon-lacy-investigation/
https://bladencounty.org/naacp-statement-on-lennon-lacy-investigation/
https://bladencounty.org/federal-officials-close-investigation-into-lennon-lacy-death/
https://bladencounty.org/memorial-for-lennon-lacy/
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