01x03 - Let the People See

[bunniefuu]

[GUIDE] That beautiful
Colonial mansion over there

is Mr. Alan Ladd's home.

Alan Ladd!

Yeah, gee, it would be nice if we could

see Sue Carol walking around there.

And over here on the
left is Shirley Temp...

[BROADCASTER] This is a
WDUW Chicago Special Bulletin.

The body identified as
-year-old Emmett Till

arrived by train this morning.

Till's mother, Mamie
Bradley, met the train

at the Central Street
Station this morning

and has since made a
statement, inviting the public.

The viewing will be held at A.A.
Rayner & Sons Funeral Home...

The hell is this?

- All those wishing to pay...
- [CLICK]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

I know you asked me to leave him be.

But...

there's a whole lot of people outside

waiting to pay their respects.

And I just,

well...

I felt I had to do something

to make it easier on them.

♪♪

It's just a few stitches.

♪♪

I hope that's okay.

♪♪

You did a beautiful job, Mr. Rayner.

♪♪

♪♪

We don't have to open the doors.

Your family's here.
We could keep it private.

No one else has to see.

I want them to see
what was taken from me.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Let them in.

♪♪

♪♪

[DOOR OPENS]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[BOTH CRYING]

No!

[SOBBING]

♪♪

Reports estimate that
more than , people

have already viewed Emmett Till's body,

with that number sure to
climb today at the funer...

[CLICK]

Who do you think we feeding, an army?

The same people we've been feeding

since this nightmare began.

The repast is for family.

I don't know why you feel the need

to feed the entire Chicago
branch of the NAACP.

After everything
they've done for Emmett,

they might as well be family.

Folks are gonna be expecting
a meal after the funeral,

and I'd rather have too
much than not enough.

We need time to grieve.

I'm not standing in your way, Mama.

You need time to grieve.

I will.

When those monsters
are indicted by a grand jury

and when they're in prison
for the rest of their lives.

And what if it doesn't go our way?

Mama, don't.

An arrest was a miracle, [CHUCKLES]

but an indictment...

That doesn't happen.

Not for us.

I'm sorry.

But it needed to be said.

Now, you know I don't keep my
good containers on that bottom shelf.

Go on.

Car's on the way, so we best get
ready if we don't want to be late.

Tell 'em to wait. As if they'd
start the funeral without us.

You know what?

In this case, maybe they would.

[GENE] Some people are better at
putting on a brave face than others,

but if you get tired of
putting yours on today,

you let me know.

I'll sneak you out the
church's back door.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY] I'm fine.

I will be,

as long as I don't
sit still for too long.

Just say the word.

[ORGAN PLAYING]

♪♪

♪ I don't know why ♪

♪ I don't know why ♪

♪ I have to cry sometimes ♪

♪ I don't know why ♪

♪ I don't know why ♪

♪ I have to sigh, ooh, sometimes ♪

♪ It would be a perfect day ♪

♪ But there's trouble ♪

♪ In my way ♪

♪ I don't know why ♪

- ♪ But I'll find out ♪
- [SOBS]

♪ By and by ♪

♪ Ooh, it would be a ♪

♪ Be a perfect day ♪

♪ But my trouble keep
on getting in the way ♪

♪ I don't know why ♪

♪ But I'll find out ♪

♪ Lord ♪

♪ By and by ♪

Remember.

Just say the word.

♪♪

[BISHOP] Good morning.

[CONGREGATION] Good morning.

To the members of Emmett's family,

first and foremost to his mother,

let me begin by saying
that this community

is not only praying for you,

but we are standing with you.

I would also like to
take this opportunity

to thank local journalists

for your thorough coverage of this case.

I pray that God blesses
each and every one of you

for your fine work that you've done

to inform the citizens of Chicago,

and even the world, about this tragedy.

[CONGREGATION MURMURS]

I have to be honest with you, church,

I-I had to wrestle with God

about what I was gonna say today.

I know I should talk
about His love and peace,

but this is a reckoning
moment in America.

- Yes.
- Yeah.

[BISHOP] We are in pain!

