Emmett Till would have been 85 years old today.
But white supremacy stopped that from happening.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He bought some candy and said "Bye baby" on the way out of the store - but the white lady behind the counter - Carolyn Bryant - claimed he grabbed her, made lewd advances and wolf-whistled at her as he sauntered out.
A few days later - based solely on how a young black man responded to a fragile white woman - he was dragged from his bed in the darkness of the night, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, shot, tied to a 75 pound cotton-gin fan and thrown in to the Tallahatchie River.
All because of the way a young black child responded to a fragile white woman.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It took an all-white jury only 67 minutes to acquit his killers. "We wouldn't have taken so long if we hadn't stopped to drink pop," they said.
All because of the way a young black child responded to a fragile white woman.
We're NOT far removed from this... if removed at all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In 2017 Carolyn Bryant confessed that Till had never touched, threatened or harassed her. She made it all up.
I visited his grave outside Chicago several years ago. It was a somber moment for me. His life mattered... but it didn't to his murderers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And we're watching a country, a government and a disgustingly high number of supportive citizens work hard to remove history to act like things like this never happened. Shame on you, America.
That's why we say Black Lives Matter. That's why we fight with everything we have against racism - blatant, overt, covert and systemic.
Happy Birthday, Emmett Till... happy birthday.
#RacismSucks
#EndRacism
#SpeakUp
#Acknowledge
#EmmettTill
#WhiteFragilityKills
#ShameOnYouAmerica
But white supremacy stopped that from happening.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He bought some candy and said "Bye baby" on the way out of the store - but the white lady behind the counter - Carolyn Bryant - claimed he grabbed her, made lewd advances and wolf-whistled at her as he sauntered out.
A few days later - based solely on how a young black man responded to a fragile white woman - he was dragged from his bed in the darkness of the night, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, shot, tied to a 75 pound cotton-gin fan and thrown in to the Tallahatchie River.
All because of the way a young black child responded to a fragile white woman.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It took an all-white jury only 67 minutes to acquit his killers. "We wouldn't have taken so long if we hadn't stopped to drink pop," they said.
All because of the way a young black child responded to a fragile white woman.
We're NOT far removed from this... if removed at all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In 2017 Carolyn Bryant confessed that Till had never touched, threatened or harassed her. She made it all up.
I visited his grave outside Chicago several years ago. It was a somber moment for me. His life mattered... but it didn't to his murderers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And we're watching a country, a government and a disgustingly high number of supportive citizens work hard to remove history to act like things like this never happened. Shame on you, America.
That's why we say Black Lives Matter. That's why we fight with everything we have against racism - blatant, overt, covert and systemic.
Happy Birthday, Emmett Till... happy birthday.
#RacismSucks
#EndRacism
#SpeakUp
#Acknowledge
#EmmettTill
#WhiteFragilityKills
#ShameOnYouAmerica
Emmett Till would have been 85 years old today.
But white supremacy stopped that from happening.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He bought some candy and said "Bye baby" on the way out of the store - but the white lady behind the counter - Carolyn Bryant - claimed he grabbed her, made lewd advances and wolf-whistled at her as he sauntered out.
A few days later - based solely on how a young black man responded to a fragile white woman - he was dragged from his bed in the darkness of the night, ridiculed, mocked, beaten, shot, tied to a 75 pound cotton-gin fan and thrown in to the Tallahatchie River.
All because of the way a young black child responded to a fragile white woman.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It took an all-white jury only 67 minutes to acquit his killers. "We wouldn't have taken so long if we hadn't stopped to drink pop," they said.
All because of the way a young black child responded to a fragile white woman.
We're NOT far removed from this... if removed at all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In 2017 Carolyn Bryant confessed that Till had never touched, threatened or harassed her. She made it all up.
I visited his grave outside Chicago several years ago. It was a somber moment for me. His life mattered... but it didn't to his murderers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And we're watching a country, a government and a disgustingly high number of supportive citizens work hard to remove history to act like things like this never happened. Shame on you, America.
That's why we say Black Lives Matter. That's why we fight with everything we have against racism - blatant, overt, covert and systemic.
Happy Birthday, Emmett Till... happy birthday.
#RacismSucks
#EndRacism
#SpeakUp
#Acknowledge
#EmmettTill
#WhiteFragilityKills
#ShameOnYouAmerica
