The murder of Emmett Till has proven over the years to be an enduring take on humankind’s injustice to one another. This inhumanity has not gone unnoticed or unanswered by African Americans. Agitation against lynching and other forms of extrajudicial justice against African Americans has always been particularly important to Black women, especially Black mothers.
The daring exploits of Ida B. Wells who, in the late 19th century, brought attention through her writings and activism to the gruesome practice of lynching and it’s connection to white supremacy and notions of pure white femininity are well known. Wells a mother, business owner and tireless advocate for Black progress, understood what was at stake and broadcasted her findings to the world. The Scottsboro mothers, the mothers or 9 boy falsely accused of raping two white women on a boxcar near Scottsboro, Alabama in the 1930s, galvanized national and international opinion to highlight the plight of their sons. Mamie Mobley Till, rather than an anomaly, followed in the footsteps of her foremothers and in doing so memorialized her son for the ages. The movie Till captures the essence of a mother and child’s relationship. and in doing so earns a 5 star rating.
At the center of the film Till are two defining elements: the tenacity of a mother to preserve the memory of her son and the desire to humanize an African American child and to demonstrate he was a human being deserving of respect and honor and that his life mattered—- Black Lives Matter. These two elements are constantly on display throughout the film. Led by a strong cast featuring Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till, Sean Patrick as Gene Mobley, Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till, Whoopi Goldberg and Frankie Faison as Till’s grandparents, and John Douglass Thompson as Mose Wright, and Keisha Tillis as Elizabeth Wright, this movie thrills with potent realism and deep empathy with Till’s murder and the structural racism that engenders it. The quality of the acting exceeds the standard cinematic experience. Here, given the strength of the cast, it seems more like an onstage play. The character development is rich and deep and each character comes alive in vivid and vibrant ways.
Mamie Till is a presence throughout the film. Her character moves seamlessly from a loving, doting mother to a fierce and undeterred advocate for her son. Her protectiveness is on display as she muses and frets over the decision to allow Emmett to travel to Mississippi. She says repeatedly that they (she and her son) have never been separated from one another. Persuaded by her mother to allow him to go, Mamie quickly realizes it is a mistake. Alerted that Emmett is missing, she reaches out to the Chicago’s Black power structure and the NAACP. Chicago had a large Black middle class and like New York was well-established as a site for Black social, cultural, political, and economic power. When she is informed of Emmett’s death and discovery in the river, one of the most poignant scenes in the movie unfolds. Mamie falls to the ground and the whole room is convulsed in grief.
Grief quickly turns to concerted action and determination. Mamie seems stotic in her indignation regarding her son’s death. She insists he must not be buried in Mississippi and his body should be returned to Chicago. The film recreates the arrival of Till’s body in a pine box. Mamie is inconsolable as she greets the coffin and bursts into tears and wails uncontrollably. While viewing her son’s disfigured body at the funeral home, she decides to have an open casket funeral. The film, like Mamie Till, does not flinch in showing a recreation of Till’s disfigured body. The crime and its result are unvarnished and displayed in its entirety. The recreation of the mourners who viewed Till’s disfigured body at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago is also lifelike. We as viewers feel as though we are in Roberts Temple in what seems to be a never ending line of mourners. The emotions are palatable and the grief is real.We can hear and feel the wailing and lamentations. It is enough to make the angels in heaven weep.
Another example of the film’s potent realism is Mamie’s testimony during Emmett’s trial in Mississippi. She travels to Mississippi with her father. She meets Medgar Evers played by Tosin Cole and journeys to Mound Bayou. Mound Bayou is an an all black town in the Delta founded by Isiash Montgomery in the aftermath of the Civil War. While there Mamie stays with Dr T.R.M. Howard, a black physician, prominent civil rights leader and founder in the 1950s of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, who is ably portrayed by veteran film and stage actor Roger Guenveur Smith. Howard paid all of Mamie Till’s expenses and lodged not only her but other Black participants in the trial at his home. Here we see the underpinnings of civil rights activism in Mississippi. Howard’s home is spacious and surrounded by armed guards. He also escorted Mamie and others in caravans with heavily armed guards from the courthouse and back to his home during the trial. Howard’s home/ compound was ground zero for the African American fight for civil rights in Mississippi. While there, Mamie meets Myrlie Evers portrayed by Jamie Lawson. The two women talk about their families and trade stories of love and loss.
The Till murder trial is just as riveting as the murder. The courtroom scenes from the frisking of the Black participants and guests at the door, to the enforced segregation in the courtroom, to the sheriff’s announcement that he has reserved seats in the front for the n-word folks with a gun strapped to his waist, sets a tone of injustice. These realties are compounded by the sheriff’s testimony that Emmett Till’s body was unidentifiable and his death was a hoax concocted by his mother. Mamie’s testimony works to humanize her son. She deflates the idea that he is a man, which is a mythology used to dehumanize Black children making them older and by extension deserving of any punishment they receive. She also challenges any idea that Emmett was familiar with white women or would brazenly assault a white woman in any way. Recognizing that the odds are stacked against her, she does not stay for the verdict.
As much as Mamie humanizes her son through a collective set of purposeful actions, Emmett Till also comes alive in this film in untold ways. All too often we see pictures of Emmett as a young boy in a hat or in another famous picture next to his mother. But those images are the most we see of Till. The movie shows us Emmett’s life in Chicago. We see a jovial, happy go lucky child full of expectation and promise. He is adored by his mother, grandparents and his step father. A bit of a prankster, as viewers we come away with the firm understanding that he is a child not unlike any other young boy of this age. His brightness carries through the movie even as he seems on a collision course with his fate. His smile is endearing as we see him with his mother at the train station leaving for Mississippi.
In Mississippi, we see Emmett in the cotton field with relatives picking cotton. Even in Bryant’s Grocery store, the site and cause of his ultimate demise, we see a young boy innocently making conversation with an older white woman. His inner light shines brightly. We see what is good and wholesome about him. His innocence is frozen in time. While we see Emmett’s abduction and murder and his mutilated corpse in the funeral home and in the open casket, that is not our final impression.
As the move ends, Mamie Till is in her son’s room. Her fight continues and we see Emmett, in a dreamlike sequence, again in vibrant colors with a bright shirt and an even brighter smile. There he stands with his classic hat and with his vibrant presence. Mamie smiles and hugs him. In this instance, we know his spirit lives on and the cause he ignited is eternal and a mother’s love and connection to her offspring cannot ever be denied or end. It is as constant as the seasons and as unending as the eternal quest for human dignity. Till places a mother love on full display and venerates the object of her affection, her son. It is like nothing I have seen before, and it represents the ability of film to touch the deep heartstrings of our shared humanity.
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Previously Published on Historian Speaks
Image U.S. Department of Agriculture on Flickr
