top of page
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. 

​

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

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

01:30:41
Play Video
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
Play Video
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
Play Video
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
Play Video

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

​

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

​

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

​

Reading and Conversation with Mississippi Author Kiese Laymon

​

bottom of page