February has been a month of contention for me. I had never put much thought into Black History Month before; in the past I'd gone out of my way to read more books by black authors or watch movies with prominent black actors, but that was it. This year, I've really decided to discover what Black History Month is supposed to mean. What is its point? What should Americans get from it?
Most people I've talked to dismiss BHM. They say at best it's redundant, as we've become such a racially diverse country that black history is just American history. At its worst BHM is just racial favoritism, undermining the very reason the holiday was created in the first place by promoting segregation.
Though my mind is still not made up on the intentions and consequences of BHM, I have to believe it's doing more good than bad. Race is still a big issue in this country; that shouldn't be up for discussion. And history is still being written by the victors; white, rich males. If BHM isn't the key to creating a better perspective of our country's history, I am all ears to what the better answer is.
So the point is I'm going to try and find out what BHM means to me. I need to find meaning in it and make it matter on a personal level before I can expect society to care about it. That being said, this month I'll be watching as many films regarding race and African American culture/history as possible.
Today I watched a touching, tragic doc on the life and death of Emmett Till. Like most of us, I knew his story and his impact on the Civil Rights movement. But I didn't know the details, and that's where the story really lives.
What I learned: Through immensely personal interviews with Emmett's family, we get a really good picture of who 14-year old Emmett was. He was brash and adventurous and loved mischief.
I never knew what happened to the two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who committed the crime. I knew the details of the grisly act, beating and drowning Till for speaking suggestively to a white woman, I guess I never heard what became of them. They were tried and acquitted in a southern court with a jury of all white, middle-aged men. Big surprise, right? What really angered me was the two men later admitted to killing Till in a magazine interview, once they were protected by double jeopardy. Though the case was reopened in 2004, no further legal action was taken.
What I liked: You really get a sense of who Till was, and I liked him. They didn't canonize him, they didn't say he was perfect; his cousins who were with him admitted he should've known better than to whistle at a white woman in public. But he never deserved what he got.
Even more than Emmett, I liked his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Most of the film is seen through her narrative as she recounts the last day she saw him alive, where she was when she was told the news, and the long, painful funeral and court process. She spoke with clarity and directness; you could tell she had told this story a thousand times before. But she also spoke with emotion, and with so much love for her son; it was really moving. It's famously remembered that she was the one who demanded her son's coffin be left open at the service, to show the world what those men had done to her child. She sat in court for a large portion of the trial despite death threats to her and her family; letters sent to her saying "he got what he deserved" and "one less n***** in the world". Emmett is the story's martyr, but Mamie is the hero.
What I didn't like: I would have liked to learn more about Till's impact on the blossoming Civil Rights Movement. They spoke briefly on how groups such as SNCC were involved in the trial, but I'd love to hear more about individuals who were motivated to action because of Till. I'm a passionate advocate for non-violence, but watching the footage of those 2 men walk out of the court scott-free filled me with such anger, I know why blacks moved to violence during the 60's and 70's; it felt like the only way real justice was going to be achieved.
I could fill a few more pages on how much this documentary got me thinking. The more I learn about black history, and the many wrongs that were committed, the more moved I feel to support Black History Month.
The documentary can be viewed here:
http://freedocumentariesonline.org/the-untold-story-of-emmett-louis-till/
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