January 24, 2025
Somber day today visiting:
Bryant’s Grocery. Where barely-14-year-old Emmett Till allegedly whistled at/grabbed the proprietor, white woman Carolyn Bryant, in 1955. Bryant’s husband and brother-in-law kidnapped the boy and tortured him in nearby Drew, Mississippi before shooting him and dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River.
Graball Landing. There is not a consensus on where exactly Till’s body was pulled from the river, but Graball Landing is one likely possibility. Since the site was commemorated in 2008, the sign has been repeatedly vandalized/stolen/shot/replaced.
Tallahatchie County Courthouse. Where Till’s murderers, Roy Bryant and John Milam, were acquitted by a jury of white men. Protected from further prosecution by double jeopardy, Bryant and Milam confessed their guilt four months later to Look Magazine, which paid Bryant and Milam $4000 (about $47,000 in today’s money) to publish the confessions.
Note the confederate statue still standing in front of the courthouse.
The courthouse is now part of the new Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, IL, where Till’s funeral was held, is another part of this monument. I will visit that church in the future.
