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lewzor's review against another edition
4.0
A must-read for anti-racist activists. Tyson's well-researched coverage of Emmett Till's horrific lynching is told so matter-of-factly that each revelation packs a punch. Tyson delves deep, revealing the intelligence and cunning required for civil rights activists to make progress. Too often history remembers these activists as wholesome, inherently good, or simple. Tyson takes readers behind the scenes to show the machinations of those fighting for and against racism. It's a staggering story that serves as a reminder of how little, and how much, things have changed.
sassyporcupine's review against another edition
5.0
A book that reallys makes you think. I can't fathom how my in-laws grew up in Mississippi during this time period.
brightshiny's review against another edition
4.0
This book is painful to read. I like thinking of racism as a point in our history, not a line that runs right through today. I keep reading SPLC recommendations and they're all like this, disabusing me of my point-in-time perspective. Consider me informed.
ascoular's review against another edition
4.0
I admittedly enjoyed the 1-2 chapters that discussed the trial and thought they were too brief. However, I understand the author’s intentional choice to do that - there wasn’t a real trial.
I did want to ignore the scholarship about communism and the pressure to be less racist in the US because of it. It’s an argument that I’m tired reading about in a post-Cold War world.
I did want to ignore the scholarship about communism and the pressure to be less racist in the US because of it. It’s an argument that I’m tired reading about in a post-Cold War world.
christinavarela's review against another edition
5.0
Audiobook. I have been teaching the story of Emmett Till to my students for over 20 years. When this book came out in 2017 I did not feel ready to read it. This past week in class I was teaching the story of Emmett Till, in addition last weekend I saw the Hollywood film “Till” and decided I was finally ready to do it. This is a book that all Americans need to read. “We are still killing Emmett Till…”
ashkitty93's review against another edition
5.0
The story of Emmett Till should be required in every US history course and every social studies course. As the epilogue pointed out, white supremacy still has a stranglehold on our country, as evidenced by Ferguson, Charleston, Charlottesville, and so many more sprees where whites continue to believe, and aggressively assert said belief, that they are better than anyone else.
angelats's review against another edition
4.0
It’s a really good book, definitely a heavier read as the topic is about lynching but important to see how these events still affect us today. This event set off the civil rights movement and so much more in depth than anything I learned in school. It was written well- history facts and lessons with good story line.
willwork4airfare's review against another edition
4.0
The epilogue was definitely my favorite part. A very interesting and well-written book, but it took me two weeks to get through because it's bogged down with so many (often repetitive) details. It also claimed to be the first to expose an exclusive interview with the woman behind the whole wolf-whistle allegation but her explosive testimony was pretty much that she doesn't really remember anymore, but he didn't do anything to deserve his gruesome murder, which already went without saying. If you didn't know anything about the case, I highly recommend this book! Otherwise, I didn't feel particularly shocked by any new developments or information. The epilogue ties Emmett Till's lynching into modern racism and the continued murder of unarmed black men, particularly by police. It is written by a white man, but a professor and a member of North Carolina's NAACP executive board, for whatever it's worth.
saeverra's review against another edition
4.0
Continuing the series of books that make me mad. I enjoyed this micro history of the murder of Emmett Till as it was very enlightening and specific about details relating to the murder, trial and aftermath.
noahbw's review against another edition
4.0
I started reading this at the same time as I was listening to the White Lies podcast, and they feel like they're a little bit in the same genre -- a white man/men reinvestigating a civil rights-era murder in the south with pretty clear purposes that history is not past. In both cases, it is worth reading/listening purely to learn the forgotten and written-over histories.
The thing that I also found useful (and somewhat unusual) about this book is the way that it places southern and northern histories alongside each other. Because Emmett Till was from Chicago and died in Mississippi, Tyson tells the stories of both places and the highway that connected them for black people (like Till and his family) who continued to move back and forth. I'm not sure that I've encountered other historical or sociological works that so clearly bring together these histories as part of the same narrative -- and that feels like perhaps the most important scholarly contribution that Tyson makes, in addition to the importance of his telling of the life and death of Emmett Till.
The thing that I also found useful (and somewhat unusual) about this book is the way that it places southern and northern histories alongside each other. Because Emmett Till was from Chicago and died in Mississippi, Tyson tells the stories of both places and the highway that connected them for black people (like Till and his family) who continued to move back and forth. I'm not sure that I've encountered other historical or sociological works that so clearly bring together these histories as part of the same narrative -- and that feels like perhaps the most important scholarly contribution that Tyson makes, in addition to the importance of his telling of the life and death of Emmett Till.