The Legacy of Emmett Louis Till July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955

For one hundred days after Emmett Till’s brutal murder a woman by the name of Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat at the front of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. A man by the name of Medgar Evers, who had toiled ceaselessly for justice for young Emmett, is put on the scene in a big way, joined by Martin Luther King Jr. and so many, many others, White and Black alike, marching, chanting, shouting and praying for freedom.

And just one day after the anniversary of Emmett Till’s death, eight years later, Martin Luther King Jr, would lead the March on Washington and say in part, these words:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”"

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring-when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children-black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics-will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

And though that struggle still goes on, we have made enormous progress since those dark days in August of 1955. Yes, we still have a long ways to go, look at the events surrounding the Jena Six or the young men accused of rape at Duke, but I think if we remember people like young Emmett Till, who did nothing but whistle or say “Bye, baby” to a woman of a different color and was murdered for it, then we can eventually find that place where we will be able to join hands and as Reverend King said, be free at last. Thank God Almighty, we might finally be free at last.