My Nephew Emmett

Greetings again from the darkness. Racism is a global issue touching every continent and most every town. Never is it more powerful or disheartening than when presented as the story of one person or family. Kevin Wilson Jr's short film dramatizes the true story from 1955 when 14 year old Emmett Till from Chicago visited his Uncle Mose in Mississippi.

Told from the perspective of Uncle Mose (a terrific LB Williams), there are a couple of haunting images and moments. When a neighbor mentions to Mose that Emmett (Joshua Wright) had whistled at the wife of a white townsperson, Mose immediately knows trouble is coming. The image of this proud man unable to find peace in a rare bath, and then assuming a position of sentry in the middle of the night, is fascinating and terribly sad to anyone with a shred of humanity.

The film exemplifies personal terror in its rawest form. Most of us can't relate to living in constant fear, but this well-studied incident has remained in the forefront of civil rights history for more than 60 years. It's chilling to see the final clip of the real Mose delivering his statement on camera so long ago. It's a wonderful short film with lasting impact.