+
More

More than 6 decades after his violent death, the story of Emmett Till lives on.

Black lives matter, and it's about time society got on board with that.

(Trigger warning: contains descriptions and images of violence against blacks.)

On Aug. 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was visiting Mississippi relatives when the unthinkable happened.


Emmett Till. Photo from Till/Kickstarter.

He was in town from Chicago, visiting relatives in the small town of Money, Mississippi. Days earlier, Till, who was black, allegedly whistled at Carolyn Bryant, a 21-year-old white woman. On the evening of Aug. 28, Carolyn's husband, Roy Bryant, along with his half-brother John William Milam, kidnapped the 14-year-old from his great-uncle's home. The two men tortured and shot the boy before dumping his body in the nearby Tallahatchie River. Till's body was held down by the weight of a 70-pound fan that Milam and Bryant tied to the boy's neck with barbed wire.

Three days later, Till's lifeless body surfaced miles downstream.

Till's original gravesite in Alsip, Illinois. His body was exhumed in 2005 as part of an FBI investigation. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Till was buried in Alsip, Illinois, by his mother, who famously insisted her son have an open-casket funeral.

Emmett's mother, Mamie Till, held a viewing on Sept. 6. Her son's face had been brutally disfigured during the attack, but she maintained that there would be an open casket. She wanted the world to see the type of violence that was unleashed on her son for doing little more than existing. Just 14 years old, Emmett Till was an innocent child.

Even by today's standards, photos of Till in the casket are considered particularly gruesome. It was a vision of pure, unadulterated hate. That's why it was so important for the public to see what had become of young Emmett. Historian David Halberstam called these photos "the first great media event of the civil rights movement."

Image via MyTillMoment Kickstarter.

Weeks later, an all-white jury acquitted Till's killers after about an hour of deliberation.

During the trial, Bryant and Milam's defense team argued that the body Till's mother showed and buried was mutilated beyond recognition, therefore there was no way of knowing whether it was Till. In other words, the killers' brutality served as the perfect defense.

His killers later admitted their role in his death, but evaded jail time.

Bryant and Milam admitted to Till's murder in an interview with Look magazine the following year. Though the interview flew in the face of their own defense, they were free and clear, since double jeopardy prevented prosecutors from trying them again.

Till was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Till's death helped spark the modern civil rights movement.

For context on where Till falls into the timeline of the fight for civil rights, here's a helpful paragraph from History:

"Coming only one year after the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education mandated the end of racial segregation in public schools, Till's death provided an important catalyst for the American Civil Rights Movement. One hundred days after Emmett Till's murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama city bus, sparking the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott. Nine years later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing many forms of racial discrimination and segregation, one year later it passed the Voting Rights Act outlawing discriminatory voting practices."

Filmmaker Keith Beauchamp wants to bring Emmett's life to the big screen.

Beauchamp directed the 2005 documentary "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till." But now he's creating a feature-length docu-drama about Till's life and the role his horrific death played in the civil rights movement.

Keith Beauchamp. Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

Beauchamp launched a social campaign called #MyTillMoment asking people to reflect on his life.

The video diaries he received in response are poignant examples of personal growth and determination that can come as the result of a tragedy, and how a single event can shape the course of history.

The civil rights movement isn't past tense.

It's easy to look at Till's murder and think, "I can't believe that happened." It's more disheartening when you look at Till's murder and think, "I can't believe this is still happening." What Till experienced was in many ways similar to what Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and so many others continue to experience in modern-day America.

Looking back on Till's murder, it's clear that he was failed by a society that didn't value black lives and a justice system that delivered anything but. It's clear that something needed to change, but has it? "Stand your ground" defenses and police officers claiming that unarmed black men make them fear for their lives aren't that different from the excuses used by those who rallied for Till's murderers' acquittal.

How do we fix it? Let's look to how Black Lives Matter activists are continuing the fight.

