Documentary: The Untold Story of Emmitt Till (Proceeds to Hurricane Katrina Victims)

[CrimsonTide4]

Lynching victim's mom dies on eve of Atlanta visit

By BOB LONGINO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution




1995 photo by BETH A. KEISER / AP
Emmett Till's mother, Mamie Till Mobley was to have spoken at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Wednesday.


Mamie Till Mobley, whose courage amid racial adversity in the South made her an inspiration to the civil rights movement, died Monday in Chicago one day before she was to travel to Atlanta to speak about the 1955 lynching in Mississippi of her only son, Emmett Till.

Mrs. Mobley, at 81, was just beginning to travel more extensively in connection with a book she was co-writing about her life before and after her son's murder.

She died of heart failure in the emergency room of Chicago's Jackson Park Hospital, a family member said.

"She was being driven to dialysis treatment and just didn't look well so they took her to the emergency room and that's when she transitioned at about 2:30 p.m.," said Bertha Thomas, Mrs. Mobley's niece.

Gatling's Chapel in Chicago is handling arrangements. Services are incomplete.

"She was a delightful storyteller and a great conversationalist," said Chris Benson, who was writing "Death of Innocence" with her.

Mrs. Mobley's death comes amid new interest by documentarians and writers in her son's slaying. "The Death of Emmett Till" will air Jan. 20 on GPTV for PBS' "American Experience." A second documentary -- "The Untold Story of Emmett Till," featuring never-before-heard witnesses to his death -- is unfinished but is expected to be previewed Saturday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site.

Emmett Till was beaten to death in late summer 1955 after he purportedly whistled at a white woman in a tiny country store in the Mississippi Delta.

Three days later, he was abducted by at least two white men, including the woman's husband.

Days later his body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River, pummeled nearly beyond recognition and, with a 70-pound cotton gin fan, tethered by barbed wire strung around his neck.

It was Mrs. Mobley's decision, shortly after she viewed her son's body, to have an open-casket funeral in Chicago. It galvanized and outraged African-Americans across the nation.

The two white men were quickly tried and acquitted.

Mrs. Mobley was to appear Wednesday at Ebenezer Baptist Church as part of closing ceremonies for "Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America." To date, the exhibit has drawn more than 160,000 visitors.

She was 33 during the trial in Sumner, Miss. Her first husband had died 10 years earlier and she had remarried and at the time went by the name Mamie Bradley.

During the trial, in an overheated, humid courtroom, she sat at a table the judge had reserved for the black press and for U.S. Rep. Charles Diggs. The trial was held not far from her birthplace in Webb, Miss.

When she was called to the witness stand on the morning of Sept. 21, 1955, the courtroom immediately fell silent. She was wearing a gray-flowered dress, a brown bolero jacket, a black hat, tortoise shell glasses and a gold watch with a wide band, news reports said.

She maintained her composure during the attorneys' examination -- until she was shown the photograph of her son's bloated body, the one that had sent a shock of outrage throughout black America after it had appeared in Jet magazine.

She struggled, regained her steadiness and continued to answer questions, even when defense attorneys, seeking to suggest some other cause of her son's death, grilled her on whether she had life insurance policies.

She testified she had instructed her son how to behave in the South. "I told him he would have to be careful all the time . . . to say yes, sir, and yes, ma'am at all times . . ."

Asked by a defense attorney if he was coached to not insult white women, she responded, "I just said white people."

[CrimsonTide4]

CHICAGO - Though Mamie Till Mobley never lived to see it, the pressure she exerted over four decades to have her son's 1955 murder reopened has finally borne fruit: The Justice Department (news - web sites) is now looking into the case.



R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division said Monday officials will reopen the Emmett Till's race-motivated murder following a long campaign by the NAACP, members of Congress and Mobley, who died in Chicago last year at age 81.


"I can see her sitting in the chair with a tissue, and her cheeks rosy red and her eyes full of tears. It would be a happy, relief, burden-lifted type of cry," said Airickca Gordon, 34, a cousin whom Mobley helped raise.


After Till's murder, his mother insisted upon a public viewing and funeral in Chicago for her only child. Pictures of the battered body shocked the world, and the case became an early spark for the civil rights movement.


Read the rest HERE.

[Kimmie1913]

AS much as I believe there is a need to address past wrongs and bring the truth to light, I would be more impressed if the Justice Department and other government agencies worked harder to address and prevent modern day injustices. Yes, acknowledging the past will help to deal with the present and future, but I also think it is easier for them (and mainly good PR) to look at 50 year old crimes when the perpetrators are dead after living their lives freely and the best you can accomplish is maybe going after the accomplices.

Originally posted by Kimmie1913
AS much as I believe there is a need to address past wrongs and bring the truth to light, I would be more impressed if the Justice Department and other government agencies worked harder to address and prevent modern day injustices. Yes, acknowledging the past will help to deal with the present and future, but I also think it is easier for them (and mainly good PR) to look at 50 year old crimes when the perpetrators are dead after living their lives freely and the best you can accomplish is maybe going after the accomplices.

I see your point, Kimmie, but like I always say, better late than never. As soon as I started reading the article CT4 put up, I could see his face. I remember watching the "eyes on the Prize" video in school and when they flashed Emmitt's face up on the screen, all battered and blown up, I burst into tears, asking myself why anyone would do that?

