In the wake of the Uvalde massacre, Emmett Till’s name is again at the forefront of a national conversation, this time about gun control. Till was the 14-year-old boy lynched by a group of white men in 1955 in Mississippi. Images of his mutilated body shocked the country and galvanized civil rights activists.
As people inside and outside newsrooms struggle with whether showing brutal images of slain children might move people and politicians toward collective action, Emmett’s family talks about power and pain, and the impact and limitations of an image.
Today, in honor of Juneteenth, we kick off a week of episodes about the Black experience with the question: Is this country in the middle of another “Emmett Till” moment?
Read the full transcript here.
Host: Gustavo Arellano
Guests: L.A. Times reporter Marissa Evans
More reading:
After Uvalde shooting, people consider an ‘Emmett Till moment’ to change gun debate
Hearts ‘shattered’: Here are the victims of the Texas school shooting
House passes gun control bill after Buffalo, Uvalde attacks
