Review: The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

Title: The Blood of Emmett Till
Author: Timothy B. Tyson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Edition: Kindle (304 pages)
Categories:

• Nonfiction
• African American
• Biography
• Civil Rights
• crime
• Cultural
• History
• Social Justice
• Social Movements
• True Crime

The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Those of you who frequent my book reviews no that I have a passion for civil rights and social justice. This is reflected in my political views as well as in the books I choose to read. The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy B. Tyson is no exception. When I first read about the publication of this work, I counted down the days until it was available. I don't recall when I first learned about the murder of Emmett Till, but I've known of him since junior high school, if not before. I have always thought that the truth would one day come to light, and I am pleased that Timothy B. Tyson has written this work, not only to commemorate this young man and the events, the struggles and the miles and miles we still have to go in stamping out racism and racial inequality in America, but to show the ugliness of it, and to show it is still with us-- its poison still raging through our society, clothed in either nice sounding words with ugly and hateful undertones, or blatant and murderous actions.

Not only does this book document the events concerning the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy, it also documents much of the cultural beliefs and actions that made us and still make us a divided nation. I am definitely not a historian or even a consummate student of history, though, if I were to choose a career in hind sight, I expect it may have been more to my liking than the one I ultimately chose. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history, the civil rights movement, the politics of change, and/or anyone who wants to become better informed. The issues present on that August day in 1955 are still with us. And they are still just as sad, disturbing, complex and savage as they were then.