Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America

by Mamie Till-Mobley, Christopher Benson

There are many heroes of the civil rights movement—men and women we can look to for inspiration. Each has a unique story, a path that led to a role as leader or activist. Death of Innocence is the heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring story of one such hero: Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till—an innocent fourteen-year-old African-American boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and who paid for it with his life. His outraged mother’s actions galvanized the civil rights movement, leaving an indelible mark on American racial consciousness.

Mamie Carthan was an ordinary African-American woman growing up in 1930s Chicago, living under the strong, steady influence of her mother’s care. She fell in love with and married Louis Till, and while the marriage didn’t last, they did have a beautiful baby boy, Emmett.

In August 1955, Emmett was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped from his bed in the middle of the night by two white men and brutally murdered. His crime: allegedly whistling at a white woman in a convenience store. His mother began her career of activism when she insisted on an open-casket viewing of her son’s gruesomely disfigured body. More than a hundred thousand people attended the service. The trial of J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, accused of kidnapping and murdering Emmett (the two were eventually acquitted of the crime), was considered the first full-scale media event of the civil rights movement.

What followed altered the course of this country’s history, and it was all set in motion by the sheer will, determination, and courage of Mamie Till-Mobley—a woman who would pull herself back from the brink of suicide to become a teacher and inspire hundreds of black children throughout the country.

Mamie Till-Mobley, who died in 2003 just as she completed this memoir, has honored us with her full testimony: “I focused on my son while I considered this book. . . . The result is in your hands. . . . I am experienced, but not cynical. . . . I am hopeful that we all can be better than we are. I’ve been brokenhearted, but I still maintain an oversized capacity for love.” Death of Innocence is an essential document in the annals of American civil rights history, and a painful yet beautiful account of a mother’s ability to transform tragedy into boundless courage and hope.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Memoir, Race, African American, Crime

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think my heart is breaking.

"How can this country be a world leader if it can't lead at home, if it can't protect its own citizens and guarantee full equality?"

Why did it take this long? SHAME

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The requisite stuff: Would I recommend this book? Definitely yes! I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in writings about the civil rights movement & the forces that caused the 1960s period of mass movements, demonstrations & the fight for civil & human rights in the south. I would also recommend it to anyone interested in conditions in the South during this time period...it is an eye opener.

A very good book; it is the story told by the mother of Emmett Till, the 15 year old boy from Chicago who goes to visit relatives in Mississippi and comes home in a coffin. The death of Emmett Till pretty much captured the world's attention, calling attention to the plight of African-Americans in the white supremacist South. This is the story of Emmett Till himself, his mother and her pursuit of truth & justice.

In August of 1955, Emmett Till went down to visit his uncle Moses & other relatives. He was just an average boy from Chicago; raised by his mom and grandmother, he was a nice, helpful boy who never had any problems except for a speech impediment. Never involved with the law, never said an unkind word and was genuinely liked by everyone with whom he came into contact. He begged his mom to let him go to Mississippi that summer and she let him go. The next time she saw him, he had arrived home on the City of New Orleans, the train, in a coffin, sealed with orders not to be opened. But Mamie had to know what had happened to her boy, so had the coffin opened and collapsed when she waw Emmett's remains.

It seems that Emmett had been out with his cousins & they made the fatal mistake of going to a local store in Money Mississippi where he bought bubble gum and talked to the owner's wife. This led directly to his unfortunate and uncalled-for death; but while Emmett's death caused an outrage for many, there were still those who saw it as justifiable homicide.

The book is basically told in two parts. The first part consists of Mamie's life and her life with Emmett, so that the reader gets to know both mother and son. Part one takes you to the death of Emmett Till. Part two is more about Mamie & her involvement in trying to get justice not just for her son, but for African-Americans in the south in general who were victims of civil/human rights abuses by white supremacists & segregationists.

Told in a very no-nonsense yet not strident tone, Death of Innocence is a wonderful book and one that should not be missed. I highly recommend it.

[reneeNaDaCherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed from the library and I'm glad that I did. This was a strong woman to show the world her pain and to tell the story of losing her only child, Emmett Till, to kidnapping and murder by the 'good ole boys' of the deep South in Money, MS. That event stirred the nation to act and as a consequence pushed forward several civil rights laws for social, legal, and political changes. Ms. Mamie found contentment in going back to college, receiving her BA and MA, to teaching young people and guiding them to a better way of thinking, living life and loving on one another. Superb!

I would recommend others to expose themselves to a mother's love by reading this book. Definitely a five ***** rating.

[Mississippi Library Commission · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I looked at it, discrimination was somebody else's problem... That's all Bo would know. In time, he would also know whites, children in school, even adults he would do business with. We made sure he would never be self-conscious around them. He would not see the signs, or the attitudes behind the facades. For him, they would not exist. There would come a time, though, when that strength would make him vulnerable.

Mamie Till-Mobley's only child, Emmett Louis Till, was murdered by white racists in Mississippi on this day, August 28, in 1955. This is her insightful story: of being black, of being a woman, of having a sheltered childhood and a difficult birthing and impossible husbands. The legendary Emmett Till becomes so much more than a historical figure in the hands of his mother and a living, breathing boy steps from the pages. The horrors that he and his mother endured also spring to life, so beware--this can be a tough read at times. It's worth it, though, to stick with it until the end. Till-Mobley's spirit and soul are beautiful. We could all take a page from her book.

[Ellen Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will move you like no other. I did not know of the story of Emmett Till until I read this book, let alone that his murder is one of the inspirations for Rosa Parks not to move to the back of the bus. Amazing story and amazing woman, Mamie Till-Mobley....a must read for everyone in my opinion.

[J.H. Moncrieff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a phenomenal, strong, intelligent, powerful woman Mamie Till-Mobley was. Her bravery, and her strength, are awe-inspiring.

I hope she's with her son now.

[Adriane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true gripping account of what really happened to Emmett Till on that fateful Summer in Mississippi. I read this book mainly because the site of the grisly murder, is my husband's birthplace and after researching some things about Money, Mississippi- I wanted to know the truth from the one person who could tell it - Emmett's mother. This is an eye-opening look at what happened, who conspired to cover-up the truth and the how their lives were changed from that day forward.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hard book to review because of it's subject. It's really heartbreaking. I had to put this book down often, just to let myself deal with the content. I can't imagine how it would have been to live through this. This is an important read for everyone. It doesn't focus a lot on the actual killing of Emmett, and instead looks at his life and how his mother Mamie helped to fight for justice for others, even though she never got it for her son.

[Maya B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a beautiful and powerful memoir. I am so glad Mamie Till was able to tell her truth before she died. Emmett Till was a young boy whose life was cut short by senseless hate. Every generation needs to read this book.

[Chelsey]

It took me a long time to finish this book. The first half traces Emmett Till's upbringing, through the loving, tender lens of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, as well as Till-Mobley's own youth. Her regard for her son is palpable; she takes him seriously, and their relationship is specific, symbiotic, and essentially lovely. The more emotionally invested I became, the more difficult it was to keep approaching the devastation I knew, by the very nature of this memoir, was coming: the brutal lynching of Emmett, miles from his mother, at the age of 14.

So, I took a few months off—a luxury Mamie Till-Mobley herself, of course, couldn't have chosen, to hit pause on the whole thing. I, too, know that that's not how it works. While Emmett's murder was racialized in a certain and devastating way that my father's wasn't, and while MTM lost her son as opposed to her parent, much about her experience of sending her son off to Mississippi, dread deep in her gut, resonated with my own of watching my father leave for his final trip to the Caribbean. Knowing I would be re-feeling all of this myself in addition to entering into MTM's own, keen grief, it was hard to continue. But, eventually I told myself that if she had to live this trauma, the least I could do was read her account of it. As expected, these chapters—Emmett's initial disappearance, the piecemeal updates sent to Chicago from the South, the found body, the returned body, Till-Mobley identifying her mutilated, murdered son, ankle by teeth by missing ear—wrung my fucking heart out.

