Greenwood, Mississippi

          Last Saturday, Ben Guest took the MTC interns and Andre Wang (our fellow intern at the Mississippi Innocence Project) on an Emmett Till inspired tour of the Delta. Our first stop was in Sumner, Mississippi, to see the court house where Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were acquitted. Sumner was not unlike most failing Delta towns, businesses were boarded up and buildings had been left to crumble. But right in the middle of the town square, buttressed by a Confederate statue, was the infamous court house where one of the twentieth century’s greatest miscarriages of justice took place. However, another important act ought to be remembered: Mose Wright’s improbably courageous decision to publicly accuse a white man of murder in court, something that many say a black man had never done before in Mississippi.

Courthouse in Sumner, MS

            In addition to the courthouse we also traveled to Money, Mississippi, where we saw Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market, the location of Mose Wright’s home, and the location of his church and graveyard where Emmett was originally to be buried. The store was a mere shell of its former self, yet still haunting. A little over fifty years ago a black boy had wolf whistled at a white woman right where I was standing. His punishment: kidnapping, torture, and murder. Things I never would have had to fear had I done the same exact thing. From there, we drove down Dark Fear Road, passing the former location of the Wrights' home and stopping at the remains of Mose Wright’s Church of God in Christ. It was there that Mose Wright spent the night after testifying against Emmett’s murderers, narrowly missing what might have been his own untimely end. The church was modest, a single room with a small graveyard adjacent. Mose Wright was clearly not a wealthy preacher, but I surmise his unshakeable faith ran deeper than such frivolous determinations of a man’s character.





Mose Wright's Church

Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market

            We also visited the Shurden Plantation, where Emmett was taken by his captors to be tortured and killed. Surprisingly, the barn was still standing and clearly in use not far from the home of the obviously wealthy plantation owners. I guess I had assumed that due to either public pressure or common sense, something of that nature (on private property) might have been torn down to prevent people from doing exactly what we were doing: trespassing and regretting our country’s history of inequality and injustice. Apparently, the owners do not feel the same way. After this, we traveled to the location where Emmett’s body was found in the Tallahatchie River, bound to a cotton gin fan by barbed wire. Again, much like the Bryant’s store, this spot could have passed for any other river bank. But, knowing that Emmett, and surely others, were deposited (that word doesn’t even do justice to what happened) in that river made its current serenely ominous.

Tallahatchie River, location where Till's body was found

            After seeing the famous locations related to the Emmett Till murder, we visited the home of Alzea Brewer. Mrs. Brewer, a Mississippi native, is among the many locals who have spent their entire lives fighting for equality and deserves tremendous credit for their efforts; so too does her husband who fought to register black voters and was among the first to attempt to register to vote since the days of Reconstruction. Speaking with Mrs. Brewer and her eldest daughter Mary, I was reminded of the constant relevance of our past. They candidly spoke about fear, mistrust, and unfinished progress. Yet, their poise and thoughtfulness were indicative of the strength with which they have and continue to carry themselves, refusing to let the indiscretions of others undermine their own integrity.

            After our visit with Mrs. Brewer we made a brief blues excursion to see one of Robert Johnson's gravestones in Greenwood, Mississippi. We then concluded our trip with a stop at the Crystal Grille in Greenwood for some delicious Delta fare before riding back to Oxford. However, I should note, that I have never seen greater wealth disparity within such a small area than in Greenwood. Driving through town, we saw wealthy mansions only to keep driving and see horribly inhospitable homes not even half a mile away. Granted, this is not singular to Greenwood, but the contrast was particularly startling and indicated the willingness of some to look past the misfortune of others.