by Michael Imhotep, Wednesday, 8-10-22, 11:05pm EST
Host of The African History Network Show, Founder of The African History Network
On Tuesday, August, 9th, 2022, we got the news that a Grand Jury in Leflore County in Mississippi declined to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham in the August 1955 kidnapping or murder of Emmett Louis Till. The Grand Jury heard more than 7 hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses with direct knowledge of the case as the New York Times reports. Prosecutors said that the Grand Jury panel did not find sufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham in the August 28th, 1955 kidnapping, torture and murder of Emmett Till who was 14 years old at the time.
“After hearing every aspect of the investigation and evidence collected regarding Donham’s involvement, the grand jury returned a ‘no bill’ to the charges of both kidnapping and manslaughter,” the office of W. Dewayne Richardson, the district attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, said Tuesday.
The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., a cousin and best friend of Emmett’s who is the last living witness to the abduction, described the development as “unfortunate, but predictable, news.” Still, he said he believed that prosecutors were living up to their assurances that “they would leave no stone unturned in the fight for justice for my cousin.”
“The prosecutor tried his best, and we appreciate his efforts, but he alone cannot undo hundreds of years of anti-Black systems that guaranteed those who killed Emmett Till would go unpunished, to this day,” Mr. Parker said in a statement on Tuesday.
It was in June 2022 that the arrest warrant for “Mrs. Roy Bryant”, issued on August 29th, 1955, was found in a Mississippi Courthouse by a group of volunteers including 2 of Emmett Till’s relatives. They were calling for the Arrest Warrant to finally be served as reported by NBC News and The Associated Press.
On ‘The African History Network Show’, Wednesday, August 10th, 2022, I explained why the Grand Jury returned a decision of “No Bill” and explained the 16 page report that the Department of Justice released on December 6th , 2021 explaining why they were closing their latest investigation into the murder of Emmett Till. I also discussed The Montgomery Bus Boycott and how Emmett Till’s murder helped to spark the ‘Modern Day Civil Rights Movement’.
Hopefully, new evidence will turn up and someone will eventually be held responsible for Emmett Till’s murder.
Watch the Video below.
Michael Imhotep is a historian, radio show host, researcher, lecturer, writer and founder of The African History Network. He is the host of ‘The African History Network Show’ on 910 AM Superstation Detroit WFDF on Sundays 9pm-11pm EST. He is a weekly panelist on the ‘Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show’ on Fridays, providing Political and Historical Analysis.
Visit his website www.TheAfricanHistoryNetwork.com for more information about his lectures, DVDs, Online History Courses, Audio Podcasts, our History and more.