[NinjaPoodle]

from the NPHC Yahoo listserv

[NPHC] Emmett Till To be Exhumed


BC-Civil Rights Killing,0289
Body of Emmett Till, black youth killed in Mississippi in 1955, to
be exhumed
Eds: Will be led.
By DON BABWIN
Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Nearly 50 years after 14-year-old Emmett Till's
murder shocked a nation and galvanized the civil rights movement,
his body will be exhumed as federal authorities attempt to
determine who killed him, the FBI said Wednesday.
Till's body, buried in a cemetery in the Chicago suburb of
Alsip, will be exhumed within the next few weeks so the Cook County
Medical Examiner's office can conduct an autopsy, said Deborah
Madden, spokeswoman for the FBI's office in Jackson, Miss.
The black youth, who was raised in Chicago, was abducted from
his uncle's home in the tiny Mississippi Delta community of Money
on Aug. 28, 1955, reportedly for whistling at a white woman at a
grocery store. His mutilated body was found in a river three days
later.
The U.S. Justice Department announced plans last year to reopen
the Till investigation, saying it was triggered by several pieces
of information including a documentary by New York filmmaker Keith
Beauchamp.
"The exhumation is a logical continuation of that," Madden
said. "An autopsy was never performed on the body and the cause of
death was never determined."
The plan to exhume the body was first reported in Wednesday's
Chicago Sun-Times.
Two white men charged with the murder -- store owner Roy Bryant,
the husband of the woman Till purportedly whistled at, and J.W.
Milam, Bryant's half brother -- were acquitted by an all-white jury.
The two, now deceased, confessed to the killing months later in
Look magazine.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APTV-05-04-05 1130EDT

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by NinjaPoodle
from the NPHC Yahoo listserv

[NPHC] Emmett Till To be Exhumed

"The exhumation is a logical continuation of that," Madden
said. "An autopsy was never performed on the body and the cause of death was never determined."

The cause of death was never determined? Are you kidding me?

[ladygreek]

Originally posted by preciousjeni
The cause of death was never determined? Are you kidding me?

Remember the times.

[The Truth]

Originally posted by NinjaPoodle
The two, now deceased, confessed to the killing months later in
Look magazine.

Double jeopardy is a b****.

[CrimsonTide4]

EMMETT TILL’ PROCEEDS TO BE DONATED
TO HURRICANE RELIEF ORGS

OCTOBER 14th EXPANSION OF ACCLAIMED FILM ANNOUNCED


New York – Sept 29, 2005 -- THINKFilm and Filmmaker Keith Beauchamp have agreed to allocate a portion of the box office revenue of Beauchamp’s groundbreaking film, THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL, to the immediate needs of the New Orleans relief effort. Beauchamp, a Baton Rouge native, was recently recognized by Southern University at New Orleans, the New Orleans City council and Mayor Ray Nagin on March 17, 2005. Since the catastrophe in Louisiana earlier this month, Beauchamp’s mother, Ceola J. Beauchamp, and the Baton Rouge Delta Sigma Theta Chapters have set up distribution points to provide, clothing, food and other amenities. Select proceeds from the October 14th national expansion, which is Chicago (Till’s hometown), Washington DC, Atlanta, Memphis, and the Boroughs of New York City will be provided to Baton Rouge Delta Sigma Theta and Full Gospel Baptist Church
Fellowship.

“My mother has always instilled in me the importance of helping those who cannot help themselves, just as in the Emmett Till case; Emmett could not speak for himself, and he was denied justice. I felt it was my obligation as a young person in this country to make sure that this case was reopened. The Creator has now directed me once again to do all that I can for those in need. Just as the covers of racism were pulled from the face of Emmett Till, it has now been pulled from the city of New Orleans.”

In conjunction with the October 14th rollout, THINKFilm is working with Consultant Rodney Sampson to oversee and execute the grassroots marketing campaign for the faith- based and community organizations.

“THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL serves as a major link between past injustices and current opportunities for creating legitimate dialogue and resolve between the races in America,” says Sampson. “To that end, the recent decision by THINKFilm and Keith to donate a portion of the theatrical proceeds to Katrina relief is not just honorable, but strategic and divine. Our timing is iimpeccable.”

“The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International is excited to partner with Keith Beauchamp and THINKFilm on its upcoming theatrical release of THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL. As Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, many of our churches, including our international headquarters located in New Orleans, LA, and was completely destroyed, says Bishop Joseph Simmons. “As we transition towards the future redevelopment of our churches and the families they served, we are pleased to lend our endorsement and support of this monumental movie release. We encourage all 2,000 of our fellowship churches, members and covenant partners to join us in making this hallmark documentary a great success. In addition, we would like to encourage all other fellowships, denominations and churches to take this opportunity to expose their congregations and constituents to a story that ultimately shifted the future of Blacks in America.”

Beauchamp’s Award-winning documentary, THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL, is a culmination of a 10-year effort to uncover the details behind the nightmarish murder story and has led to a national effort to re-open the case and investigate new evidence and witnesses to the murder. The film opened exclusively in New York City in August to rave reviews including New York Magazine called the film "The most important documentary of the year and an essential tale of what it means to be
an American."

THINKFilm won its first Best Documentary Academy Award with last year's BORN INTO BROTHELS and also received nominations for THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL and SPELLBOUND. The company has qualified THE UNTOLD STORY OF EMMETT LOUIS TILL for Academy Award consideration this year.

For more information:

www.emmetttillstory.com
www.thinkfilmcompany.com

[ladygreek]

As a child I was traumatized by this murder. I still don't think I could bear to relive it.

[CrimsonTide4]

Originally posted by ladygreek
As a child I was traumatized by this murder. I still don't think I could bear to relive it.

I have his mother's biography and still have not read it.
I looked up on the EmmittTill.com site and it shows the exact theaters. It's not coming to North Carolina at all.