Too often, Black women are dispossessed of the tenderness, pain, and vulnerability that constitute actual human emotional experience. We are not allowed the full spectrum of emotion without becoming weak or defective in some way. The same goes further for Black mothers; it's incredibly painful to read about the ways Mamie Till-Mobley, after her son's tragic death, had not only to put up with callous white southerners doubting her grief, her loss, her intentions, her very motherhood, but also the imperative placed upon her by the nation's gaze to act perfectly: did she cry enough in the trial, or too much? Was she greedy to ask the NAACP for fair compensation for the speaking tour she undertook under their authority, in order to increase their membership, after Emmett's death? Was she respectable? What about her divorces? Oh, but her father accompanied her to the trial; that must count for something. On the other hand, she dressed up pretty smartly; that seems suspect…and so on.

Point being, Mamie Till-Mobley's grief, her authentic presence, her very being, was subject to such heartless judgment in the time of her most excruciating heartbreak. And she bore up. She bore up under it all, criticism from all sides, all on top of the loss of her beloved only son, the shattering of her very world. She didn't have to, but she did, and for that, we should all be grateful.

After all, it was her decision to leave Emmett's casket open, an act of visibility, truth-telling, and defiance that served as a major spark to the Civil Rights Movement: "Let the world see what I've seen," she remarked to the press at the time. Mamie Till-Mobley refused to bear the pain of this white supremacist violence alone. She refused to let Jim Crow get away with its evil, again. She refused to let her son die quietly. She demanded her right to grief, to restitution, to self-articulation, and ultimately, to love.

I am fortunate to be working on a term paper about this memoir/Mamie Till-Mobley, and am deeply humbled by her courage, poise, grace, and determination. This text should be widely read.

[Madison Raska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most Americans, one assumes , know who Emmett Till was: a 14 year-old African-American boy who was murdered and brutally mutilated for allegedly whistling at a white girl in Money Mississippi in the summer of 1955. Few know anything more about the boy or the travesty of the murder. Death of Innocence is a more difficult read - a reminder of out not-too-distant past, and of who we Americans are.

The book is Emmett's story - and that of his mother - written in what I can only assume is her voice: it is plain, simple, and almost bursts with a mother’s pride, love and joy for her son. This, of course, makes the reading all more powerful and tragic reading her reaction and emotions upon learning of the death of her son. The book is also the story of the Civil Rights Movement - of what the Jim Crow south was like, of its petty indignities, the daily injustices African-Americans had to face, and of brutal realities those who did not “play by the rules” faced. For me, these were equally powerful - Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, or Brown v. Board (the Supreme Court decision ironically handed down the same year of Emmett’s death.) This is a reminder that it was much more about who gets to eat or sit where.

The first quarter of the book is a bite dull as Mamie Till shares the minutiae and details of Emmett’s growing up; this later serves to heighten the emotional impact of her loss. The retelling Mamie gave her son before he went to Mississippi to visit family is chilling: always respond with ‘Ma���am” or “Sir” when speaking to a white person. Don’t look white folks in the eye. When a white approaches, step off the sidewalk into the street, look down, and don’t look back when they pass. its “yes’ and “no” - never “yeah” or “nah.” A shock, then, when two men, armed, literally took Emmett from his uncle’s house at 2 am. His body was later recovered from the Tallahatchie river.

The details of his burial - and Mamie’s courage to give her son an open casket funeral - shocking to the rest of the world and an embarrassment to Mississippi - made for difficult reading. More outrageous was the way in which the two men who abducted Emmett became victims in the Southern press; more appalling was the Sheriff’s connection that perhaps the body recovered wasn’t even Emmett’s. (Never mind it was sent to an African-American undertaker, something no white in the Jim Crow south would have done.) Most outrageous and infuriating of all was the defense of the accused: of the five attorneys in the county, all wanted to help the defendants.
Both were acquitted of any wrong-doing.

