Name: The Blood of Emmett Till
ISBN: 9781476714844

Timothy B. Tyson

Draws on firsthand testimonies and recovered court transcripts to present a scholarly account of the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till and its role in launching the civil rights movement.

The Blood of Emmett Till

Amanda Castaneda

** spoiler alert **
           This book brought to life the story we all heard of growing up in Chicago. When we learned it in school we didn’t focus on the political or social environment detailed in this book. 

I had been taught POC were denied the right to vote but once it was passed I to law, that was that. The author goes into detail regarding the efforts made by government officials and private citizens alike, denying people their rights. I thank GOD for the people willing to face death for what they deserved. The details of what happened at the end brought me to tears. Not only for him but all the nameless black people that had fallen victim to such monstrous people and actions. 

Just my thoughts but I feel like this happened at the just the right time in history, to a strong and selfless mother. If it were me I could not fathom speaking at all. I would probably be shattered in spirit/mind/body for the rest of my life. But she and many in her position were able to grab it and displayed it for all to see. My feeling is that this was the first time people were able to grieve together and so publicly for their loved ones. I’m sure at this point there wasn’t a black person around south who didn’t suffer lynching of a loved one, friend, or acquaintance. For them to openly scream for justice because unlike white people said “if they step out of line they know what will happen. If they do, they are committing suicide”. 

 Now, ANTIFA and BLM is villainized just as the NAACP had been back then. In 2020 I feel like a lot of people who spoke out about the fight for equality still going on today, are being pushed into silence the same way socially described in this book. White privileged people complaining about “where is my sympathy for being scared of police offices pulling me over?” Or “I’m being targeted by a police office because they pull me over every time I dive my truck instead of my sedan”. I don’t not deny that I was angry at the beginning as well. Seeing business burned down and burglarized. I thought, really, you choose to do this now?? We are in a pandemic and those jobs are now taken from your people and doing more harm than good. However, when speaking with my coworkers who were black and the other half Mexican as I am and half black, I was able to be drawn out of that way of thinking. I wasn’t seeing the injustice and rage that they know too well. I only saw buildings and things of monetary value. To then it was a battle that never stopped. My heart broke for them hearing the white people in our office IN THE SOUTH talk about “those savages that deserves to be shot and ran over by cars” in their mind they deserved it because they were stepping out of line and were no longer happy with the scraps they were given. The white people I thought were friends would come up to me talking saying things they would never say to my black friends in the office. Just next door to me I’m sure they would hear the nasty things they were saying. So, I decided to put my research pants on and educate myself on why this kind of tension was and anger was coming out. Being Mexican I know of my own POC struggles and a little of the black issues. I came to understand and was able to reason with what was going on. They were not “justified” but I don’t think they could be held wrong in my eyes. Some things did go too far but stories like this book tells, shows they can’t come close enough. 



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The Blood of Emmett Till

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