A group of students from San Jose, California, are heading towards Washington D.C. for the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. In their travels, the students have decided to stop off and visit different Civil Rights Landmarks in different States.
(Emmet Till seen above-l with mother and seen-r dead)
The students first visit was to Money, Mississippi, where in 1955 a fourteen year old boy by the name of Emmett Till was brutally murdered by the hands of white men simply because he whistled at a white woman in a grocery store.
(Bryant grocery store seen-r)
The young teenager was taken from his uncle's home in the middle of the night and dragged to a barn. At the barn is where Emmet Till was wrapped in barb wire, his genitals was chopped off along with other parts of his body; he was shot in the head and then thrown into the river.
Fortunately, Till's body was found and returned to his mother. The Mississippi police officers were found to be apart of the murder, and they made the decision that Till's body wouldn't be viewed in order to cover up what was done to him. But Till's mother made sure she had an open casket funeral in order to show the community and the world, what was done to her baby.
Reading the stories and looking at the pictures, I was completely mortified. The two
white men that murdered Emmet Till were acquitted of all charges, even though there were strong witnesses that testified about what they heard and saw. Because the witnesses were black people, their voices weren't heard by the racist court.
(Emmet Till seen above-l with mother and seen-r dead)
The students first visit was to Money, Mississippi, where in 1955 a fourteen year old boy by the name of Emmett Till was brutally murdered by the hands of white men simply because he whistled at a white woman in a grocery store. (Bryant grocery store seen-r)
The young teenager was taken from his uncle's home in the middle of the night and dragged to a barn. At the barn is where Emmet Till was wrapped in barb wire, his genitals was chopped off along with other parts of his body; he was shot in the head and then thrown into the river.
Fortunately, Till's body was found and returned to his mother. The Mississippi police officers were found to be apart of the murder, and they made the decision that Till's body wouldn't be viewed in order to cover up what was done to him. But Till's mother made sure she had an open casket funeral in order to show the community and the world, what was done to her baby.
Reading the stories and looking at the pictures, I was completely mortified. The two
white men that murdered Emmet Till were acquitted of all charges, even though there were strong witnesses that testified about what they heard and saw. Because the witnesses were black people, their voices weren't heard by the racist court.
(J.W. Milam seen-l and Roy Bryant seen-r who murdered Emmet Till were acquitted, while laughing with their wives in the courthouse)
As I listened to the San Jose students talk about their visit to the courthouse where the two men were acquitted, the church where Emmett Till's funeral was, and Bryant Grocery store where Till whistled at the woman; I cried. My tears were from the pain of the past, and as I saw a picture of Emmett Till before he was mangled beyond recognition I softly uttered the words, "Your death was not in vain. Thank you, Jesus."
Who would have known that having a black president would ignite such a curiosity within the youth to back track the foot prints of history, bringing to light all the injustices that took place in this country.
Who would have known that having a black president would ignite such a curiosity within the youth to back track the foot prints of history, bringing to light all the injustices that took place in this country.
The Bryant Grocery store will be bought by a Civil Rights Organization, and used as a teaching tool for the Civil Rights Movement. The San Jose students will also stop off at the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
This is an amazing moment in time and I extend my sincere gratitude to these students for their bravery, and for producing such a documentary that'll teach children for years to come about American history.2009 LA