[CONGREGATION MURMURS]

But we can mourn later.

For right now, we must act
on behalf of this young martyr,

who was a casualty of
the w*r of good versus evil.

And we must show that
the hatred of the creation

cannot undo the love and
the power of the creator.

[CONGREGATION MURMURS]

- [CASH REGISTER DINGS]
- _

[MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO]

All right, anything else, Mr. Chatham?

Well, I wouldn't mind
taking a few of them

Mary Janes off your hands.

Sure.

♪♪

[CHATHAM] You know them?

[CASHIER] Oh, no, sir.

The way I figure it...

[CASH REGISTER DINGS]

... we all gotta stick together now.

Anything you want to contribute
would be much appreciated.

Not today, hon.

♪♪

I don't think so.

Jimmy Hicks for the
Baltimore Afro-American.

DA Chatham, what
makes this case different

from the m*rder of George Lee in May

or Lamar Smith just weeks ago?

We arrested two suspects
in the Till case, that's what.

Yeah, but how confident are
you in procuring indictments

against the brothers from
an all-white grand jury?

The state's gonna see that
we take every precaution

to have a fair and impartial jury.

And you think that's possible down here?

I believe we have more
than sufficient evidence

to convince reasonable
men to render indictments

when the grand jury convenes
on Monday morning.

Y'all stay cool, now, won't ya?

Fittin' to be a scorcher today.

[STRIDER] Can't hardly
walk down the street

without some Yank sticking
a microphone in your face.

Well, I suppose
they're doing their jobs.

Well, I wish they'd go
do it somewheres else.

Until last night,

I thought that body was
buried and in the ground.

So you can imagine I
was a little, uh, miffed

when I got word it arrived in Chicago.

You don't think the
boy's mother had a right

to dictate where her son was buried?

That wake, more like a TV
show than anything I'd ever seen,

and from what I hear,

that woman's back at it
again today with the funeral.

Meanwhile, I got
n*gg*r*s callin' the station,

writing letters,
threatening to lynch me.

You don't spook easy, Clarence.

What's really eating at you?

Sheriff Smith.

He's poking his nose
in where it don't belong.

The newspapers published photographs

of that cotton gin fan that
we found around the body,

and I know he put 'em up to it.

He's only looking for
the gin fan's owner.

Why can't he get it
through his thick skull,

this case is mine?

Because his kidnapping
investigation is ongoing,

Clarence, and if he can find
out where the gin fan came from,

he'll have a better idea of where
the m*rder actually took place,

and then we'll all be one step closer

to locating witnesses who can help track

Bryant and Milam's movements that night.

Sheriff Smith's on our side.

The hell he is!

The gin fan is a piece of
evidence in my m*rder case,

always has been.

Now, he knows damn well
he's got no right to get in my way.

Now, Gerald, I want
you to make it clear to him

he's getting in your way now, too.

Oh, I'm not getting drawn into
some turf w*r between you two.

Think of the press like
another tool in our belts

to get these indictments.

You do realize that every
defense attorney in the county

has stepped up for Milam
and Bryant, don't you?

And I know how these cases typically go,

but this isn't a typical case for us.

We're talking about a child.

Folks don't go for that down here.

A whipping, maybe.

But what they did to that boy makes

us all look like a bunch of savages.

And the papers are
saying , people

attended that boy's wake last night...

God only knows how many
are gonna be at the funeral today.

You really think a grand
jury's just gonna ignore all that?

♪♪

You already talk like
you got it in the bag.

The law is the law.

Just trying to do my job.

Look, if Sheriff Strider
really is getting threats,

they aren't coming from us.

There's probably some
well-intentioned white person

who thinks they're helping the cause.

Or ill-intentioned, trying
to stir up some mess.

[PACKTON] I hate to be
the one to break it to you,

but a bunch of us
staying out at the Delta Inn

saw those threatening letters,
and they didn't look doctored.

Huh.

Well, that explains
how Strider's threats

ended up in southern papers.

Maybe we should invite
him out to Dr. Howard's

and see if he wants to
set up a follow-up interview.

