After refusing to move to the back of the Greyhound bus, Sam’s fears were heightened as he recalled that this bus trip was shortly after after Emmett Louis Till had been violently lynched. Emmitt was a 14-year-old African American who was kidnapped, tortured, and murder in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending Carolyn Bryant Donham, a white woman, in her family’s grocery store. The Clarion Ledger reported that, Donham, who is 86-year-old has since admitted that she lied. She had testified in court that Till had grabbed her around the waist and uttered obscenities.
In 2008, Timothy Tyson interviewed Carolyn and before he had his recorder set up she muttered, “That pt wasn’t true. … 50 yrs ago. I just don’t remember. … Nothing that boy ever did could justify what happened to him.” He quickly jotted down her quote in a note book.
Photos of Emmett show an upstanding young boy, but the photos of him after the lynching show an inexcusable violence. Emmett’s mom, Mamie Till Mobley made a bold decision to hold an open casket funeral and thousands attended. I did a negative painting of his mom collapsing and being held up during the funeral.
Mamie became an outspoken activist, seeking justice for her son. She gave speeches across the country. And soon, letters poured into the White House. African Americans throughout the country were angered by the injustice of what happened to Emmett Till and her suffering. her activism helped spark the civil rights movement.
The Department of Justice announced in July of 2018 that they were reopening the investigation into the murder of Emmett Till due to new information received. Since then, the Justice Department has remained silent.