Emmett Till’s Family Speaks Out On Accuser

The Chicago Defender sits down with family members of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley to discuss the latest revelations by accuser, Carolyn Bryant. Bryant had testified that Till, 14 had verbally threatened her during the trial of his murderers–two white men, J.W. Milam and his half-brother, Roy Bryant.

Both men had brutally murdered the Chicago teen in August 1955 while he visiting relatives in Mississippi.

According to Vanity Fair in a recently published interview, the author of The Blood of Emmett Till, Timothy Tyson revealed Carolyn Bryant-Donham had lied about her damaging testimony during the trial.

Now, age 82–the elderly Bryant-Donham is still living and unreachable as Tyson prepares for next week’s release of the book. No one has had the opportunity to interview Till’s accuser but the Duke University research scholar. However, family members of Emmett Till have some choice words about this decades-long loss to their family.

Airicka Gordon-Taylor and her mother, Ollie Gordon are cousins of Emmett Till’s mother–the late Mamie Till-Mobley. Since her son’s death, Mrs. Mobley became an advocate for social justice and change for the rest of her life–keeping many ‘woke’ long after her death in 2003.

In an exclusive interview with The Chicago Defender, Airicka and her mother Mrs. Gordon shared some sentimental thoughts on this latest development.

Airicka responds, “I’ve always known about the upcoming book. The truth comes to light. The truth came light even in Emmett’s passing as a movement was galvanized—the truth came to light. As our millennials are moving and fighting for justice—the truth is coming to light. Until the U.S. Constitution give us all our rights. Our family has always known the truth,” said Taylor.

“She hasn’t said anything that we haven’t always known. I feel what’s she’s doing is to do something to redeem herself. She’s doing something to free her clear conscious. That’s something she need to do but our family has always been free. She’s never ‘owned’ his spirit—he’s been free. So, this is all about her—not about her family.”

Since she was an infant, Emmett’s mother, Mrs. Till-Mobley and her shared a close bond growing up. Airicka believes without hesitation how her older cousin would respond to Ms. Bryant’s confession if she was still alive.

“Before she died, she forgave Emmett’s murderers so to forgive his murderers—two men who did such heinous things to her only child—that’s still to me ‘unfathomable’. So, she can forgive that. For Carolyn Bryant to come out and say this—I believe Mamie would take this for a ‘grain of salt’ because she knew the truth,” she said.

“She probably would’ve have told her, ‘thank you for telling me the truth’. I hope this has helped to clear your conscious to help you deal with how you want to deal with because on judgement this how you need to deal with God.”

As family hears about this latest information during the same time as everyone else—it’s not an easy pill to swallow—several decades later. The wound is still very open. Ollie Gordon—Mamie’s first cousin reveals the many times they reached out to Emmett’s accuser while she was still alive.

Ollie Gordon says, “Actually, she has always refused to meet with the family. When I heard it, I wondered ‘why now?’. What is she going to benefit from it at this point in our lives? Is she on her deathbed? Is it for financial gain? What exactly is it that motivated her to come out?”

The symbolism of Emmett’s death has influenced many books searching for answers and as his lynching became a catalyst for the Civil rights movement. But, his family believes it runs much deeper than the deep hatred of racism that took the lives of thousands of Blacks including their 14-year-old cousin at the time.

Over the last five years, Airicka and her family have established the Mamie Till-Mobley Foundation which she oversees. The legacy of Mamie’s work is the blueprint for groups such as Mothers of Movement, Wear Orange and Moms Against Violence today.

“It’s more than it’s more than about Emmett Till. A good percentage is about him and educating our youth and what happened and those who never heard about Emmett. Seventy-five percent or more is about Mamie. She did what many mothers are doing today—she was the first one and she put her life on the line. It’s about a women’s movement at this point,” she explains.

“We must look at our women and what they’re doing. We just had the Women’s March and they are standing up and fighting for justice. We’re showing the strength that we have and what we’re about and what we’re doing.”

The mother who refused to have a closed casket funeral for her only child spirit still rings out today. Fourteen years after her passing—there is so much more to accomplish in fighting racial and gender discrimination.

Mr. Tyson’s recent book will turn heads and spark more conversations surrounding the death of a Chicago teen who reminds us of so many Black youth today but to those who suffer the loss of a child—the real heroine is not the now-elderly accuser—it will always be Mamie Till-Mobley.

Taylor agree. “We should look at what Mamie did as some women—she stood up and fought earnestly for justice until she did. That’s where the fight came in. Emmett passed but Mamie stood up and she fought. It’s more than just the story of Emmett Till and what happened to him. We must look at the fight and how she fought because she was up against a lot when she fought. During a time when it was a lot more against her than it’s against our women today.”

Originally Published by The Chicago Defender January 2017