[LAUGHTER]

Y'all are staying out at
Dr. Howard's, in Mound Bayou?

We don't have much choice.

All the hotels in
Sumner are whites only,

and the few places in Clarksdale

that will accommodate
us are fully booked.

I reckon Dr. Howard's
is finer than any hotel

I ever set foot in.

I reckon you're right.

So, you were in Chicago
last night, for the viewing?

I was.

I-I haven't seen any of the footage.

Is it as bad as they're saying?

His face?

It's worse.

[REPORTER] Sheriff Strider.

Would you care to
comment on the condition

of the body when you last saw it?

[REPORTER] Is it true that
no autopsy was performed?

How about the public
viewing and the national

media attention this case is getting?

When were you made
aware that Emmett Till's body

wasn't buried in Mississippi?

This whole thing is a farce!

It is a hoax cooked up by the NAACP.

A hoax?

Sheriff, you were there

when they pulled
that boy from the river.

♪♪

I seen the paper.

The photo of that boy when he's "alive"

don't look like nothing I saw.

I was trusting the word of the Uncle.

Maybe that's where I went wrong.

But as far as I know,
that boy's still alive.

♪♪

I don't understand.

That man signed
Emmett's death certificate.

How can he call this a hoax?

He's using the press
to sway the grand jury.

In his own county?

What kind of people are these?

The kind looking to
preserve their way of life

by any means necessary.

[RAYFIELD] He wouldn't pull
a move like this

unless he thought we had a
real sh*t at getting an indictment,

so I say we b*at him at his own game

and use the press to call his bluff.

We're supposed to bury Emmett tomorrow.

But I'm willing to delay it.

Thousands of people
are waiting to see my boy,

and this will give them more time.

If that sheriff doesn't
think it's Emmett,

let him come up here
and see for himself.

♪♪

The sheriff and the DA
are supposed to be partners.

Instead, Clarence blindsides me

the weekend before
my grand jury hearing.

So now not only am I
gonna have to connect

Bryant and Milam's kidnapping
confession to Till's m*rder

to get the indictment, I
gotta convince the jury

that the boy's body
really is the boy's body.

Clarence has about as much
couth as a timber rattlesnake.

I ain't a bit surprised by what he did.

Did that photo of the cotton gin fan

lead to anyone coming
forward with information?

Not yet.

What about the third man?

The colored man Mose Wright
saw at his house that night

with Bryant and Milam?

Until we have a name, all we
can do is keep asking questions.

So that's it, huh?

Until you have a name,
I'm dead in the water.

I didn't say that.

There's some talk going around

that a second colored man
may have been involved.

Is that right?

We don't have anything
solid yet... on either witness...

But these rumors mean something.

People around here wouldn't be talking

unless folks were scared,

and they're scared 'cause we're close.

Yeah, just not close enough.

We ain't giving up.

Me and my deputies are
hell-bent on finding these guys.

By chance, you think you can find 'em

before I face the grand
jury in the morning?

[CHATHAM] Deputy Cothran, you took

Mose Wright's initial statement
that Emmett Till was missing.

Is that right?

[DEPUTY COTHRAN] Yes, sir, I did.

And you were on the scene
when the body was identified?

- Yes.
- And who identified the body?

Mose Wright.

Given the condition of the body,

was Mose Wright able to ascertain,

to your satisfaction,

the identity of his
great-nephew Emmett Till?

Yes. Mose said it was the boy.

He was sure of it.

Even in its terrible condition.

And then there was the
boy's ring which backed it up.

What kind of ring was it?

It was silver.

Had an inscription, the initials L.T.

[CHATHAM] And what
did you do with that ring

after you removed it from the body?

[CHESTER] I gave it to Mose Wright.

Chester, tell me, were
you able to determine

the race of the body by looking at it?

Yes, sir, it was a n*gro.

[CHATHAM] Is there
any doubt in your mind

that the body retrieved

from the Tallahatchie River on
August st was Emmett Till?

Based upon the
information I was given, no.

No doubt in my mind.

