Remembering a civil rights martyr

Thelma Edwards, second cousin of Emmett Till, who died as the result of a racially motivated murder in Mississippi in 1955, is seen following a church service recently at Draw All Men Ministries Church in Ocala. [Andy Fillmore]

The White House recently announced plans to create the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, with three locations in Illinois and Mississippi dedicated to their memory. 

The monument sites will pay homage to Emmett, who died at age 14 in a racially motivated murder in Money, Mississippi, in August 1955, and his mother, who bravely insisted on an open coffin viewing service for her son who had been beaten and horribly disfigured.

The passing of 68 years hasn’t dulled Ocala resident Thelma Edwards’ memory of the tragedy and the death of her second cousin, Emmett Till, who she affectionately called “Bobo,” which has been called an important catalyst for the Civil Rights movement. 

A July 25 White House press release stated the monuments will be placed at Graball Landing in Mississippi, the Tallahatchie River site where Emmett’s body was found; the Tallahatchie County courthouse; and Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago; all areas significant in the story of the murdered teen’s death.

Also, on March 28, 2022, H.R. 55, known as the “Emmett Till Antilynching Act,” was signed into law making lynching a federal hate crime, according to a White House press release.

Edwards, 92, spoke to the “Gazette” recently following a service at Draw All Men Ministries Church. She was welcomed by Elder Quentin Samuel and his wife, minister Sharon Samuel, and her friend Brenda Vereen’s grandson, Amir Vereen Belle, 7, and was embraced by the entire congregation. Edwards carried an index card with a handwritten statement she wanted to be sure was included in her remarks.

“I am very pleased that President Biden is encouraging the country to remember the horrors that African Americans have endured and to celebrate the bravery that my cousin Mamie and others have displayed in our journey toward freedom,” the statement read. 

Edwards said she still can’t discuss some details of Emmett’s murder. 

“When we learned in Argo (Illinois) that Emmett was found (deceased), I prayed and cried,” she said. “I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t eat and lost 10 pounds in the first week after. (It was) like I was in a dream.” 

Edwards, who was born in Mississippi in 1931, was sent at age 8 by her family to join family members in Argo in hopes of getting a better education. She did so, and later had a career as an educator.

Edwards often babysat for Emmett, who was 10 years younger than her, while living in Argo and “changed his diapers.”

Edwards recalled Emmett mainly as a “peacemaker” who “always tried to find a way” to resolve problems among the children. He was a sharp dresser and wanted a motorcycle prior to his trip to Money. 

Edwards recoils when asked what she thinks happened at Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market in Money on Aug. 24, 1955, and declines to discuss that part.

Simeon Wright, Edwards’ brother, who saw Emmett’s abduction, passed away nearly six years ago. A Sept. 5, 2017, npr.org article, “Cousin Who Witnessed Emmett Till Abduction Dies At 74,” marked Simeon’s passing a day before. 

The article states that at age 12, Simeon shared a bed with his cousin Emmett during his visit to the home of Simeon and Edwards’ father, Moses “Mose” Wright, a local preacher, who lived outside Money.

The article states that on Aug. 24, 1955, Simeon, Emmett and several friends decided to go to Bryant’s grocery store for treats and refreshments while Carolyn Donham minded the store for her husband, Roy Bryant. 

Although the facts have often been debated, the NPR article indicates Donham accused Emmett Till of “flirting” with her, but Simeon claimed Emmett only “whistled.” 

Emmett’s mom said he likely did not whistle but may have made a sound due to a stutter, according to a “Chicago Tribune” report quoted in the NPR article.

The “Chicago Tribune” article also quoted an excerpt from Simeon Wright’s book “Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till.”

“I think he wanted to get a laugh out of us or something. He was always joking around, and it was hard to tell when he was serious,” the excerpt stated. 

The NPR article details Simeon Wright’s recollection of the night of Aug. 28, 1955, when “(he) was awoken by two men with flashlights and guns.”

“They had come for Bobo,” Wright wrote in his book as excerpted by “The Clarion-Ledger” and referenced in the NPR article. 

Emmett Till’s body was later found in the nearby Tallahatchie River.

Moses Wright “identified Donham’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, as the killers in their murder trial, but an all-white jury acquitted them,” the NPR article stated.

The NPR article states that, about a year after the trial, in a “Look’’ magazine article, Bryant and Milam “admitted to beating and shooting Till before dumping his body in a river.” 

Edwards said her father “had a dream” before Emmett’s killing about people around part of a muddy river and the location “kept getting smaller.” She said after Emmett’s killing, he understood the meaning of the dream. 

An iconic photo depicts Moses Wright bravely pointing out the two men who kidnapped Emmett during the trial. 

Rev. Wheeler Parker, now 83, a cousin of Emmett’s who traveled to meet his “best friend” in the summer of 1955,” in Money, was also a witness to the kidnapping, according to a March 12, 2023, NPR article

The Wright family relocated to the Chicago area after the trial, according to the Sept. 5, 2017, NPR article. 

Meanwhile, Thelma Edwards visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., a few years ago with her friend Brenda Vereen of Ocala. Edwards was approached by a number of museum visitors who wanted to speak with her about Emmett and his mother. 

Edwards and Vereen were also present at the April 29 unveiling of a life size sculpture of Mamie Till-Mobley at Argo Community High School, where Till-Mobley “was the first Black student to make the honor roll and the fourth to graduate from the high school in Summit, Illinois—about 14 miles outside Chicago,” according to a “Chicago Defender” article on the unveiling event. 

Till-Mobley held a master’s degree and was a Civil Rights activist who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, according to the “Chicago Defender” article. 

Edwards feels the finding of Emmett’s body was “God’s plan” and that he would “be happy things are changing.

Edwards’ hopes for the future are twofold: “I’d like to see people love each other more and (see more) justice,” she said. 

To learn more about the national monument, visit the National Park Service page at nps.gov/till/learn/historyculture/index.htm