The reason why people continue to assert "Black Lives Matter" is because our society is six decades removed from the brutality of Emmett Till's death, and we haven't learned a whole lot since.

In 2015, activist DeRay McKesson launched Campaign Zero, a program aimed at ending police violence. It's plans like these that leave hope for a better future. While it's easy to get disillusioned, it's important to remember that there are some great people with great ideas pushing for a better future.


More than 60 years later and the fight continues in memory of Emmett Louis Till.

Photo by Igor Ferreira on Unsplash

Florida principal fired after showing statue of "David."

If you ask most teachers why they went into education, they'll share that it had nothing to do with the money and everything to do with their passion for teaching. Even with rapid changes in curriculum and policies, teachers who remain in the classroom are lovers of education and are doing their best to help kids learn.

Hope Carrasquilla, the former principal of Florida's Tallahassee Classical School, was one of those teachers who simply enjoyed teaching. As the principal, Carrasquilla was required to teach two classes. During her sixth grade lesson about Renaissance art, which is also a requirement of the school, Carrasquilla showed a picture of Michelangelo's "David" statue.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, three parents complained about their children being shown the picture. Two of those parents were mostly upset that there wasn't sufficient notice given before the photo of the sculpture was shown. The third parent reportedly complained that the statue of the Biblical figure was pornographic.

Keep ReadingShow less
Family

Badass bikers show up for abused children, offering advocacy and protection

They become an abused child's "biker family," and they let the child—and everyone else—know that NO ONE messes with their family.

When you are a child who has been abused by people who are supposed to protect you, how do you feel safe?

That question is the heart of Bikers Against Child Abuse International (B.A.C.A.), an organization dedicated to creating "a safer environment for abused children." With specific training and extensive security checks, the frequently big and burly members of B.A.C.A. serve as protectors of chid abuse survivors, giving vulnerable children people to call on when they feel scared, and even showing up in court when a child asks them to.

Keep ReadingShow less
@thehalfdeaddad/TikTok

Dad on TikTok shared how he addressed his son's bullying.

What do you do when you find out your kid bullied someone? For many parents, the first step is forcing an apology. While this response is of course warranted, is it really effective? Some might argue that there are more constructive ways of handling the situation that teach a kid not only what they did wrong, but how to make things right again.

Single dadPatrick Forseth recently shared how he made a truly teachable moment out of his son, Lincoln, getting into trouble for bullying. Rather than forcing an apology, Forseth made sure his son was actively part of a solution.


The thought process behind his decision, which he explained in a now-viral TikTok video, is both simple and somewhat racial compared to how many parents have been encouraged to handle similar situations.
Keep ReadingShow less

When Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi both landed their high jumps at 2.37 meters, they were in the battle for Olympic gold. But when both jumpers missed the next mark—the Olympic record of 2.39 meters—three times each, they were officially tied for first place.

In such a tie, the athletes would usually do a "jump-off" to determine who wins gold and who wins silver. But as the official began to explain the options to Barshim and Tamberi, Barshim asked, "Can we have two golds?"

Keep ReadingShow less
via YouTube

These days, we could all use something to smile about, and few things do a better job at it than watching actor Christopher Walken dance.

A few years back, some genius at HuffPo Entertainment put together a clip featuring Walken dancing in 50 of his films, and it was taken down. But it re-emerged in 2014 and the world has been a better place for it.

Keep ReadingShow less

English metal detector hobbyist finds a real treasure near Nottingham.

A retired merchant navy engineer in England has found a treasure that would have made his country’s most popular folk hero proud. Graham Harrison, a 64-year-old metal detector enthusiast, discovered a gold signet ring that once belonged to the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The discovery was made on a farm in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, 26.9 miles from Sherwood Forest. The forest is known worldwide for being the mythological home of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. A central road that traversed the forest was notorious in Medieval times for being an easy place for bandits to rob travelers going to and from London.

Keep ReadingShow less