After Deputy Cothran relayed
Mose Wright's statement,

that a man identifying
himself as Mr. Bryant

abducted Emmett Till from his home,

did you pay Roy Bryant a visit?

[SMITH] Yes.

[CHATHAM] Did you ask him if
Mose Wright's statement was true?

- I did.
- And what did he say?

That he kidnapped the boy,
just like Mose Wright said.

And what did you do after
Roy Bryant confessed?

I arrested him.

Tell us what you did next.

I did a brief examination of the body.

- Did you perform an autopsy?
- No.

It was more of a postmortem,
given the severe decomposition.

During the exam, were
you able to determine

the race of the body?

[DR. OTKEN] No. Not
with complete certainty.

You were present when Chester Miller

took possession of
the body, were you not?

I was.

One can only assume a
n*gro undertaker is called

when a n*gro victim is involved.

Would that be accurate?

In normal circumstances,
when the victim's race

is immediately identifiable, yes,

but it wasn't.

And I didn't make the
call to the undertaker.

Do you believe that body to
be one of a n*gro, Dr. Otken?

♪♪

I can't say for sure.

What I can say, with certainty,

is that Emmett Till was
missing for three days

when the body was
retrieved from the river.

That extreme level of decomposition

after such a short
amount of time in the water

is highly unlikely.

Therefore, I can only conclude
that the body in question

is not that of Emmett Till.

♪♪

♪♪

[SHOVEL THUDS]

It's over.

I gave them two days to come up here

and examine Emmett's body,

and if they really had any
doubts, they would've come.

I suppose I should be grateful

that we even got a
hearing in the first place.

It was greedy of me to expect more.

Nonsense.

Baby, you got to give
yourself a break from the case.

You're right.

What happens next is out of my hands.

And I'll drive myself mad wondering

what the grand jury's gonna do

when history has already shown me.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[RADIO CLICKS]

After tens of thousands of people

filed past his casket over the weekend,

Emmett Till was finally
laid to rest this morning

at Burr Oak Cemetery.

[RADIO TUNING]

This is for all you lovebirds out there,

here's The Platters'
smash hit "Only You."

♪♪

♪ Only you ♪

♪ Can make all this world seem right ♪

♪ Only you ♪

♪ Can make the darkness bright ♪

♪ Only you and you alone ♪

♪ Can thrill me ♪

[PHONE RINGING]

♪ My one and only... ♪

Hello?

Yes, Rayfield.

No, no one's called me yet.

♪ Can make all this change in me ♪

We, the jury, find that
Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam

did willfully, unlawfully, feloniously,

and of their malice aforethought
k*ll and m*rder Emmett Till,

a human being.

[MAMIE] I can't believe it.

There's gonna be a trial.

I have to call Mama.

♪ Understand the magic that you do ♪

♪ You're my dream come true ♪

♪ My one and only ♪

♪ You ♪

♪ One and only you ♪

We have to thank you, Rayfield,

for introducing us to
everyone at the NAACP...

We're forever grateful.

No need to thank me.

[GENE] The credit belongs to Mamie.

I don't have to tell y'all,

this indictment is unprecedented.

You know, before the
viewing, I was afraid

that I was making a
mistake letting the public in.

And then, right around the
time I started hearing people

screaming at the sight of my boy

like he was some sort of
monster at a horror picture,

I was tempted to shut that casket,

and I'm so glad that I didn't.

Now I know that it had
to be done to get us here.

Amen. You made this happen.

And you can keep making things happen.

Mr. Wilkins is keeping his word.

The NAACP would like
you to speak at a rally

at St. Matthew's Methodist on the th.

[ALMA] I'm sorry.

They want Mamie to
speak? For what reason?

[RAYFIELD] To continue the work...

To keep telling people to
fight on behalf of Emmett...

Because these cases are
rarely won in the courtroom.

[GENE] He's right.

The more we talk about Emmett...

And who he was, and
who he could've been...

The better chance we
have at a conviction.

[ALMA] Mamie has given

a couple of statements
to local reporters.

Now you want her to get on stage,

at a political rally of all things?

She's a mother.

Making speeches is not her job.

