I was being my usual late night insomniac self a couple of nights ago. I asked turned on my Kindle and asked, "Alexa, play BBC."
The BBC was just at that moment playing a piece on Emmett Till as part of their Black History Month report.
The new Museum opened in Washington DC not too many months ago. It is all about Black history in America, the good, the bad and the very ugly. There is one room that has a replica of Emmett Till in his casket. His body is represented by a photo taken of him in his open coffin at his funeral in 1955.
Emmett Till was a fourteen year old black kid who was sent down on the railroad from Chicago to visit for the summer with his Uncle.
They lived in Music, Mississippi. There was a store in the community that served the black community. The men were used to sitting on the porch of the store to socialize. The store was owned by a white couple and the man's brother.
One day Emmett apparently whistled at the white woman. The men sitting there were upset and nervous. They expected retaliation of some sort. I don't know why someone did not sent Emmett Till home to Chicago, but even if he had gone I think that someone else in the family may well have been lynched. At any rate aroud 2 am there was a knock on the door at the uncles house and they took Emmett. They took him to a barn and pistol whipped him, until his face was unrecognizable then they shot him in the eye with the .45 pistol. They fixed a one hundred pound cement weight to his neck and threw him into the Talahatchee river. The body should have never been found.
The body did turn up. The Sheriff investigated and ordered the body to be buried immediately. Mamie Till had arrived in the meantime and demanded the body. The coffin was chained shut. She took Emmett home.
The mortician did the best he could, he dressed Emmett in a new nicely pressed suit, he lay in a new coffin with silk lining. The mortician could not do anything about putting his skull back together, it has been shattered in too many pieces.
Mamie could smell the stench of the body three blocks from the church. She had the coffin remain open for reviewing. After the services people lined up for four day to view the body.
The two men were tried for murder. There was an all male, all white jury. The jury took 60 minutes to deliberate. All of the black people who were lined up against the courthouse wall quietly left when it became clear that there would be no guilty verdict. The men were acquitted.
A few years later the men were persuaded to tell their story. They had been acquitted and could not be tried for the same crime again. So they told their story. It was pretty ugly.
I decided to see if there were any songs for Emmett Till. Joan Baez wrote a ballad in 1968. Emmy Lou Harris wrote one in 2011. PBS did a documentary in 2003. There are a couple more songs floating around out there.
There are also plans for Hollywood to tell Emmett Till's story. I think the story should be told in operatic fashion somewhat like Porgy and Bess. Big sound, big story, fabulous actors. Until we conquer our beast selves the story bears repeating. We need to hear this lawful lesson over and over.
The BBC was just at that moment playing a piece on Emmett Till as part of their Black History Month report.
The new Museum opened in Washington DC not too many months ago. It is all about Black history in America, the good, the bad and the very ugly. There is one room that has a replica of Emmett Till in his casket. His body is represented by a photo taken of him in his open coffin at his funeral in 1955.
Emmett Till was a fourteen year old black kid who was sent down on the railroad from Chicago to visit for the summer with his Uncle.
They lived in Music, Mississippi. There was a store in the community that served the black community. The men were used to sitting on the porch of the store to socialize. The store was owned by a white couple and the man's brother.
One day Emmett apparently whistled at the white woman. The men sitting there were upset and nervous. They expected retaliation of some sort. I don't know why someone did not sent Emmett Till home to Chicago, but even if he had gone I think that someone else in the family may well have been lynched. At any rate aroud 2 am there was a knock on the door at the uncles house and they took Emmett. They took him to a barn and pistol whipped him, until his face was unrecognizable then they shot him in the eye with the .45 pistol. They fixed a one hundred pound cement weight to his neck and threw him into the Talahatchee river. The body should have never been found.
The body did turn up. The Sheriff investigated and ordered the body to be buried immediately. Mamie Till had arrived in the meantime and demanded the body. The coffin was chained shut. She took Emmett home.
The mortician did the best he could, he dressed Emmett in a new nicely pressed suit, he lay in a new coffin with silk lining. The mortician could not do anything about putting his skull back together, it has been shattered in too many pieces.
Mamie could smell the stench of the body three blocks from the church. She had the coffin remain open for reviewing. After the services people lined up for four day to view the body.
The two men were tried for murder. There was an all male, all white jury. The jury took 60 minutes to deliberate. All of the black people who were lined up against the courthouse wall quietly left when it became clear that there would be no guilty verdict. The men were acquitted.
A few years later the men were persuaded to tell their story. They had been acquitted and could not be tried for the same crime again. So they told their story. It was pretty ugly.
I decided to see if there were any songs for Emmett Till. Joan Baez wrote a ballad in 1968. Emmy Lou Harris wrote one in 2011. PBS did a documentary in 2003. There are a couple more songs floating around out there.
There are also plans for Hollywood to tell Emmett Till's story. I think the story should be told in operatic fashion somewhat like Porgy and Bess. Big sound, big story, fabulous actors. Until we conquer our beast selves the story bears repeating. We need to hear this lawful lesson over and over.
No comments:
Post a Comment