In the early 21st century, we like to think we live in a “post-racial” nation. for a growing number of Americans, the Civil Rights movement is as much ancient history as the Civil War or the Crusades. However, Emmett Till would be over 61 today had he lived. These events did not happen too long ago. As uncomfortable, humiliating or painful as these injustices done to Americans by Americans were, we owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to Emmett Till's memory not to forget them. At the same time, it is a necessary read. I highly recommend this book.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from a friend, and I wish I didn’t have to return it! Such a moving story. Written in a style that captivates your attention and makes you long to hear more. As Emmett’s mother repeatedly said, family is so important and, oh, does she make you feel like you’re at a family reunion the entire time you’re reading it.

I’ve heard about Emmett Till originally in high school, but nothing beyond the tragic event that caused his death and the events that happened after. But this story brings Emmett to life. She tells you everything about Emmett before his trip to Mississippi and makes you love him as if you knew him personally.

Although she told us about the young boy who laughed, worked hard, told stories, dreamed, held himself with contagious confidence, held responsibilities beyond his years, and deeply loved everyone around him — this was also her story. She had so much wisdom to share with the world. This book is a glimpse of that. She was a teacher, but her strength, vulnerability, resilience, and openness are moments when she taught by example and not by following a lesson plan.

What an amazing book to wrap up 2018.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of the book is about getting to know Emmett and who he was as a young boy. He was a person, not just a name, who should still be alive today. Knowing his fate made reading the book take a little longer. It was hard to read how much Mamie loved her son, how her world revolved around him, how she had molded him into the outgoing, self-confident young man he was, knowing it was going to suddenly come to a violent end.
Even after seeing the Emmett Till exhibit at the National Museum of African American History in DC and the picture of his body, I wasn't prepared for Mamie's description of identifying his body.
The book was written 20 years ago, Emmett was lynched 68 years ago, but where we are as a nation today it's scary to think we may be regressing.
The book brought out a lot of emotions that are going to take a while to process.

[Nandi Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, written by Mrs Mobley not too long before her passing, told (finally)her side of her story. From being born in a small Mississippi town, to moving to Argo, Illinois as a small child. She married Emmett's father before he went to war, and he was killed for supposedly raping a woman just before the war ended. Having to raise Emmett, she worked at getting better employment, and decided in 1955, to send her son on a summer trip south to Mississippi. He never returned and it changed her life forever.

[Elena Jaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Extremely sad but inspirational and full of motivation.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could give the book 3.5. There were parts where I got tired of what sounded like her "tooting her own horn" in places, but at the same time, I found myself admiring her and wishing I could have met her. I had no idea how instrumental she was in the early stages of the Civil Rights movement. The story is fascinating, and really should be required reading.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 5 out of 5]

On August 28, 1955, a very well liked and exceedingly well loved 14 year old young boy by the name of Emmitt Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi. Living in Chicago with his mother and family, he had not experienced the sadistic, well ingrained hated of blacks in the south and in the Mississippi Delta in particular. He convinced his mother to allow him to have a vacation with family members who lived in a rural area called Money Mississippi.

Reminding her son to say yes sir and yes mam to all whites when in the south, she had grave reservations of allowing him to leave, but still wanted to respect his wishes to visit relatives. On that fateful day in August, he innocently went to a store and bought bubble gum. Buying bubble gum cost his life. When it was said he flirted with the owner's wife and whistled, all hell broke loose. Supposedly, as a story was fabricated, he bragged that he had dated a white woman.

Later that night, white and black men came to take him away. At approximately 2 a.m. a loud banging and shouting occurred at his uncle's house as the white men systematically went from room to room until finding and dragging Emmett away. The black men remained in the background, but later were identified.

When his body was found in the Tallahatchie River , it was barely recognizable. So severely beaten, his swollen tongue and face was bloated beyond recognition. A bullet hole was in the skull, but it appeared to have been shot after he was already dead from the horrific beating.