I think what Mama is saying
is we could use a little privacy,

and me getting up
on a stage, well, that...

That's not gonna get us any.

[SIGHS]

What's done is done, Mamie.

You're all over the
papers and on television.

Now you have to decide
if all your hard work

was only about Emmett...

or about all of us.

Unless the NAACP keeps
pressuring states like Mississippi,

real citizenship for the
n*gro will always be elusive.

If the government can't
make Mississippi change,

what makes you think the NAACP can?

I don't care how much
pressure you apply.

How are my friends from the North?

[BOOKER] Dr. Howard. Great to see you.

Helen tells me you settled
in the guest house just fine.

Oh, better than fine. Thank you.

Join us.

We were just disagreeing about
the future of Mississippi Negroes.

I see. A little light
conversation over lunch, huh?

Jimmy here thinks that
if the U.S. government

can't enforce integration down here,

Negroes won't be able to either.

Now, I think the NAACP
can force the state's hand.

Well, don't count out the
Regional n*gro Leadership Council.

Ever since we organized
the gas station boycott,

there are n*gro restrooms
in every station in Mississippi.

With all due respect,
a gas station boycott,

as powerful as it was,

wasn't a declaration of w*r
on white folks' way of life.

I'm on a hit-list of the most powerful

white supremacist
organization in the South.

So, with all due
respect, I beg to differ.

The White Citizens' Council considers

any attempt at
integration an act of w*r,

be it learning, using
the restrooms, voting...

And they are far more
powerful than the Klan,

because they wear suits, not hoods.

They're doctors, they're
judges, they're lawyers,

and they are responsible for k*lling

two of my closest friends this year.

We may have a long way to
go with Smith and Lee's cases,

but the Till trial,

that's proof we're only going
to take so much down here.

Maybe.

But what if they plead guilty

to avoid a trial... And
the death penalty?

I mean, Bryant did confess
to kidnapping the boy.

He also said he let him go.

We all know that they
didn't, but why else

would the sheriff run with this
theory that the body isn't Emmett's?

To cast doubt on the jury pool.

There isn't a n*gro registered to vote

in this entire county, thanks
to the Citizens' Council.

If we can't vote, we can't be jurors.

No one in that deliberation
room is going to look like Emmett.

Or his mother.

Well, that's why we're
not leaving it to the lawyers

or whatever jury they scrounge
up to ensure a conviction.

It is up to us to make
sure that this is a fair trial.

How the hell we gonna stack the jury

when everybody in Tallahatchie County

knows good and well

Bryant and Milam are
redneck peckerwoods?

Well, I guess we'll have to
bus jurors in from Hinds County.

Jesse, didn't your firm sue Milam

a couple times for bootlegging?

A couple? Too many times to count.

Be that as it may, those
boys are gonna be tried

by a jury of good,
white, Anglo-Saxon men,

and I assure you we will find
suitable men for the job.

What about Bryant's wife?

She's just as southern as they
come, and that's good for us.

You're not thinking about
putting her on the stand, are you?

It's too risky.

We need a joinder.

If we try Bryant and
Milam as co-defendants,

the state can't ask Carolyn to
testify against her own husband.

Hold on. Let's talk about this.

Don't we want her to testify?

Well, I don't see how that benefits us.

The wolf whistle, that's why.

If she can't testify, how do
we bring it into evidence?

Well, call me simple,

but doesn't the whistle
give the state motive?

[CHUCKLES]

Maybe.

Maybe that's okay.

[JUDGE SWANGO] You men are here today

to enter a plea on the charge of m*rder.

What say you?

Not guilty, Your Honor.

And you, Mr. Bryant?

♪♪

Not guilty.

Behind me, you'll find the
best group of trial attorneys

in all of Tallahatchie County,

and we are extremely confident

that we have more than enough proof

that the body found in the
river wasn't that of Emmett Till.

[CROWD MURMURING]

Not only do we believe the state

will be unable to
prove this essential fact,

we believe that the
proof for the defendants

will convince any reasonable person

that in all probability, the
body was that of a dead man

transported from some
other section to this county

by activists trying to
stir up racial tensions.

