TILL is a Movie that Turns Anguish into Action
When Love is more powerful than hate
Everyone knows the story of Emmett Till (and if you don’t Google it), the-year old boy who was brutalized by white men (and Black accomplices) for daring to whistle at a white woman.
As I watched the movie, I was shocked to learn that three Black men were involved in Emmett’s death. How could they watch and/or participate in the murder of a teen boy? Why didn’t we hear about these men before the movie? I need to know more about the Black men who allowed a Black boy to be butchered by racist white men.
As Black people, we know Emmett’s story. A Chicago teen travels to Mississippi to visit relatives, goes into a store, and has an encounter with a white woman. This encounter leads to Emmett being kidnapped from his uncle’s home, beaten, hung, and dumped in a river.
When his body is returned to Chicago, Emmett is barely recognizable. His body is bloated from his time in the river. He has already begun to decompose due to his time at the coroner’s office and the trip from Mississippi to Chicago. He had a gunshot wound on the side of his head. Emmett was tortured before he died.
I felt Mamie Till’s anguish when she saw her son’s body. Her only child — dead. The press having a field day, blaming her for his death. Mississippi justice didn’t exist for Black people. The folks in Money, Mississippi were scared into silence. What a horrible way to live.
As a mother, if I lost my son, I would need to be in a mental hospital. I don’t have much sanity left after losing my mother to cancer. If I lost my son, I would be a total nutjob. Mamie Till summoned all of her strength to keep going. I applaud her bravery to display her son during his funeral. I’m so glad her efforts led to the start of the Civil Rights Movement.
TILL is definitely a movie to see. American hatred was on full display. If I were a white person, I would be so embarrassed by the way white people treated Black folks during the 1950s (and how we’re continued to be mistreated today). TILL proves that white people are a barbaric lot and have caused nothing but death and destruction in this country. White people have caused irreparable trauma to Black, Brown, and Indigenous people since the founding of this country.
What we can learn from TILL is that Blackness is always under attack. Mamie Till was seen as an “uppity nigger” because she spoke out against those who murdered her son. She wanted justice in a time when justice for Black people didn’t exist. Mamie Till was a hero. We need more heroes in our community to continue the fight against racial injustice today.