Difficult to recognize his body, except, for his mother, who, sadly when she fought for the body to be returned to Chicago, and as she systematically looked at her little boys feet, then legs allowing her eyes to reluctantly work their way up to his face, she knew it was her boy beyond a doubt. The ring she gave him that was his father's was still on his swollen finger.

The bravery and tenacity of Emmett's mother was incredible. She demanded an open casket so that those who wanted to attend the service could witness just what was done to her innocent son. The undertaker begged her not to do this, she insisted that the world should witness the barbarity. Except for placing Emmett's eye back in the socket, the body remained as it was. Thousands walked past the casket, most weeping, some losing consciousness.

Hailed as the spark that began the Civil Rights movement, Emmett's death was not in vain. Rosa Parks is said to have thought of Emmett Till as she refused to give up her seat on the bus -- another brave action that carried blacks forward, risking their lives for their convictions and desire ofr a decent, fair life.

The trial was a farce. The white men were found innocent. The defense team even went so far as to intimate that Emmett's mother had an insurance policy and perhaps either he was killed so she could collect the insurance money, or the body found was not Emmett's.

Bravely there were black people who testified, at the risk of their lives, that they saw Emmett taken to a shed and heard "lots of licks" and terrible screams of pain. In addition, they witnessed that the white men who were accused had taken the body in a tarp, placing in in the back of a green truck.

Still, the all white, male jury rendered an innocent verdict.

The later part of the book focuses on Mamie's life after her beloved son was murdered. She made hundreds of speeches and was a powerful presence in advocating an end to the hatred and unfair system that allowed this to happen.

Mamie went on to obtain a college degree and became a teacher, changing the lives of many. It was her faith that kept her strong.

This is a powerful book.

Five stars!

[Desiree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the shock-and-awe memoir you might think it will be, this is more tactfully an homage to Emmett Till and Mamie's mother wrapped up in Mamie's autobiography. She gives details of horrific events and just enough insight into the trial to make you want to read the reporters' published accounts. At some points, rambling, but Mamie's philosphies and knack for storytelling are addictive and you find yourself pushing through the slow parts. Very uplifting and her Christlike response to such abuse is edifying.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for every American.

This is a devastating but needed book about a murder we should always remember. Unfortunately...many have never heard of Emmet Till. Written by his mother, this book makes the young man come alive and the reader will feel the loss of so bright a future and so kind a soul. The darkness of this murder, and the acquittal of the murders will outrage. Read, reflect and decide is this who we still are?

[Susan Emmet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've long known about Emmett Till's death, but am blown away by this memoir. Edited by Christopher Benson, Mamie Till-Mobley's voice and stories are brought to bright light. Her mother's hand in her life, Emmett's difficult birth, his battle with polio and stuttering, his devotion to his mother, the loss of his father, the horrific torture and murder of Emmett and Mamie's lifelong quest to "deal with it without hatred" are parts of a remarkable story.
Mamie crashed and recovered her equilibrium often during her long life. Her decision to return to school to teach, her hard love devotion to her students, and her willingness to often go to speak about her son, the acquittal of his murderers, the necessity of addressing injustice without hatred, and her support of other mothers and families whose loved ones were lynched, tortured, murdered without impunity or consequence marks her with love for life.
Mamie's life encompassed so many other people committed to the civil rights movement. She speaks of them with admiration and love.
She was raised to be open-minded, firm, fair, devoted, giving and disciplined and she was all that and more.
And when her body began to break, her voice remained secure and clear.
I'm glad Benson was able to interview her and help this memoir come to life before she died.

[Nicole Capogna · Rating 3 out of 5]

"They might have won a battle, but they were about to lose the war. Things would never be the same again. No one could plead ignorance. Everyone has to take responsibility for what our society had become. Anybody who did anything to make it happen. Anybody who did nothing to stop it from happening. There could no longer be any innocent bystanders. For an entire nation, the murder of Emmett Till marked the death of innocence".
This was written in 2002 about events that occurred in 1955 which is distressing and devastating... nonetheless - the book is not as well written as I wanted, and it's quite spiritual in a way I struggled to get into.