If you don't believe that's the
body of Emmett Till, then who is it?

Where did it come from?

The investigation is ongoing.

What about the boy's mother?

How could you possibly think
she'd be involved in a "hoax"?

Well, you know, I don't
pretend to understand

what goes on in the minds of you people.

Uh, we'll save that discussion
for the witness stand.

Now, our team has learned

that the DA intends to
invite Mamie down here

to challenge our theory,
and we welcome that fight.

Our only hope

is that she does not invite
trouble along the way.

In Mississippi, jurors
don't take too kindly

to outside agitators.

That'll be all.

[SIDNEY] Thank you.

[HICKS] Ruby Hurley and Medgar Evers.

I thought I saw Breland wet himself.

Now I know why.

It's the NAACP's dynamic duo.

[CHUCKLES]

I take it you both just got in?

[MEDGAR] We just drove up from Belzoni.

You two are always
burning the midnight oil.

How's Reverend Lee's case coming along?

Look at you, always digging.
Are you ever off the clock?

That's rich, coming from you.

Tell me, what's the word?

Any chance for an indictment?

When we have something
concrete to share,

you'll be the first to know, Jimmy.

Right after the FBI.

All right, you two.

We're heading over to Dr. Howard's.

Can we give you a lift?

No, I think I'm gonna poke
around here a little longer.

I'll see you out there later.

All right.

[ENGINE STARTS]

[VEHICLE DEPARTS]

♪♪

[MAN] You a reporter?

You heard about that third man?

Who hasn't?

The police have been trying
to track him down for days.

That surprise you?

Not at all.

If I knew something,
the sheriff's office

is the last place I'd go with it.

What do you know?

His name.

Goes by Too Tight.

He's got a friend tending
bar over at Kings in Glendora.

From what I hear, she might talk,

just not to the law...
Or anybody in the press.

[MAMIE] "Let the death
of my son light a fire in you

so powerful that hatred
cannot extinguish it."

[SIGHS] Good Lord.

[PHONE RINGING]

Hello?

Hello?

[WOMAN] Mamie Bradley?

Yes.

You thinking about going
down to Mississippi to testify?

Who is this?

You go ahead.

When you come back to Chicago,

we've got a b*mb ready
for you and Mayor Daley.

[CLICK]

[ALMA] They're threatening to
k*ll her if she goes down there,

and you still want her to testify?

Jury selection begins in three days.

You tell me what
Mamie can say to the jury

that Mose and the police can't.

They never called Mose
to testify for the grand jury,

and they may not call
him for the trial either.

- Why not?
- [RAYFIELD] Who could say?

What matters is we got the indictment.

And that District Attorney
wouldn't call you down there

unless he thought it
would help with his case.

The defense is running
with Strider's hoax theory.

As crazy as it is, it's
carrying weight down there,

but a mother's testimony means something

in a southern courtroom.

[GENE] Mamie...

what do you want to do?

I don't know.

But if I went, I couldn't go alone...

I'll close down the
barbershop. I'll come with you.

Oh, I can't let you do that. Then
we'd be without two incomes.

Then I'll escort you.

And I can take a leave from work, honey.

Do you think the state would
provide protection for us?

Our friends at the NAACP sent a telegram

to Mississippi requesting
state protection.

We haven't heard back...
But I can assure you

that you'll be under the full protection

of one of the finest,

most influential leaders in Mississippi,

Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Howard.

Oh, you're familiar.

Of course. I read the papers.

No one's fought harder
for our rights down there.

[MAMIE] And he wants to help me?

[RAYFIELD] Well, he'd be
honored to house you during the trial.

To put your mind at ease,

his home comes with
a live-in security team.

Yeah, we're talking about armed guards.

Armed guards?

Mamie, you have already given so much.

Now is not the time for you to be

making speeches and causing trouble...

Not when your life is on the line.

♪♪

According to this paper,

Bryant and Milam, they are w*r heroes

who "never got into any meanness."

And that woman, the wife?

"A pretty brunette."

They're calling me an
outside agitator, Mama...

Me, the mother of a m*rder*d child.

