It was labeled as one of the most “brutal and inhumane crimes of the twentieth century” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today, the tragedy of Emmett Till still brings pain to the soul. The date was August 28, 1955, Emmett, a teenager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle’s home in Mississippi by two White men who murdered the 14-year-old and mutilated his body.
His crime: allegedly whistling at a White woman.
His killers’ fate: an acquittal.
The images, published in JET Magazine in 1964, remain memories of a life stolen prematurely and echo back now with the deaths of Black men and boys from Trayvon Martin to Mike Brown.
Now, Will Smith and Jay Z are teaming up to bring the story of Till to the masses in a six-hour HBO miniseries.
Currently in development, the series is described as “an immersive in-depth exploration of the Emmett Till story.”
The producer partnership between Smith and Jay Z was announced last summer for the miniseries, and in latest developments, writer/director Steven Caple Jr. (The Land,) , has been tapped to script the project.
Though there hasn’t been mention of a release date, Jay Z and Smith’s project is definitely on our must-watch list.
