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Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till

To mark the 65th anniversary of Till's murder, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center hosted an online Summit followed by a reading with Mississippi author Kiese Laymon on Friday, August 28th, 2020. See below for the full schedule of panels and panelists from the event. 

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Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 1 - Emmett Till and Justice

Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 1 - Emmett Till and Justice
Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 1 - Emmett Till and Justice
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Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 2- Emmett Till and Memorialization

Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 2- Emmett Till and Memorialization

01:37:17
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Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 3- Emmett Till was my George Floyd, - the late Rep John Lewis

Summit on the 65th Anniversary of the Murder of Emmett Till, Panel 3- Emmett Till was my George Floyd, - the late Rep John Lewis

01:35:19
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A Reading and Conversation with Kiese Laymon: In Conversation with Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf

A Reading and Conversation with Kiese Laymon: In Conversation with Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf

01:24:23
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Panel 1: Emmett Till and Justice

  • Rev. Wheeler Parker, Jr., cousin of Emmett Till

  • Pastor Willie Williams, co-chair, Emmett Till Memorial Commission

  • Vangela Wade, President and CEO, Mississippi Center for Justice

  • Dale Killinger, former FBI Section Chief

  • Moderator: Patrick Weems, Executive Director, Emmett Till Memorial Commission

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Panel 2: Emmett Till and Memorialization

  • Dr. Marvel Parker, Wife of Rev. Wheeler Parker and Coordinator of efforts to get National Landmark Status for Roberts Temple in Chicago

  • Chris Benson, Associate Professor of journalism at Northwestern University and co-author of Mamie Till-Mobley’s autobiography, Death of Innocence (2003)

  • Katherine Malone-France, Chief Preservation Officer, National Trust

  • Dr. Dave Tell, Professor of Communications and Co-Director of the Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Kansas, author of Remembering Emmett Till (2019)

  • Moderator: Nikki Buffa, Latham Watkins, LLC

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Panel 3: “Emmett Till was my George Floyd” - The late Rep. John Lewis

  • Isabel Spafford, University of Mississippi student organizer

  • Maisie Brown, organizer of the Jackson BLM march

  • Albert Sykes, Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Education in America

  • Moderator: Von Gordon, Youth Engagement Manager, William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation

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Reading and Conversation with Mississippi Author Kiese Laymon

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