[Soraya Keiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful, so many parts gave me pause or chills. I think the fact that Emmett Till was lynched less than 70 years ago is what makes this even harder to process. Mamie Till-Mobley's faith is astounding, and her voice rings clear throughout this entire autobiography. Despite the subject matter, the ending gave me hope (& almost made me cry).

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mamie Mobley-Till’s life story is so relatable - except the horrific lynching of her son - which makes this such a powerful read. It is also a moving testimony of the peace-giving power of God.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

TAKEAWAYS....
- Mamie seems like a very nice woman, great sense of humor and self deprecation
- Emmett's first word was Jell-O, ha
- every mother talks up their children but Emmett seemed like a really good kid; multiple anecdotes and examples made him seem like a legitimately good kid
- "...maybe that’s why they called it “the birds and the bees” because, I mean, really, that was for the birds." 😂
- slow motion train wreck, reading about how she raised "Bo" and adored him when you know how horribly it ended for him
- never gave him "the talk" about being a young black man in the south so he was naïve to the hatred in the South back then, lived in an area where everyone respected each other and mingled together
- opening his casket to look at him and it was so overwhelming that she had to redirect her eyes to his feet, studying his ankles which were thinner then hers were and that's how she verified it was him
- "With all the grisly things I had just witnessed in silence, it was that one bullet hole that finally caused me to speak. 'Did they have to shoot him?' I mean, he had to be dead by then." / as a mother having to see this, DAMN
- The defense attorney insinuating that Mamie had her own son killed in order to collect insurance pay-out; that dude has his own circle of hell
- So what ended up being the linchpin to get them off was the defense put doubt into the juror's minds that the body pulled from the water was actually Emmett's
- "There was so much concern back then about communism. I heard that J. Edgar Hoover said that I was a little 'pink.' I didn’t even know what that meant when I first heard it. But it was chilling when I finally realized how even little things like that 'Cotton Curtain' remark I would make in my speeches might be misconstrued in ways that could be used against me. And to think, if Mr. J. Edgar Hoover had spent more time trying to build a federal case against Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam, and less time trying to make Communists out of law-abiding citizens, then maybe there would have been at least two more cold-blooded killers taken off the streets."
- Tallahatchie County had a population of eleven thousand whites and nineteen thousand blacks. Almost twice as many blacks as whites, but not a single black person in that entire county was registered to vote.
- The flack Mamie took from the NAACP later on is reminiscent of all the families that BLM has claimed to help and get called out for providing NOTHING of value but enriching themselves in the process; looks like no matter what changes, so much stuff stays the same when it comes to people running organizations that claim to help victims
- After the two d-bags were acquitted of Emmett's murder, they gave a "sanitized" interview to "Look" magazine with the approval of their lawyers, knowing they couldn't be tried again for murder; Mamie's heartbreak that it was "The Story" that most people went by for years was really sad AND THOSE D-BAGS GOT PAID $4K
- Emmett's murder had quite a bit to do with the formation of federal civil rights legislation
- Mamie was an impressive woman, graduating college after Emmett's murder in 3.5 years and "Cum Laude" of all things!
- Mami's life after Emmett's murder was a life of constant service and purpose, both as a school teacher, shoulder to lean on for other victim families and advocate for justice
- Only "complaint" from me was that towards the end of her life it was very obvious that she was being used as more of a political pawn than as the grieving mother she truly was and her naivete made her an easy target. To have politicians use her story for political gain is incredibly disingenuous but still, what an incredible woman.

