By David Jordan Jr
Today, August 28, 2015 marks 60 years since the brutal, inhumane and ruthless murder of 14 year old Chicago teen Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Till came from Chicago to Mississippi to visit family; this visit ended up becoming a national tragedy, an eye opener of the turbulent and brutal (often deadly) treatment of blacks in the Jim Crow south and a spearhead to what would eventually become known as the Civil Rights Movement by black Americans to obtain liberty and justices that were denied to them simply because of the color of their skin. The murder of Emmett Till for allegedly whistling at a white woman in a grocery story, the way in which he was murdered and the aftermath of his murder is something that all people should know about, especially those that reside in the United States of America. The fact that those that were charged (and later confessed to the killing) and brought to trial for his murder were found not guilty further fueled the seeking of justice for not only Emmett Till and his family, but also for thousands of other blacks, particularly in the Jim Crow south that were murdered and died without any type of notoriety simply due to fear of other innocent blacks dying for speaking about these crimes.
As years passed from Till’s murder in 1955, it simply had become a story of the murder of a black boy by white men in the south; not too much more than this with the exception of a few paragraphs about this in history books and an occasional special on television being narrated by those that were not apart of the crime nor had any connections to those involved on both sides of the crime. The uneasiness of many people that had insight as to what really happened to Emmett Till created a platform for the story to be scripted and shaped for American culture; not told for what it was and what really happened. Enter Keith Beauchamp. Beauchamp a Louisiana native had an experience similar to Till’s in 1989, prior to his high school graduation that would drive him to documenting the real Emmett Till story from all of the people involved that would speak to him about the events that took place. Enamored with Emmett Till as a young child upon discovering a photo and story about him in JET Magazine, his life changing experience ended up allowing him the opportunity to turn a negative situation into a positive and to enable the case of Emmett Till to be reopened by the United States Department of Justice in 2004. “The Untold Story Of Emmett Till” (http://www.emmetttillstory.com) was released in 2005 and this documentary by Beauchamp has everything in it that you will NOT find in the history books or television specials. Interviews with Emmett’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley and his cousin Simeon Wright (he was sleeping in the bed with Emmett when he was kidnapped the night of his murder) help us retrieve the real story of what happened to Emmett Till.
Beauchamp’s documentary not only tells us what happened, but it also takes it back to the time which it took place; stock footage and stock photos from the trial and the family members in 1955 and beyond place you in Mississippi and Chicago and allow you to truly feel the emotions of Till’s family members, the racial tension which existed and the anger of justice not being served in his murder. “The horse’s mouth” is where this documentary comes from, not sensationalized stories created by the media or history books. This documentary was instrumental in not only presenting the murder of Emmett Till to a new generation but it also aided in the United States re-investigating his vicious murder, something that very well may not have taken place had Beauchamp’s horrible racist encounter never happened in 1989 and desire his to seek more about Emmett Till been further embedded in him after that incident.
Fast forward 10 years later from the release of his documentary on Till; Beauchamp along with Frederick Zollo ( producer of “Ghosts Of Mississippi” and “Mississippi Burning”) and Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Emmy award winning actress Whoopi Goldberg are producing a film on Emmett Till titled “Till” which will be released in 2016. This movie will be a follow up to the documentary “The Untold Story Of Emmett Till and will also feature more information and insights which were not included in the first film do the investigation of his murder at that point in time. Beauchamp states that this film will delve even further into other details involving the fact that there were more than two people involved in his murder and other revelations that will enable you to see the story of Emmett Till in an even broader light. Click The Link Below For The Full Interview
Click Here For The Facebook Page For TILL The Movie
