Emmett Till film documentarian honored with proclamation

ess than a week before the blessed news came down from the Justice Department that it is reopening the investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, documentary filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp and Semeon Wright, cousin of Emmett Till, were special guests at New York’s City Hall.

In the Red Room prior to the City Council meeting, Speaker Gifford Miller, Council Member Letitia James and several other councilmembers presented Beauchamp with a proclamation in recognition of his commitment to uncovering new evidence in the case, evidence that was no doubt pivotal in the Justice Department’s decision to reopen Emmett Till’s case. This young man was only 14 years old when he was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Money, Mississippi for supposedly having whistled at a white woman. His shot and mutilated body was later retrieved from the Tallahatchie River.

Based on the new evidence that he’d brought to light in the process of making his film "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till", for years Beauchamp had been urging Federal and Mississippi State authorities to reopen the investigation into this heinous murder. He maintains that a number of individuals may have participated in the crime, and that several are still alive but have never been prosecuted.

In accepting the proclamation, Beauchamp thanked the members of the City Council who have joined him in his crusade to uncover the truth about the murder. He made it clear that he was very grateful for the honor, but wished that "we did not have to be here under these circumstances."

Semeon Wright stated, "I was in the room with Emmett during the night of his abduction. No one should have had to endure the pain and suffering that my family has endured. We should not have to wait nearly 50 years to get justice from the federal government."

Following the ceremony, the two men, along with Beauchamp’s fiancée, Ronnique Hawkins, and his parents, Ceola and Edgar Beauchamp, were special guests at the City Council meeting. They were extended the cordial greetings and the courtesies of the house, and the entire Emmett Till family was given a prolonged standing ovation in absentia. Many councilmembers spoke praisingly of the Till family’s courage in putting their lives on the line in pursuit of justice for their beloved Emmett. Speakers also made it clear that it is now time for others to step up as well and carry forward the family’s great work and make sure that justice is served.