In its weekly e-newsletter, released June 6, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center (ETIC) revealed plans for a third annual memorial service for Emmett Till on Aug. 31.
The Sumner-based center is partnering with We2Gether Creating Change, the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, and the Racial Reconciliation Task Force of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi to mark the 69th anniversary of the kidnapping and murder of Till on the night of Aug. 28, 1955, from his great-uncle Mose Wright's home near Money in Leflore County.
"This event is important to me because we are acknowledging Emmett's name in our community," said Venita Halbert, community engagement coordinator of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. "Our organization was founded to break 50 years of silence in the Mississippi Delta about what happened to Emmett Till. We are changing the narrative. I'm proud we have a day when we can say his name out loud."
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The Tallahatchie River at Graball Landing, where the body of Emmett Till is believed to have been pulled from the river, is pictured on Oct. 27, 2008. (Sun-Sentinel file photo by Clay McFerrin)
As part of the late-August event, the public is invited to a 10 a.m. ceremony at Graball Landing, where Till's body is believed to have been pulled from the Tallahatchie River. Graball Landing is one of the sites of the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
At the conclusion of the Graball Landing ceremony, a car procession will venture to the barn near Drew, in Sunflower County, where the beating and murder of Till took place, ETIC noted.
The event is scheduled to end with a community luncheon in downtown Drew, starting around noon.
Anyone who plans to attend is asked to RSVP so that appropriate preparations can be made.
An Eventbrite page features more information about the event.
Added ETIC, "Plans are underway to hold a much larger event in the Mississippi Delta next year to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of the murder of Emmett Till and the impact it had on the civil rights movement. More information will be forthcoming."
