The story of Emmett Till is one that spring boarded the civil rights movement. At only 14 year old, Till was visiting family in the deep south of Mississippi. The child was brutally assaulted, shot, lynched and tossed in the Tallahatchie River, after allegedly flirting with a white woman.
While Will Smith & Jay Z are currently producing a mini-series to shed more light one the ongoing, unjustified brutality black people face, this story has had a major development.
After more than 60 years, the woman at the center of the case has spoken out for the first time!
Carolyn Bryant Donham (then named Carolyn Bryant), is the white woman who accused Emmett Till of grabbing her by the hand/waist while acting inappropriately at her shop. Just two days later, Emmett was kidnapped from his relative’s home by the Carolyn's husband at the time, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam. The two men took justice in their own hands and Till’s body was found floating the Tallahatchie River. Till's mother insisted on having an open casket, so the would could see what vicious injustices her child violently endured. The photo is attributed catapulting the Civil Rights Movement.
After a highly publicized trial, complete with compelling evidence, Bryant and Milam were acquitted of Till’s kidnapping and murder in September 1955 by an all-white, all-male jury. With the charges being irreversible, the pair decided to admit to their crimes, in a Look Magazine article. They were compensated $3000.00 for the story.
Now, yet another publication is producing a confession. On January 26th, 2017, Vanity Fair posted an article in which in author named Timothy Tyson tracked the "lying lady" down. In an interview conducted back in 2007, as research for his book, Timothy sat down with Carolyn Bryant, who was 72 at the time. She was 21 when she made her claim of foul play.
Carolyn admitted to falsely accusing Emmett Till. “Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him.” She also admitted she “felt tender sorrow.”
I don't care how old this lady is, she needs to be prosecuted for lying under oath! Emmett Till's mother died without ever having justice. Carolyn needs to rot in prison.