What Inspired Me to Write About The Injustice of the Emmett Till Murder and Trial’s Not-Guilty Verdict

In the fall of 2023, I embarked on a Civil Rights tour of the deep south with an organization called Telos, an organization based on achieving peacemaking through growth, equity, authentic relationships, justice and nonviolence–all for the mutual flourishing of our Community. The tour was called ReStory America, with the goal of enlightening Americans about the true history of discrimination in America, and our stake in it. I traveled with a group of like-minded individuals, none of whom I’d ever met before. Most were from New York City. One lived in California in the same subdivision as Medgar Evers’ wife. I was the only participant from Chicago, the home of Emmett Till. Aside from the main facilitator from the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, all but one of us were white.

Where We Visited on The Civil Rights Tour

We learned about the history of slavery in America, and the efforts by many to advocate for equal justice–both in the past and today. We heard from speakers in the community, including a Black Freedom Rider who had participated in the protests of the 1960s, a Black female artist looking to honor the Black women who were used to perfect gynecological surgeries without anesthesia and organizers creating safe places for their Black community members.

The significant historical sites we visited included:

• Congo Square, once the site of slave auctions, is now a courtyard with sculptures celebrating Black history in America (New Orleans, LA)

• The Bryant Grocery & Meat Market, where Emmett Till whistled at white store owner Carolyn Bryant (Money, MS)

• The Tallahatchie County Courthouse, where the Emmett Till kidnapping trial took place and the not-guilty verdict was rendered for Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam (Sumner, MS)

• Whitney Planation, a preserved slave plantation, including former slave quarters, cookhouse and owner home (Wallace, LA)

• Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, highlighting stories of Mississippians such as Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Farmer, Vernon Dahmer and others who contributed to the fight for equal rights for all (Jackson, MS)

• Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, where Medgar was assassinated in his driveway for his advocacy of Black rights, especially equal access to voting (Jackson, MS)

• The Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation, dedicated to bridging divides and building the Beloved Community (Selma, AL)

• The Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after a lawyer, judge, Senator, Confederate brigadier general and a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, and where Civil Rights Activists were beaten on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, including Congressman John Lewis (Selma, AL)

• The Legacy Museum/Peace and Justice Memorial, developed by attorney and Civil Rights activist Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, educating on the history of slavery, lynching and unequal incarceration for people of color (Montgomery, AL)

• Mothers of Gynecology Monument, promoting equal medical treatment to women of color, and honoring three enslaved Black women who were subjected to repeated, non-consensual experimental surgeries by Dr. J. Marions Sims in the 1840s, which formed the foundation of modern gynecology (Montgomery, AL)

• 16th Street Baptist Church where four young Black girls–Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Addie Mae Collins–were killed by a bomb on September 15, 1963 (Birmingham, AL)

It was an informative, yet emotional tour. Walking across the Pettus Bridge felt almost like intruding upon history. Seeing the decayed architectural skeleton of the Bryant Grocery showed the purposeful neglect for a part of history that should be saved. Standing on the very driveway where Medgar Evers lost his life to an assassin was powerful and heartbreaking. Sitting in the pews of the 16th Street Baptist Church saddened me for the loss of those four beautiful little girls.

Upon my return to the Chicago area, I took some time to process all I had seen and learned. Of particular interest to me, was the tragedy of Emmett Till’s murder and the fact that no one was held accountable, even though the murderers had even admitted to taking Emmett out of his bed and were identified as being at the barn where Emmett’s torture took place. How could this have happened? What people and actions took place that allowed his killers to go free … and, after the non-guilty verdict, to sell their story for publication in Look magazine where they admitted to the crime in detail? And why does the murder of this particular Black teen-age boy continue to be discussed and written about some 70 years later?

Thus, began a two-year investigation into available research and accounts of Emmett’s murder, including memoirs by his mother (Mamie Till-Mobley) and his cousin (Simeon Wright), transcripts of the trial, books, interviews, articles, FBI transcripts, movies and blogs.

Perhaps the most informative and surprising work was a Master’s thesis written by Hugh Stephen Whitaker in 1963, called A Case Study in Southern Justice: The Murder and Trial of Emmett Till. Whitaker takes a deep-dive into the social constraints of Mississippi Blacks at the time, including the following: violence and threats for Blacks advocating for voter registration, which severely limited the Black voice in electing officials and serving on juries; blatant discrimination in job, housing and educational opportunities; a dual set of rules where whites receive deference in a discussion (Blacks may not speak or offer to shake a white man’s hand first), deference in names (calling whites by titles such as Mr., Mrs., Miss, Sir or Ma’m, but addressing blacks by their first names); Blacks being relegated to side or back doors–never the front; and a legal and cultural taboo against sexual relations and marriage between white women and Black men, which, if crossed, may lead to the death of the Black suitor even if the relationship is consensual.

