First published 2005
Award-winning poet Marilyn Nelson crafts a literary memorial for Emmett Louis Till, the fourteen-year-old African American boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955. Till's death, sparked by accusations he whistled at a white woman, became a national tragedy that galvanized the civil rights movement. Nelson employs a sophisticated but little-known poetic form to weave together the story of Till's brutal lynching, his mother's decision to hold an open-casket funeral, and the subsequent acquittal of his killers. The collection transforms personal grief into collective memory, connecting Till's murder to ongoing struggles for justice. Nelson's verses challenge readers to confront both historical and contemporary injustices, urging them to bear witness and speak truth. This poetic wreath serves as both remembrance and call to action.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, african-american, poetry, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: call-to-action, collective-memory, personal-to-political
Setting: Mississippi
Period: 1955
48 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Content warnings: racism, violence