Original subtitles

I believe that

the whole United States is mourning with me

and

if the death of my son can mean something to the other

unfortunate people all over the world

then for him to have died a hero

would mean more to me than for him just to have died

Emmett Till 14

was kidnapped and killed

allegedly for a wolf whistling at the wife of accused

Roy Bryant

it's not just that they discover his body

and that he's been killed

he has been brutally brutally beaten

as a criminal defense attorney

when we look at crimes we often try to put together

a picture about what happened

and it takes a lot of hatred

and a lot of rage to do

the kind of violence that was done to Emmett Till

being a black boy in the American South

could be quite perilous

the allegation that Emmett Till was being social

with a white woman was considered an affront

a threat to the racial order

and I think the shock

of his death was compounded by the brutality

of his death

and it's mother couldn't actually

conform to the conventions of the time

and she did something really quite remarkable

she made the really unorthodox choice

of having a funeral with an open casket

that was going to be very widely publicized

that was gonna be attended by the national press

she wanted civil rights leaders

and political leaders

to see what they did to her child

she invited David Jackson in jet magazine

to take pictures of this child's battered body

and these images were widely circulated

jet magazine was a

publication that was primarily

produced

and distributed to the African American community

that had been trying to

educate the rest of the country

about the horrors of segregation

and racial violence and lynching in the American South

and the images were really

really challenging

it was the kind of visual that you didn't typically see

you certainly didn't see it outside of a war zone

and you certainly didn't see it with children

his face was grotesque

you could see eyes

which you couldn't really distinguish

all of his facial features

that's how much violence he had been subjected to

and it's

mother's presence in the photo is really important

because she's really giving witness to victimization

and violence

the other images that Emmett's mother provided

just created this notion of a very respectable

young boy

who was trying to make the very best impression

on everyone he met

the juxtaposition of a little boy in a suit and a tie

with his battered face was a stark image

that made it really impossible for anyone who saw it

to be silent about it

mainstream publications

like look and life began talking about this issue

became an issue

that elected officials were being questioned about

these images made it impossible for white families

in other parts of the country

to stay indifferent to stay neutral

never has this quiet

little cut and growing community in Mississippi

seen so much publicity and so much excitement

as in the past few days

nearly 200 of the towns five or 600 residents

have packed into the courthouse

to hear the days proceeding

do you have any evidence burn on this case

I do know that this is my son

how long do you expect to be here

until the trial is over

Brian and his half brother JW

Milam were acquitted by this jury

and subsequently even though

they admitted taking the boy from the house

they were freed of kidnap charges

the inability to hold anyone accountable for his murder

and the comfort with which the man who killed him

were able to talk about the violence

was just adding to the injury

they weren't just killing a boy

they're expressing something rooted in this

decades of animosity and fear and anger

a boy a 14 year old boy was killed brutally

and one of our objectives here is ridiculous

that boy the picture you see there

does not die an inconspicuous death

and that his fate will be remembered

and something will be done about it

these images became powerful forces in organizing

a new level of commitment and resistance

the brutal murder of Emmett Till

really pushed Rosa Parks to a deeper level of activism

that was one of the motivating forces behind her choice

to not give a proceed on that bus

and in many ways

it was an organising and galvanizing moment

for the civil rights movement in this country

these shootings of unarmed

black boys and men have been going on for decades

it is a manifestation of the same

presumption of dangerousness that killed Emmett too

that killed thousands of people of colour

during the lynching era

imagery and photography is a really important tool

without the imagery

there would be no one who's prepared to believe

some of the violence that we've witnessed

it's such a gratifying feeling to see you all

sitting by and standing by

because I realised shortly after this thing happened

that it wasn't a fight that I could do

that it was gonna be a fight that we had to do

that the people would do for me

more or less and

we've never made progress in this country

around important social justice issues

until we've given marginal victims a face

that image still has resonance

it still has power I think

it still expresses the pain and anguish

of a huge part of our population

that is still hoping for basic recognition

of their humanity

and I want you all to stand by me

because it's going to be a fight

and if you will stand by me

I will stand by you because I am not afraid