I've had an opportunity to attend a great many author book reviews in my 23 years in D. C., but none has been more dramatic or surprising to me than The Blood of Emmett Till. The opportunity is also yours at the youtube listing below. Obviously a southerner, Timothy Tyson worked almost 10 years on this book and is at Duke University and Duke Divinity School as Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiuCtJYcAxA
More information about the book and the author may be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Blood+of+Emmitt+Till
Tyson's presentation is folksy, droll and challenging. The large crowd interrupts with applause at many statements. As a fellow southerner by birth (Texan) I could identify with much of his insight, particularly as he told of his grandmother and church up-bringing many decades ago singing the following in Sunday School as atrocities like Till's murder were not uncommon,
All the children of the world.
Whether yellow, black or white,*
They are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the children of the world.
*A better lyricist than I might add a line here like,
Neither atheist, Muslim,or Seik
The book is indeed worth your reading and perhaps discussing with others as Tyson credits Till's mother with the courage that actually precipitated the civil rights movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment