WOW!!
I am speechless!
The movie was powerful enough
but the Q & A after was amazing!
I asked him about the Photos taken by the Sheriff as soon as they pulled the body from the river. And about his father's military death and accusation of rape.
He said they are still looking for the photos. And out of respect for his mother, Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley, he withheld his finding on the murder of Till's father. But basically he was railroaded for dating a Captain's girlfriend and falsely accused of rape, and then hanged. This was used to try to discredit Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley during the murder trial of her son....implying "Like Father Like Son!" Bogus!
He told me that Alice Kaplan wrote about this Black Soldier lynching phenomenon in her book the Interpreter: http://www.rusoffagency.com/non_fiction/the_interpreter/the_interpreter.htm
Interestingly enough Mr. Beauchamp added that Dwight Eisenhower oversaw the murder of Till's father, and ignored Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley pleas to investigate the truth behind her son's murder!
For further information and to watch the theatrical trailers, visit this site: emmetttillstory.com
The event I attended was hosted by the Multicultural Student Programs and Services (MSPS) http://www.nd.edu/~msps/upcoming.htm
Keith A. Beauchamp has researched the Till case for over 8 years. During his monumental journey, he was able to work closely with the mother of Emmett Till, Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley to finally get her son's tragic story told. By using his expertise, Mr. Beauchamp was fortunate to find and hold exclusive interviews with eye witnesses of the Till case that will change the face of his-story.
The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
In an event that contributed to the beginning of the civil rights movement, a black teenage boy in Mississippi was beaten and murdered for publicly addressing a white woman, and his killers were tried but released. The boy was Emmet Louis Till, whose story is told here in this documentary feature that, through eyewitness testimony and an interview with Till's mother, uncovers other potentially guilty parties, and helped cause the U.S. Justice Department to reopen the case.
Recent Press
CNN R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division said Monday that officials will reopen the Emmett Till's race-motivated murder following a long campaign by the NAACP, members of Congress and Mobley, who died in Chicago last year at age 81. Keith A. Beauchamp, found evidence after examining the case for nine years for "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till." He believes as many as seven additional people may have been involved, many of them still alive.NEW YORK TIMES, Robin Finn... Keith A. Beauchamp, whose as yet unreleased documentary, "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," was pivotal in the Justice Department's decision this month to reopen that landmark 1955 murder case, often left the house with a parental salvo ringing in his ears. "Don't let what happened to Emmett Till happen to you," his mother warned.
Audioclip of NPR Interview with Keith Beauchamp
Recent Press:
NEW YORK TIMES, Stephen Holden17 August 2005"The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," Keith A. Beauchamp's lean, harrowing inquisition into a murder that catalyzed the civil rights movement, is an incendiary documentary. Released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his death, the 70-minute film has already made things happen.VILLAGE VOICE, Joshua Land16 August 2005No Justice, No Peace: Doc Reopens Old Wounds and a 1955 Case. A triumph of documentary activism nine years in the making, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till revisits Till's death and the trial and acquittal of the two men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who later confessed to the crime in a magazine interview (both have since died).
NEW YORK TIMES, Ellen Maguire...halfway through Keith A. Beauchamp's documentary "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till," the film cuts from Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, calmly describing her 14-year-old son's mutilation for whistling at a white woman — his head had been split side to side, and one eye left hanging from...CBS 60 Minutes Profile(CBS) For many, the name Emmett Till may not sound familiar, but what happened to him in 1955 stunned the nation, causing shock waves that still reverberate today.
Correspondent Ed Bradley reports.CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Robert K. ElderBeauchamp must be applauded for not only for his investigative daring but also his unflinching courage. At least one of his witnesses preferred to be interviewed in shadow, to protect her identity. After seeing Till's mashed features, bludgeoned so badly as not to be recognized as human, it's no wonder why. And all Emmett did was whistle.
VARIETY, Ronnie ScheibNine years in the making, Beauchamp's docu is the first-researched, second-released film on the subject. Stanley Nelson's "The Murder of Emmett Till" aired last year on PBS, following paths already blazed by Beauchamp.
TIME MAGAZINE Last week the Department of Justice announced it was going to crack open history and see if anything new crawled out. Assistant Attorney General, R. Alexander, described a joint project with the State of Mississippi to reopen the 1955 inquiry into the death of Emmett Till.
DETROIT FREE PRESS, Rochelle RileyBeauchamp began researching "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till" seven years ago, working with Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, until her death this year. It took three years for him to persuade Simeon Wright to talk. But Wright later introduced him to brothers John and Roosevelt Crawford. The latter, who recently retired from General Motors in Detroit, said it was about time. "It's been 47 years, and nobody ever tried to contact me or get in touch with me, not the NAACP, not the civil rights groups."
