Emmett Till: A Sorrowful Event Lisa Thongmanivong Danielle Osoteo Gabrielle Carbonell

The Beginning of it All 14-year-old African American boy From Chicago Went to Mississippi visited relatives Went to a nearby store with friends Reportedly “flirting” with Carolyn Bryant Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago. He, unfortunately, went on a trip to Mississippi with his uncle after Till’s mother second-guessed her decision. Till, then, went to a nearby store with his friends. He, reportedly, “whistled” to a 26-year-old white woman, Carolyn Bryant, who was the cashier. Back then, whistling, flirting or any physical contact towards white people was a crime.

Abducted & Brutal Death 2 a.m., by Rob Bryant, and John Milam  Tortured, Shot, Thrown in river Found 3 days later, unrecognized  2 men, one of them the owner of the store, took Emmett from his Uncle’s house The half brothers decided to punish Till brutally (beat Till up until dead, shot him in the head, tied him up with barbed wire and to a metal fan, thrown into a river) Uncle recognized him only by his ring Emmett’s teeth were knocked off, the side of his skull was smashed, body was swollen, and one of his eyes were taken out.

Open Casket Funeral His mother wanted Open Casket Displayed Till’s deformed face Mother wanted to show her experience of how racism impacted her life As you can see, this is Emmett Till before he got beaten and this is him at the open casket funeral. Emmett Till was beaten until his face wasn’t recognized. His mother, Mamie Till, wanted to show the world what has happened to her son because she wanted everyone to know that discrimination against colored people was wrong and immoral.

Court September 19, Till’s murder and kidnapping trial took place Suspects were acquitted of all charges on September 23 Court, all white men Lasted 1 hour January 1956, Bryant and Milam admit to committing the crime for a story in a magazine They were arrested for murder and abduction Roy Bryant and J.D Milam were charged not guilty A double jeopardy, Emmett faced a crime, and the two men faced a crime

Aftermath Emmett Till lived from July 25, 1941- August 28, 1955 Catalyst to civil rights event very brutal & significant  gained a lot of attention racism  child’s death Gained allot of publicity. emphasized the cruelty and racism, particularly to the racism in the south, it was unjust it brought lots of outrage, the event happening to a kid made a difference. 

The Return of the Case FBI looked back into Till’s case in 2004 Questioned Carolyn Bryant (73 years old) Not enough evidence Case disclosed 2 years later They examined Emmett's body in 2005. Inefficient evidence to put charges against Bryant Should families of Bryant and Milam face charges? I don’t think Bryant and Milam’s families' should face justice when the descendants have nothing to do with the case, since they did not do anything besides carrying there last name.

Works Cited "Emmett Till.” http://www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-507515. 6 Sep. 2013. Borgna Brunner "The Murder of Emmett Till" http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmjustice5.ht ml 6 Sept 2013 "FBI releases Emmett Till autopsy" usatoday30.usatoday.com 6 Sept 2013