FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4403200
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Greenwood, Mississippi - 21 October 2022
1. Various of statue unveiling
HEADLINE TEXT: Emmett Till statue unveiled in Mississippi
ANNOTATION: A statue of Emmett Till has been revealed this week in Greenwood, Mississippi.
ANNOTATION: It's not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations that he flirted with a white woman in a country store.
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Senator David Jordan, Democratic, Mississippi State Senate:
"It means everything because I attended the trial and I saw the action of the jury, which they had no intention doing anything. It made a mockery of justice. And I swore then that if I ever get a chance, I would do my best to make life better for African African-Americans."
3. Various of ceremony
ANNOTATION:The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement after Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley insisted on an open-casket funeral.
ANNOTATION: Some even travelled from outside Mississippi to witness the ceremony.
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Diann West, Georgia resident, Mississippi native, ceremony attendee:
"I first found out through my sister, Lyda, who still lives in Greenwood, Mississippi. And when we read it in the newspaper, we said, 'We just have to be there just because justice is being served.'"
5. Wide of statue
6.SOUNDBITE: (English) Diann West, Georgia resident, Mississippi native, ceremony attendee:
"I was born a year after the death, but my grandparents raised Lyda and I and they always kept the story forefront in front of us letting us know to always be on our guard and never speak or do anything that would draw attention to what we knew had happened to Emmett Till in Money (Mississippi)."
7. Wide of band performing
ANNOTATION:The unveiling was ushered in by music, dancing and prayer.
8. Wide of child watching dancer
9. Medium of attendees bowing heads in prayer
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Chayden Pearson, Mississippi resident:
"I am Emmett Till. A living Emmett Till. A smart Emmett Till, and I want to live. Thank you."
11. Wide of attendees cheering on Pearson after speech
A Mississippi community with an elaborate Confederate monument unveiled a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till on Friday, not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations that he flirted with a white woman in a country store.
The 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement after Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago so the world could see the horrors inflicted on her 14-year-old son. Jet magazine published photos of his mutilated body, which had been pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.
The 9-foot (2.7-meter) tall bronze statue in Greenwood is a jaunty depiction of the living Till in slacks, a dress shirt and a tie with one hand on the brim of a hat.
The Till statue at Greenwood's Rail Spike Park is a short drive from an elaborate Confederate monument outside the Leflore County Courthouse and about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the crumbling remains of the store, Bryant's Grocery & Meat Market in the hamlet of Money.
The unveiling of the statue coincides with the release this month of "Till," a movie focusing on Till-Mobley's private trauma over her son's death and her development into a civil rights activist.
===========================================================
Clients are reminded:
(i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com
(ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service
(iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory.