Through extensive interviews with all parties involved in the kidnapping and murder–from law enforcement to attorneys–Whitaker concludes that no one on either side believed a guilty verdict would be reached in Mississippi in 1955. The belief in a strict social division between Blacks and whites had been defiled by the Brown v Board of Education ruling, which found that separate but equal educational accommodations for whites and Blacks was anything but equal, and required that states and municipalities offer the same education opportunities for both Black and white children by integrating white schools. The pushback against the prospect of Black boys going to school with young, pristine white girls, infuriated many and may have influenced the violence inflicted upon Emmett Till.

In my blog, I detail the events leading up to the incident, accounts of the Emmett’s time in the store, and the aftermath, including details of testimony at the trial. As much as possible, I have noted the source of my findings, which includes numerous books, magazine articles and interview transcripts, as well as government documents such as the findings from the 2004 investigation where Emmett’s body was exhumed and positively identified.

In the end, I am even more disturbed by the miscarriage of justice in letting Emmett’s murderers go free. My research exposed clear evidence that Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, as well as others, had kidnapped, tortured and then killed 14-year-old Emmett Till without remorse. Law enforcement in Tallahatchie, particularly Sheriff Clarence Strider, purposely undermined the defense by hiding witnesses and testifying–not for the prosecution–but for the defense. It is a disturbing part of American history which speaks to how discrimination against Blacks, especially Black men, has led to Black men being condemned although they are innocent, and white men being exonerated although they are guilty.

But I also found hope. In Mamie’s bravery to display her son’s body so “everyone can see what they did to my boy.” In Moses standing up in court to point a finger to identify J.W. Milam as one of the men who took Emmett that night. And by the fact that we continue to remember Emmett and tell his story.

(All photos are the author’s except for historical black and white images.)

World War I and the Subsequent Race Riots in America After Soldiers Returned Home

I became interested in the 1918 time period while researching my family’s history. My grandfather, Martin T. Evenson, was one of the survivors of the ill-fated Tuscania–a British luxury ocean liner ocean refurbished to carry troops to Europe to fight in France. On February 5, 1918, the ship was torpedoed by the German U-Boat UB 77 in the North Sea between Northern Ireland and Scotland. As the ship sank, survivors escaped in lifeboats or tried to swim to shore. Many were picked up by fishing boats, but others soldiers were killed by rough waves and the rocky coast of the Island of Islay. Over 200 lost their lives.

My great uncle, Private Arthur J. Evanston (9th Infantry, 2nd Division) was killed in action November 8, 1918–just 3 days before the Armistice was signed. Arthur is buried at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, near Romagne-sous-Monfaucon, in France. My grandfather did not learn of his brother’s passing until Martin returned to Wisconsin.

As I read more about the history of WWI and the events taking place in America between 1917-1920, I became fascinated. It was a period of great change and turmoil. The U.S. had reluctantly entered the war in 1917, helping the allies defeat the Germans. Suffragettes marched on Washington, some women being beaten and jailed. The “drys” won support for Prohibition–our nation’s “grand experiment.” The Great Influenza killed thousands–sometimes in a single day. The Red Scare grew as anarchists and communism appeared to threaten the American way of life.

But more disturbing to me were the stories of African Americans. Particularly in the Deep South, their rights had been stripped by “Jim Crow” laws. As black sharecroppers fought for fair treatment and payment for their toil, many were threatened or killed, with little recourse for the white perpetrators. In defiance, thousands fled north to Chicago and Detroit, in what is now known as “The Great Migration.”

The violence and injustices against blacks in this time period are not fully covered in our history books or fully known about by most Americans. I felt compelled to tell the stories of these forgotten victims and heroes.

I am writing a series of historical novels based on this time period, focusing on the little-told stories of black injustice. My first novel, (working title of The Secrets of Slow Creek), follows two women–one white and one black–who share the same town and the love of one child.

My current project is based on the Race Riots of Chicago in July-August of 1919. It follows three characters–an Irish female office worker, a black worker recently immigrated from Mississippi, and a black soldier who fought with the 370th Regiment in France who defends his neighborhood during the riots with other men from the Chicago National Guard. I am seeking representation for both novels.

Tamara Tabel is a poet, novelist and copywriter/marketer, operating her own “virtual” advertising agency. Her award-winning poetry had appeared in several literary journals, including Poetica Magazine Holocaust Edition and The Journal of Modern Poetry, where her poem “Arbeit Macht Frei: Dachau 2012” received the Silver Prize. Her non-fiction article “Journaling Through Grief” appeared in Writer’s Digest. She is an active member of the poetry community in Chicagoland, speaking, teaching and appearing at poetry readings. She was recognized as her community’s “Expert Writer in Residence.” Her education includes a B.A. in Journalism/Advertising and a Masters in Literature Certificate from the University of Chicago for completing its “Great Books Program.”

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