Photo from CNN.
Today is Emmett Till's eighty-second birthday.
Unfortunately, because of the racists (and what we call white nationalists today) in 1955 Mississippi that kidnapped, tortured, and murdered him, he is not alive to celebrate it.
Or attend with members of his family the White House Ceremony today where President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, signed a proclamation authorizing the creation of three monuments (one in Illinois and two in Mississippi) that honor his and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley's, contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
For those not familiar with what happened to Emmett Till in 1955, he was a 14-year-old child from Illinois, who while on a trip to family in Mississippi, was kidnapped by the racist husband of a woman Till allegedly made inappropriate comments, gestures, and touches towards.
The husband and an accomplice proceeded to torture, mutilate, and kill the 14-year-old, dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River.
The discovery of the body, funeral (where Till's mother Mamie insisted on an open casket so people could see what the brutes did to her son,) and sham trial where the jury acquited the two murderers, along with the journalistic zeal of the Black Press of the period, contributed to the rising Civil Rights Movement in that historical period.
In the ceremony today (July 25, 2023,) both Vice President Harris and President Biden relayed the tragedy of Emmett Till as a lesson that should be learned from and not minimized or erased as some White Nationalist MAGA extremists would prefer.
In her remarks, Vice President Harris said the tragedy of Emmett Till and the fight for justice her mother pursued afterward was:
"Their stories continue to inspire our collective fight for justice...Our history as a nation is born of tragedy and truimph. Of struggle and success. That is who we are. And as people who love our country as patriots, we know that we must remember and teach our full history, even when it is painful, especially when it is painful. Today, there are those in our nation who would prefer to erase or even rewrite the ugly parts of our past. Those that attempt to teach that enslaved people benefited from slavery. Those who insult us in an attempt to gaslight us. Who try to divide our nation with unnecessary debates. Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget. We will be better if we remember. We will be stronger if we remember. Because we all here know it is only by understanding and learning from our past that we can continue to work together to build a better future..."
In his remarks, President Biden said he was trying to "temper his anger" when writing his speech, saying:
"I can't fathom. I can't fathom what it must have been like (for Till.) It's hard to believe I was 12 years old and I know that no matter how much time has passed. How many birthdays. How many events. How many anniversaries. It's hard to relive this. It brings it all back as if it happened yesterday. The images in your head. The things you remember..."
He further stated about the Till tragedy:
"The country and the world saw about Emmett Till and his mother as a story of a family's promise and loss in a nation's reckoning with hate, violence, racism, overwhelming abuse of power, and brutality...Today we join together as I sign a proclamation designating Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley National Monument in both Illinois and Mississippi...At a time when those who seek to ban books bury history, we're making it clear, crystal clear. While darkness and denialism can hide much, they erase nothing...We can't just choose to learn what we want to know. We have to learn what we should know. We should know about our country. We should know everything. The good, the bad, and the truth of who we are as a nation. That's what great nations do and we are a great nation. That's what they do. For only with truth comes healing, justice, repair, and another step forward toward forming a more perfect union. We got a hell of a long way to go... Look. Telling the truth and the full history of our nation is important... Hate never goes away. It just hides. It hides under the rocks and given a little bit of oxygen by bad people, it comes roaring out again. It's up to all of us to deal with that. It is up to all of us to stop it...The best way to do it is with the truth. Silence is complicity. I will not be silent nor will you be silent about what happened..."
In his closing comments, the President saluted the efforts of the Black Press from that era who wrote the first draft of history regarding the Till Tragedy, relaying:
"The reason the world saw what Mrs. Till Mobley saw was because another hero in this story. The Black Press...Jet Magazine. The Chicago Defender. Other newspapers and radio announcers who told the story. Were unflinching in the bravery in which they told that story, making sure America saw what they saw. Ida B. Wells once said 'the way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. The way to right wrongs is to shine the light of truth on them.' That's our charge today."
President Biden and Vice President Harris are right.
"Telling the truth and the full history of our nation is important."
"Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget."
Knowledge over Ignorance.
Light over Darkness.
Truth over Lies.
The totality of details over cherry-picked fragments.
Historical Literacy over Cultural Amnesia.
Never Forget.
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