Emmett Till: Sacrificial Lamb of the Civil Rights Movement

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I am Emmett Louis Till. I was born July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois to Louis and Mamie Till. I died at the age of 14 in Money, Mississippi on August 24, 1955. Here is my story. Born and raised in Chicago, I’m used to pretty much saying and doing as I please. I grew up in south side of Chicago in a middle class black neighborhood. Everyone in my neighbor was like one big family. The older people loved me they always told me how responsible, funny, and infectiously high-spirited child I was. Some people thought of me as a prankster and risk taker. At the age of five, I was stricken with polio but managed to make a full recovery, I still had a slight stutter but that was fine. My mother raised me as a single parent. I never knew my father; a private in the United States Army during World War II. My mother worked long 12 hours days so I made sure to cook, clean, and everything else so I could be as much of a help to her as possible, I even did the laundry. As far as education goes I attended the all-black McCosh Grammar School. In August 1955, Uncle Moses Wright came up from Mississippi to visit me and my mom. After he came to visit us, I knew I wanted to go visit my cousins in Mississippi. I asked my mother can I please go to Mississippi. She said No, but I continue to ask her until she finally said yes. My mother knew that the south was different from the north. I thought to myself it couldn’t be that different. She told me a lot of stories that was so dramatic. I knew my mom was probably over exaggerating how the south really was, but I still listen to every word she said. I was unaware of the so called “Jim Crow Laws” that were like bi-laws of the south. There was some segregation in Chicago, but not as severe as it was in the south. On August 19, 1955 I packed my bags, and then I and my mother hurried to the train station. When I reached the train station I

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