My husband and I went to see Till last night, the recounting of the horrific and brutal murder of 14 year old Emmit Till and the courageous efforts of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley to make sure that the people of this country would never forget what happened to her son. By now all we know the story. Till, a resident of Chicago, was visiting his uncle in Mississippi when he was murdered at the hands of two white men because he whistled at a white woman. The woman lied on the stand, accusing Till of attacking her. The men were charged but found not guilty and the woman was never held to account for her lies.
It’s not an easy film to watch. My heart ached with Mamie’s screams as her son’s casket was offloaded from the train that brought him home from Mississippi. I felt sick to my stomach as I watched the mourners pass by the open casket, a effort by Till’s mother to make sure everyone saw what “they did to my son”. After the film ended I could not move from my seat in the theatre. Tears streamed down my face. I felt shaken to the core. Although it happened more than 67 years ago, the message still resonates today.
I am sickened by the social fabric of this country. Sickened by the way we treat each other. By the incessant lying and fabrication of things that are not true. We have enough wrong with this country. We don’t need to be subject to false flags and politicians who drum up more things to be afraid of. Narratives that turn us against one another, that drive wedges in our communities, workplaces and families.
Enough.
People sleep in the streets because they have no place to call home. Children go hungry because their parents cannot earn a living wage. If you have healthcare, and there’s no guarantee you do, costs continue to skyrocket. The criminal justice system is anything but just. The beautiful, rich, creative, passionate students that fill the seats in my classes struggle to be treated with dignity. That’s the country we live in. That’s who we are.
Every semester I teach my students about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. At the bottom of the pyramid are basic needs: food, shelter, safety, dignity, security, belonging and love. Maslow argues that we NEED these things in order to thrive. We cannot be our best selves without them, and that is what each of us desires. To be our best selves. To be able to live a life of dignity. To love and be loved. To experience joy. To know what it means to be free.
That’s what this country professes to be. “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.” A place where every voice deserves to be heard. A place where we are trying to do what no other country has been able to do before, to live as a diverse, complex society in a democratic republic where the will of the people determines our future.
But this is not who we are, nor has it ever been. Instead it remains a promise. A goal to ascribe to. A path we long ago set forth on.
If you have read my work, you know I was raised in a political family. I was raised to understand the power of elections. Tuesday is yet another Election Day. An opportunity to take part in determining the path forward. Do not let it slip away. Even as voting has become more and more difficult in certain places, it is incumbent on all of us to vote.
But before you do, remember the courage of Mamie Till-Moseby. Take a long hard look inside your heart. Ignore the lying and the diatribes and the false flag propaganda. Look into your heart and think about the country you want to live in. The country you want your children and grandchildren to live in. A place where we can all live lives of dignity. A country where all of us yearn to be free.