Honoring Emmett Till: Reverend Wheeler Parker Remembers His Cousin 70 Years After His Tragic Death

CHICAGO (WLS) — Thursday marks 70 years since the murder Emmett Till.

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Reverend Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin, is the last living witness to the deadly kidnapping.

Back in 1955, they traveled from Chicago to Mississippi together.

He’s remembering his cousin as he takes the same route they took seven decades ago.

“Your life wasn’t lost in vain, and your voice continues to resonate beyond the grave. We will uphold your legacy,” Rev. Parker declared as he prepared to board the train.

John William “J.W.” Milam, alongside Roy Bryant, kidnapped Emmett Till from his great-uncle’s home on August 28, 1955. These white men tortured and killed Till after accusations arose that the teenager had whistled at a white woman in a rural Mississippi grocery store.

Later, Till’s body was discovered in the Tallahatchie River. Although Bryant and Milam faced murder charges, they were acquitted by an all-white, male jury.

Mamie Till-Mobley, Till’s mother insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago, forcing America to confront the realities of racial violence.

The murder of Till became a significant catalyst in the Civil Rights Movement. Thousands attended his funeral, and his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, insisted on an open casket to expose the brutal condition of her son’s body to the nation.

AP News contributed to this report.

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