Emmett Till

by Killian Hanesworth

Dear Emmett Till,
I’m sorry for the way they treated you
Didn’t give your life a chance as if they never needed you
Took someone’s word as law with no value for your life.
They beat the breath out of your body and they didn’t think twice.
And your mother.
Your poor mother had to bury her young son
And live on for many moons as the sadness blocked the sun.
People marched to fight back, knowing the battle they had lost
As the girl naked with shame covered herself at any cost.
She waited till you were gone to admit that she had lied
But her tears were no match for the tears your momma cried
And for the pain you must have felt as they ignored your honest truth,
A boy soon to be a man yet they still chopped down your youth.
The only hope is the chance that we’ll see justice for you, kid,
And we believed you the whole time, Emmett, I promise you we did.
And even justice ain’t enough because it can’t bring you back,
But maybe it can shed some light on why our faith in justice lacks
So Emmett Till, sweet young king, surely we’ll back the correct horse
And we’ll fight with no holds bar until your justice is dispersed
And we’ll pray for your soul that it may finally rest in peace
And for the ones long gone who took your life their souls may never sleep
And that the system will improve because we should be trusted too
And our words hold the same value as the ones who put us through.
We can never go back and free the kids they took away,
But we’ll speak up and we’ll remember as we pray for brighter days.
We won’t give up or give in, even in weakness we’ll be strong,
Especially for our little black boys who did nothing wrong