Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien
AUGUST 26, 2017
S1 • E21 Aug 26, 2017 22m
This week, Soledad O’Brien takes a look at August 28th –a date memorialized in the nation’s journey toward equality. We revisit August 28, 1955, when 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African American boy from Chicago, was killed by two white men who accused him of making sexual advances toward a white woman. An all white jury cleared the two men, although they later admitted to the crime. Till’s death galvanized the Civil Rights movement, serving as inspiration for Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., who chose August 28, 1963 as the date of his “I Have a Dream Speech.” We speak with historian Timothy Tyson who unearthed the lie that led to Till’s brutal murder. Then, we visit the Emmett Till interpretative center, where Mississippian Patrick Weems is keeping Till’s story and its significance alive.