Eyewitness accounts shed light on Emmett Till story
Simeon Wright and Wheeler Parker Jr. were two eyewitnesses to Till’s kidnapping in 1955.
Published April 28, 2011
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Wheeler Parker Jr. speaks to a packed crowd with nephew Simeon Wright on Wednesday night at Reynolds Alumni Center. Parker and Wright described the actual event the night Emmett Till was captured and killed.
It was standing room only in the Reynolds Alumni Center Columns Ballroom as the event “Emmett Till: An Eyewitness Account” commenced Wednesday evening.
The event, sponsored by the Legion of Black Collegians, the Missouri Students Association, the Residence Halls Association, One Mizzou and the History Department, brought two eyewitnesses, Simeon Wright and Wheeler Parker Jr., to speak and share their eyewitness account of Till’s story.
Till had allegedly whistled at a white woman while leaving a store with Wright and Parker in 1955. Soon after, Till was kidnapped and murdered at the age of 14. Wright, Till’s second cousin, and Parker, Till’s friend and next door neighbor, shed light on Till’s story.
“There are very few people that have not heard the Emmett Till story, but from someone who was there and someone who is related to (Till) speak on what they witnessed and how they felt made it that much more real,” LBC Communications Chairwoman Ashley Edwards said.
The event was coordinated by LBC Activities Chairwoman Kristen Andrews and freshman Alexis Rogers, National Association of Black Journalists secretary-elect, who grew up in the Chicago area, just as young Till had.
“I’m from the Chicago area so I’ve heard about Emmett Till a lot of times, and I’ve heard (Wright and Parker) speak at some of my other schools before,” Rogers said. “Their impact is great, and I think that is what we need sometimes.”
Rogers said she hopes the impact of the event on students was a big one.
“We’ve had a lot of things happening on Mizzou’s campus, some we are really proud about and some we are not so proud about, and I don’t think that everyone on our campus has been represented in the right way all of the time,” she said. “I thought this (event) would be an awesome thing for everyone to come and feel welcome, and everyone can get something out of it because this can touch every single person in a different way.”
LBC Vice President Cidney King said this event was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and would like to see Wright and Parker come back to MU in the future.
“I’d like to see this event come back, especially with the large turnout we had,” King said. “This event is an inspiration for students. You wouldn’t get this sort of thing from a book.”
Edwards said she agreed the event should eventually return to MU.
“Everybody should be able to hear this story so maybe in a few years when we have a few more classes here and more underclassmen will be able to witness this,” Edwards said.
Rogers said she was very happy with the turnout and would like to bring the event back to MU if the demand is there.
“Everybody (the audience) looks so beautiful, it warms my heart,” she said. “It warms my heart because it shows that people care.”
Comments (2)
4:51 p.m., May 19, 2011
Jasmine Felix said:
emmett till is a horrrifing story that i an=m going 2 remember 4 the rest of my life. it makes me thankful that its under control now
6:08 p.m., April 30, 2011
B. Coop said:
The Emmett Till story is a human story because it should reminds us of how evil can exist and it's sad when or if the laws of the land allow it to exist BOLDLY. In remembrance of Emmett's mother, God bless her soul for putting evil on display so the world could see and never forget, but I am sad her child was scarified, but grateful for her brave heart to share her pain with the world and make us aware of the hate which took her child's life. Thank God for progress, but we can't ever forget that in our society there are still people with evil in their heart and are willing to display it upon the world. At the time of this historic moment, I was a 5yr old child living in NC, however this story reminded me of something my father shared with me about his childhood. He born in 1929 and was orphaned as a young child and therefore been raised by other family members. One day as he often did, he shared with me when I was a teen, stories of his childhood and how Jim Crow & Segregated times were cruel, especially for black boys and men. Today, I honor the parents of children of color who had to exist and protect their children during those very difficult times, but I say today those times are returning BOLDLY. Let's not forget that hate and evil can never be allow to terrorize mankind again. Indian, Black's, especially and all other races should be as one to never let this TERROR speak loud or act boldly, instead put it to shame so mankind will never suffer with these acts of EVIL. An example of vigilance against EVIL is the Jewish race which has never allow society to forget the evil they endured and I applaud them, therefore we should have the same determination for our horrible past and ongoing present as Black's in our America. Collectively all races should speak loud against any and all hateful acts against any race and to remember to be silent is to allow hate to hurt mankind. I believe hate is only made powerful when we look past and remain silent to it's deeds....we Can't! Thk, BCoop