The Blood of Emmett Till

 Shirley J.      Adult Historical       A Historical Event Involving the lynching of a 14 year old child

 The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson    493 pages

A deeply moving, painful to read, depiction of the lynching and maiming of a 14 year old black child in Mississippi in 1955.    Emmett Till lived in Chicago with his mother.  His Uncle convinced her to let Emmett come down to stay with him and his cousins for the summer.  While there Emmett was told, "Do not speak to white people unless spoken to first.  Never look a white person in the eyes and whatever you do - do not speak to a white woman.   Emmett was used to speaking to people in Chicago which was in the north and far more liberal than 1955 Mississippi.   Maybe he forgot.   Maybe his cousins dared him.   Maybe it didn't happen at all, but, witnesses and his cousins when questioned by the law said Emmett whistled at a white woman at a cash register in a little general store not far from his Uncle's house.   The white woman in the store lied and told the story as though he practically assaulted her.   The woman's husband, brother-in-law and others went to Emmett's Uncle's house and demanded Emmett come out.   The men took Emmett that night and when his body was found in the swamp by a young man going fishing, the body was mutilated nearly beyond recognition.  He was identified by the ring (his father's) he wore on his little finger.   Emmett's mother had him laid out as he was (though the funeral director sewed his face up a little without her permission).   She wanted the world to see what was done to her son.  This book draws on new evidence and the admission of his innocence from the woman who accused him.  It is historical with a lot of research into what actually happened, when and how.     It is brutal and accurate.  I recommend this one adults who feel they can handle brutal murder details.