Dear John,

It’s Deborah, Emmett Till’s cousin, and I’m writing to you on behalf of
our family. I wanted to make sure that you saw this email. We are still
fighting for justice for Emmett’s lynching, and our movement gains more
and more traction every day.

This Friday, our family is going to deliver our petition, and we need your
support. Over 212,000 MoveOn members have signed the petition, and we’re
hoping to make it to 250,000 signatures before the delivery!

[ [link removed] ]Will you add your name to our family’s petition demanding that the
state of Mississippi do what’s right by charging Carolyn Bryant Donham,
the only known surviving accomplice in our cousin Emmett Till’s
66-year-old open murder case?

Thanks! 

–Deborah Watts, Emmett Till’s cousin and co-founder of the Emmett Till
Legacy Foundation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Charge Carolyn Bryant Donham, the only known
surviving accomplice in our cousin Emmett Till’s 66-year-old open murder
case, now!

Content warning: This email contains details about racially motivated hate
crimes, violence, and murder. It is important that you read this in order
to demand justice for Emmett Till and his family.

Dear MoveOn member,

Here we are, 66 years later, and there still hasn’t been any justice for
our cousin Emmett Till, a Black boy who was just 14 years old when he was
dragged out of bed, kidnapped, brutally tortured, lynched, killed, and
dumped into a river by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam during a racially
motivated hate crime.^1 Bryant and Milam were tried before an all-white,
all-male jury in 1955, where they were unsurprisingly acquitted of all
charges.^2

They eventually confessed to kidnapping and killing Emmett, but due to
double jeopardy protections in our justice system, they weren't charged or
convicted for these heinous crimes.

The pain is still raw for our family, but our push for justice is not
over.

Carolyn Bryant Donham is the only known surviving accomplice and she has
yet to be charged for her role in the kidnapping and murder of Emmett
Till. Our family urgently needs your help because we are not giving up.
Together, we can keep fighting to ensure that she is brought to justice.

[ [link removed] ]Will you join over 100,000 MoveOn members and add your name to the
petition?

Emmett’s murder case was reactivated by the United States Department of
Justice in 2017 when the ​only known accomplice, Carolyn Bryant Donham,
appeared to admit that she lied to her husband Roy Bryant (one of Emmett’s
killers), and during Emmett’s murder trial, by falsely claiming that
Emmett made sexual advances and physically touched her.^3

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they
closed their investigation into his death.^4 We were hopeful that the DOJ
decision to shut down their investigation would have been different, but
the work doesn’t end and stop here. We need to keep the pressure going.

Emmett Till’s case still remains open in Mississippi, where Attorney
General Lynn Fitch and W. Dewayne Richardson, district attorney for the
4th Circuit Court District, can decide to move the case forward by
charging and indicting any known accomplices, including Carolyn Bryant
Donham.

Emmett was adventurous, full of life, and such a joy. He didn’t get a
chance to fulfill his childhood and teen years, become an adult, get
married, or have children of his own. He should be alive today. That's why
we can't stop demanding truth, justice, and accountability. And justice
for Emmet Till is now in the state of Mississippi’s hands. They must act
now.

[4]Sign Emmett Till Legacy Foundation's petition

And the worst part is, this is not an isolated incident. It happens more
often than you would imagine. Black communities and communities of color
suffer every single day at the hands of brutal systems designed to protect
white supremacy and the status quo above all else.

The past has not passed. Lynchings like Ahmaud Arbery’s, Breonna Taylor’s,
and George Floyd’s are very much reflective of what happened to our cousin
Emmett. There is a clear connection between past injustices and the
injustices that continue to this day. We won’t stop fighting. It is our
duty to not allow the lives of those stolen by hate to be in vain. 

And there is so much work still left to do. Join me by demanding that the
state of Mississippi do the right thing by charging Carolyn Bryant Donham
in Emmett Till’s open murder case now!

[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to
your friends.

Thanks!

—Deborah Watts, Emmett Till’s cousin and co-founder of the Emmett Till
Legacy Foundation

Sources: 

1. "'We suffered for 66 years’: US ends latest Emmett Till murder
investigation without charges," The Guardian, December 6, 2021
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid. 

4. "Emmett Till's cousin: Accuser in case is still alive and must be
brought to justice," USA Today, December 13, 2021
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

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petitions. You can [ [link removed] ]start your own petition here.


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