Thats a heavy burden to carry., Woman Linked to 1955 Emmett Till Murder Tells Historian Her Claims Were False, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/emmett-till-lynching-carolyn-bryant-donham.html. Its important to people understanding how the word of a white person against a black person was law, and a lot of black people lost their lives because of it. But he said the renewed focus on the case should "compel Americans" to face the racial and economic disparities that still exist here. Even though no one now will be held to account for the death of my cousin and best friend, it is up to all of us to be accountable to the challenges we still face in overcoming racial injustice.. Video: Joining Black Voices is Till family attorney Chris Benson, who co-authored two books: one with Emmetts mother, Mamie Till Mobley, and another with the Rev. This is what the state of Mississippi needs to go ahead, she said. A grand jury declined to indict a woman whose accusations set off - NPR Even the location of the original warrant is a mystery. Themen were acquitted by an all-white jury. Even though Bryant and Milam took turns pistol whipping the boy in a tool shed in the early morning, Milam said: We were never able to scare him. ", Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY, Emmett Till accuser denies wanting teen killed, In a memoir obtained by The Associated Press, Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman at the center of the lynching of Emmett Till, denies wanting him killed. Till's family demanded justice after recovering an . A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping, and relatives of the victim want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, spoke to Timothy B. Tyson, a Duke University professor possibly the only interview she has given to a historian or journalist since shortly after the episode who has written a book, The Blood of Emmett Till, to be published next week. Carolyn Bryant Donham, woman at the center of the lynching of Black AP He did not return phone messages or emails seeking comment about a potential kidnapping case. A woman holds a sign in honor of Emmett Till during a protest on June 13, 2020 in Chicago, Ill. Till's family urged authorities to move on a recently discovered unserved warrant from 1955 that charges a white woman for the murder and kidnapping of the teenager. Maam, hush! Wheeler Parker, a cousin of Till who was there, has said 14-year-old Till whistled at the woman, an act that flew in the face of Mississippi's racist social codes of the era. . But among thousands of lynchings of black people, this one looms large in the countrys tortured racial history, taught in history classes to schoolchildren, and often cited as one of the catalysts for the civil rights movement. Shed No Tears for Carolyn Bryant Donham - New York Times Contacted by the AP on Wednesday, Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks said: This is the first time Ive known about a warrant.. Donham testified that Till grabbed her. Now in her late 80s and most recently living in Raleigh, North Carolina, Donham has not commented publicly on calls for her prosecution. 1 Emmet Till was wrongfully accused of offending grocery store worker Carolyn Bryant Family of Emmett Till and more reflect on his funeral, killers' trial