Mamie Till-Mobley - Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America

PRAISE FOR
Death of Innocence

The book does what it should: informs or reminds people of what a courageous figure for justice [Mamie Till-Mobley] was and how important she and her son were to setting the stage for the modern-day civil rights movement.

The Detroit News (four out of four stars)

In Death of Innocence Till-Mobley offers to history the gift of her son. Now its possible to ask questions about the murder and, in a new, deeper way, take the real-life boy into account.

The Columbus Dispatch

A testament to a mothers devotion to her son.

The Dallas Morning News

Till-Mobley speaks with a powerful voice that produces tears of profound sadness, anger, and finally, great admiration for this mother who experienced the death of her only child.

Library Journal (starred review)

In Death of Innocence, Till-Mobley describes how she dealt with her grief and rage by speaking publicly about Emmetts murder and how the story of his life and death inspired people to protest the brutal racism that oppressed Southern blacks.

Chicago Sun-Times

Death of Innocence is really a testament to the power of the indestructible human spiritof which the tortured face of Emmett Till speaks as eloquently as the diary of Anne Frank.

Washington Post Book World

Death of Innocence presents a riveting account of the tragedy that upended her life and ultimately the Jim Crow system in the South.

Chicago Tribune

In Death of Innocence Till-Mobley courageously tells how [Emmetts] killing changed her life and our countrys history.

Readers Digest (Editors Choice)

Death of Innocence documents an American tragedy and the stubborn faith it took to transcend it.

O: The Oprah Magazine

None of us can really know [Till-Mobleys] pain, but through Death of Innocence, we do know her grace. Her book is a story of faith and hopebut not blind faith and hope; rather faith and hope as action, as being worthy of the challenge.

N IKKI G IOVANNI , Essence

Mamie Till-Mobley still has a message that should be heard and discussed by citizens of all races and all ages.

The Chicago Defender

Death of Innocence is an important document from an extraordinary woman.

Black Issues Book Review

I am so thankful for the bravery and courage Mamie demonstrated when she shared her only child with the world. The news of Emmetts death caused many people to participate in the cry for justice and equal rights, including myself. The respect I have felt for her since 1955 will always live with me. She was blessed among women to carry the mantle with grace and dignity.

R OSA P ARKS

Death of Innocence reveals Mamie Till-Mobley for what she was: one of the greatest, but largely unsung, heroes in all of African-American history. Her words are powerful; her strength and vision in the face of the unspeakable horror of her sons death are astonishing. The life and work of Mamie Till-Mobley serves as an inspiration to all who love justice.

S TANLEY N ELSON , executive producer and director
of the documentary The Murder of Emmett Till

An epic drama of despair and hope. The most powerful personal story, so far, from the civil rights movement.

M ORRIS D EES , Southern Poverty Law Center

Mamie Till-Mobley has written a powerful book in which she reveals to us the life she shared with her son, Emmett Till, and her pride and joy as he became a remarkable young man. This story shows us how the cruelty of a few changed the life of a loving, caring mother and the history of a nation.

K ADIATOU D IALLO , author of
My Heart Will Cross This Ocean:
My Story, My Son, Amadou

Mamie Till-Mobley has always deserved our admiration for her insistence that the world know her sons terrible fate, and for her determination to confront his killers in a Mississippi courtroom. Now, in the final act of her life, she gives us an account of the crime, its victim, and its aftermath that is as historically valuable as it is inspiring.

P HILIP D RAY , author of
At the Hands of Persons Unknown:
The Lynching of Black America

A One World Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Copyright 2003 by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by One World, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2003.

One World is a registered trademark and the One World colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

I Have a Dream copyright 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Copyright 1991 Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reprinted by permission of Writers House, New York.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Till-Mobley, Mamie, d. 2003.

Death of innocence: the story of the hate crime that changed America / by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson.
p cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58836-324-4
1. Till, Emmett, 19411955Death and burial. 2. LynchingMississippi. 3. Hate crimesMississippi. 4. African American youthCrimes againstMississippi. 5. RacismMississippi. 6. Trials (Murder)Mississippi. 7. MississippiRace relations.
I. Benson, Chris, 1953 II. Title.
HV6465.M7T55 2003 364.134dc21 2003046928

www.oneworldbooks.net

v3.1_r1

We cannot afford the luxury of self-pity. Our top priority now is to get on with the building process. My personal peace has come through helping boys and girls reach beyond the ordinary and strive for the extraordinary. We must teach our children to weather the hurricanes of life, pick up the pieces, and rebuild. We must impress upon our children that even when troubles rise to seven-point-one on lifes Richter scale, they must be anchored so deeply that, though they sway, they will not topple.

M AMIE T ILL- M OBLEY

November 5, 1989

Dedication of the Civil Rights Memorial,
Southern Poverty Law Center Headquarters,
Montgomery, Alabama

G ods magnificent women.

God chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary things when they honor His will and His way. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., contended all cannot be famous because all cannot be well known, but all can be great because all can serve.

The struggle for our emancipation is a history of strong women who by their courage, commitment, and craftiness made America honor her creed of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for all. Magnificent women: Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Constance Baker Motley, Madam C. J. Walker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Gertrude Johnson Williams, mother of John H. Johnson. In that tradition of a high league of service has stood Mamie Till-Mobley. She was an emancipation heroine.

Magnificent women.

Strong women dont merely birth children. They cultivate them to render service. One example is that of the mother of the Biblical Moses.

When the governments decree was issued to kill the firstborn babies, she didnt just cry and pray and hope. She acted. She crafted a plan, made a basket, hid him in the water, floated him toward Pharaohs daughter, who, in turn, would become emotionally connected to the baby and adopt Moses. Later, Moses mother volunteered to babysit her own baby.