Publicist Gift via NetGalley | A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till

I received a free digital ARC as a gift from the publicist via NetGalley

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you only ever read one book about the murder of Emmett Till, it must be this one.

Reverand Wheeler Parker Jr, at 87 years old, is the last surviving witness to everything that happened that horrible summer of 1955, and specifically to the kidnapping of his beloved cousin and best friend, Emmett Till. Wheeler shares his memories, insights, and suggestions as to what justic looks like at this point. Any hope of holding Carolyn Bryant accountable for her actions that lead to Till's horrific lynching died with her in 2023.

Here are the facts that we know: Till, Parker, and their siblings/cousins had an interaction with Carolyn Bryant in her family's store. Not long after, a bunch of racist redneck white supremacists protected by their whiteness stormed into the home Till was staying at, dragged him away, and his family never saw him alive again. We know a sham trial was put on, the white defendents were found not guilty despite all evidence pointing to their guilt, and that after the trial they confessed in detail their crime to a magazine, which they could not be charged again for. Till's family will never see justice for what those monsters did to this child.

I can't imagine reliving the worst times of one's life over and over again, but Parker does, repeatedly. Since the ay they encountered Carolyn Bryant in the store, the lies she told about their interaction fed these monsters, spurring them on to get revenge. She claimed Till grabbed her wrist and waist, and made sexual remarks - then whistled at her as he was leaving. Are we really supposed to believe that, considering all the preparation his mother gave him about what he would be exposed to in the deep south, compared to what he was used to at home in Chicago? Not only that, but Till had a pretty severe stutter, making it highly unlikely he could have said even half the things she accused him of. But really, even if he had said and done all those things, none of it justified his brutal torture and murder

Though I've read nurmerous books on this subject, this one has what no other book does - the perspective of someone who lived this with Till, right until he was taken away in the night. I can't begin to imagine the pain and guilt that Parker has carried with him for decades. Yet he willingly shares all of it for us, to make us understand what Till's death meant then, and still means now. He shares information from the investigation never shared before, clarifies errors reported over the years, and once more becomes that scared teenager on that August night in 1955, knowing there is nothing he can do to save his cousin and best friend. When Parker shares specific memories of the night those men forced their way into the home, his fear is viceral. Even knowing that the others are safe, that Parker will not be taken as well, the fear is palpable, leaping from the pages as you relive that night alongside him.

Something both this book and Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime that Changed America by Emmett's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, do well is bring Emmett to life in a way no other authors can. Those who knew him best, loved him more than anything, show us the real Emmett Till - not the caricature the defendents' lawyers presented that already lived in the minds of the all-white male jury, but the joyful, sweet, funny young man who had his whole life ahead of him. The boy who wanted to spend time with his cousins and family, despite his mother's misgivings about him going. It will surprise no one that Parker blames himself for Till visiting in the first place.

Parker also give details regarding the continued fight to get justice for his cousin, such as FBI interviews in the early 2000s and the work another author did  for his own book, where some of his research included interviewing Carolyn Bryant. In 2022 an old arrest warrant was found from 1955 that originally charged Carolyn with kidnapping in addition to her husband and brother-in-law. At the time she had not been arrested with the two men, because of course she wasn't. Unfortunately a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict her after its discovery, citing no new evidence to move forward. The Department of Justice had formally closed their investigation in December, 2021 and it is unlikely to be reopened again.

This is the history our government is currently trying to gloss over and erase. We must never let that happen and we must never let Emmett Till be forgotten.

Highly Highly recommended (along with Till-Mobley's book mentioned above).