emmett till
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The Department of Justice Is Still Investigating Emmett Till’s Murder…Kinda
Six decades after a white woman’s murderous lie incited the white supremacist lynching that pushed the civil rights movement into second gear, Department of Justice officials told Congress they were still looking into it. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the Department of Justice updated Congress on the progress of cold civil rights cases.…
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#LookingWhileBlack: Police Stop, Question Black Man for ‘Looking Suspiciously’ at a White Woman
In what serves as the latest example of #ExistingWhileBlack, I present 20-year-old Devin Meyers, who was stopped by police for—wait for it—“looking suspiciously” at a white woman. No, really. Have you ever seen a white woman in public? They do a lot of suspicious shit. But regardless, according to the Daily Dot, police in Royal…
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In New TV Series, Jay-Z and Will Smith Will Show the World Through Mamie Till's Eyes
A long-delayed TV series focusing on Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, will finally see daylight, thanks to executive producers Jay-Z and Will Smith. The anthology series, which currently has the working title Women of the Movement, was picked up by ABC, which announced the project Tuesday, according to Vulture. Previously, the series had…
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Emmett Till Memorial Will Now Be Bulletproof
So it has come to this. Days after a photo surfaced showing three white frat boys with guns posing in front of a bullet-ridden historic marker to Emmett Till, the commission that maintains the memorial sign plan to replace it with one that is bulletproof, according to CNN. The Emmett Till Memorial Commission had already…
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White Students Pose With Guns in Front of Bullet-Ridden Emmett Till Memorial, Department of Justice Launches Investigation
On what would’ve been the 78th birthday of Emmett Till came some disturbing news: three University of Mississippi students are being investigated by the Department of Justice after a picture surfaced of them posing with guns next to a memorial honoring Till’s death. ProPublica reports that the students, each of whom is white, have been…
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Paying Respect: Medgar Evers’ Mississippi Home Becomes National Monument
The Mississippi home of civil rights leaders Medgar and Myrlie Evers became a national monument Tuesday, as part of a sweeping, bipartisan public lands bill signed by Donald Trump. Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran who became the Mississippi NAACP’s first field secretary in 1954 was at the foreground of the Civil Rights Movement,…
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Holding History Hostage: One Family’s Quiet Attempt to Erase Their Father’s Part in Emmett Till’s Story
If there was ever an inverse example of a Confederate monument, it might be the Lorraine, the Memphis motel where Martin Luther King, the most famous leader of the civil rights movement, was struck down on a balcony. Or maybe it is the 16th Street Baptist Church, the Birmingham, Ala., house of worship where four…
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Wounds That Never Heal: Emmett Till Sign Hit With Bullets Just a Month After Being Replaced
If you drive along Mississippi’s Tallahatchie river, you might encounter a purple sign at Graball Landing. The marker was erected in 2013 to commemorate the spot where 15-year-old Emmett Till’s body was recovered. For the third time in its short history, the sign has been vandalized—riddled with bullet holes once again. As the Clarion Ledger…
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Judge of Characters: Does Justice Have a Shelf Life?
Here’s the thing about justice: it’s rare that people of color ever get to see it in action because it usually doesn’t work in our favor. What’s even more frustrating and disheartening is when said justice comes over 60 years later and everyone involved, but one person, is dead. Such may be the case for…
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Emmett Till Biographer, Who Spoke to White Woman Who Lied on Teen, Turned His Interviews Over to the FBI [Updated]
Updated, Saturday, July 14, 2018, 12:23 p.m. EST: The author of the explosive Emmett Till biography that revealed that a key witness in the case falsely indicted the child to death via her lies, says that he received a call from the FBI weeks after the book was published. The AP reports that Timothy Tyson…