[Lady Makaveli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book numerous times... And though I often think as I read or after I've read that a book should be mandatory reading or part of America's schools "must read" list...This one definitely is beyond a doubt one of those books, it also is different. The story Mamie Till-Mobley tells of her son is a story is too important not to be heard and his mother was too brave in surviving, let alone writing about the atrocious murder of her son, for me to simply say the book would simply 'be good if it were'. There is no "would be good" -it's more of a question of, why is it NOT required reading? Maybe books and stories such as this are exactly what America needs -especially in schools predominately white- so children may therefore identify and understand the pain and unfair world America is for some citizens. Maybe then white people who are not blessed enough to grow up in a diverse area would be able to at least start life off with a more compassionate attitude. One more willing to listen to other people than what they are exposed to, for example.
Emmet Till's story should be MANDATORY reading; I hope a few of those who claim to hate others for a color or tone of skin are simply ignorant and mimicking some older bigot in their family. if so, perhaps reading what racism and the mindless hate it is only bring about sick and perverse torture and murder... Whether they change or not, every last soul needs to know his story and what these racist hate filled beings did to him, a child. it hurts,and hearing his mother tell her sons life and death story is heartbreaking...
But it isn't history sadly. in a different way, underground and covered up, this same , sort of evil exists in painful plain site. when are we going to MAKE change happen !? perhaps this book will remind more people that the time is now... No death was in vain...

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't the most well written book I've ever read, but it is a story everyone should be familiar with. I first learned about Emmett Till when I was in graduate school, which is pretty horrifying. I think everyone should be familiar with his story and what it came to represent. Reading it through the words of his mother is a different kind of story all together. She details what life was like for her as she became a mother and as she raised Emmett. Half of the book or more is focused on this time period. She describes what Emmett was like as a child and the events of her life surrounding his childhood and through when he was starting to become a man.

That is obviously when his life was taken from him, and she tells the story of what she was working with others to do to seek justice for what Emmett. It's so easy not to realize all that went on during that time and how it was all so interconnected and how it's changed our world for the better even now.

The later parts of the book are devoted to her life after the death of Emmett and the trial of his killers, how she spent her remaining time trying to tell others his story and work toward social change. Interestingly enough, she views her role in that to be simultaneously small and huge. She wasn't doing much in the way of major speaking engagements for a lot of that time, but she was working with children. She was teaching. She was spending time with students, helping them understand their potential and the power they could have in the world as they grew up and went on to touch lives in their own ways. Perhaps this is the greatest gift of Mamie Till--to understand that no matter how far or wide your reach, what you say and how you touch others is the most important thing of all.

[Dewin Anguas Barnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the most powerful I have ever read for two reasons. First, Christopher Benson, who edited the book, did a perfect job of keeping Mother Mobley's voice her own throughout. When I closed this book, I felt like I had literally met her. Her storytelling at times seems to go on tangents until you realize how it all comes together to paint this completely thorough picture of not just Emmett, but of her and her entire family and those who came together in Emmett's spirit. It highlights the real heroes of the civil rights movement, people like Mose Wright and Willie Reed who pointed their fingers at the faces of pure hatred and racism and put their lives on the line to honor not just a 14-year-old boy, but justice itself.

But the best thing about this book is that when you close it, you are filled with a joy that you have never known. Who would've thought that would come from a book about such a horrible situation and time. But this woman was truly a beacon of light and hope beyond any other. She took the absolute worst pain and turned it into something meaningful. She challenges us all not to become selfish victims but to push through and be the bringers of light. She gave the world a gift of honesty and love. I am so thankful to have "known" Mamie Mobley in this small but powerful way.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I finished the book I recalled Mother Mobley's remarks about a speech she had to give in one of her college courses when they were assigned to give a eulogy. Naturally she delivered a eulogy for her beloved son and when her speech was over another student asked what grade she would receive. The instructor, who she said was particularly hard on her, said to grade it would diminish it. I feel the same way about the book, though it is a five star read no matter what.

You can see the rest of my thoughts on the book over on my blog: https://allthebookblognamesaretaken.b...

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

In spite of the horrible content, this book is incredibly wonderful. It's a testament to just how much good can come out of something unbearable. At the beginning of the story, the photo of Emmett Till on the front cover was just that: a photo. At the end, looking at that photo was like looking at someone I knew.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERY Real

If your not ready for real, raw, and heartbreaking truth don't even bother. Unfortunately there is still too much if this still going on in the USA today. When do you think we'll wake up?

"You will know them by the love they show one another".