Mama, if I stay up here and I
curl up in some ball and hide,

then I am an outsider,
an occasional agitator

when it's convenient for me to speak up.

When it's self-serving.

But if I go and I give
that speech tomorrow

and I show up at that courtroom

and I tell the jury
what only I can say...

Is that it was my boy in that box...

Then maybe it will show
them that my... my...

My words aren't meant to cause trouble.

That this isn't some
kind of political statement.

[VOICE BREAKING] This is pain.

It's a mother grieving for her child.

They already done took my only grandson,

and I'm not gonna
let them take you, too!

I know this is hard,

because you raised me to be a good girl,

and good girls don't fight back,

but I can't help but
wonder where I would be

if you had raised me to fight.

If we had all been brought up to fight.

I keep feeling like I'm
watching some other woman

talk to reporters and calling the sh*ts,

because before Emmett was
gone, Mama, that was your job,

and I let you do it...

All the heavy lifting and the fighting.

But, Mama...

it's my turn.

I want to become that brave woman,

a woman like you, Mama.

So maybe I can show
someone that one person...

One mother... Can make a difference.

♪♪

If you want to invite danger
into your life, I can't stop you...

but I won't have any part of it.

♪♪

[SIGHS]

♪♪

[APPLAUSE]

_

Thank you for that warm welcome.

During the past few
weeks, I've spent a lot of time

trying to find the right words
to get through each day.

Nothing ever seems to
fit, because the truth is,

nothing can ever prepare a
mother for losing her child.

♪♪

♪♪

A month ago, I had a six-room
apartment here in Chicago.

I had a good job. I had a son.

And when something happened
to Negroes in the South,

I said, "That's... That's
their business, not mine."

Now I know how wrong I was.

- Uh-huh.
- Yes.

The death of my son has shown me

that whatever happens to any
of us, anywhere in the world,

had better be the business of all of us.

[APPLAUSE AND EXCLAMATIONS]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪ Congratulations, honey ♪

- ♪ If you found somebody new ♪
- _

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Congratulations, honey ♪

♪ If you found somebody new ♪

♪ Yeah, oh, yeah ♪

♪ I heard you found somebody ♪

I'll take a beer, whatever's cold.

♪ Yeah ♪

[ADELINE] Sugar, tell me somethin'.

How is it that you're in a juke joint

and ain't got a stitch of sweat on you?

[CHUCKLES]

Well, I guess I ain't
got no hips to shake.

♪ Yeah ♪

I was actually hoping
to catch up with a friend.

Goes by the name of Too Tight.

♪ Yeah, oh, yeah ♪

What you want with him?

Met him in the fields a while back.

He owes me a drink.

How long's a while?

A month or two.

You ain't seen him around much lately?

Not in a spell.

I guess we in the same boat, then.

How's that?

I ain't seen him since Monday.

He's missing?

He'd been staying with
me and my husband.

They both work for one
of them Milam brothers.

♪ ... found somebody new ♪

Listen, hon. I'd be happy
to help you find him.

With your husband's help, of course.

How can I reach him?

♪♪

That's the problem.

You can't.

Henry Lee's missing, too.

♪♪

♪♪

I hate this,

but I couldn't let you go
down there being sore with me.

The paper said you drew
quite a crowd at St. Matthew's.

I couldn't see a single face but Gene's.

You've always been a fine speaker.

I may not have raised you to fight,

but I guess I did
something right, didn't I?

Mama.

♪♪

You be safe, my girl.

- Daddy will take good care of me.
- [SNIFFLES]

Don't you worry.

♪♪

I'll look in on your mama.

Thank you.

♪♪

♪♪

Go get 'em, baby.

♪♪

♪♪

[AIRPLANE ENGINE ROARS]

♪♪

♪♪

[BELL DINGS]

♪♪

♪♪

[AIRPLANE ENGINE ROARING]

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[MAMIE] If you don't mind,

I'd like to go over
the itinerary again...

So Daddy knows what he's getting into.

[RAYFIELD] Of course.

We've turned our itinerary
into our own version

of the Underground Railroad...

beginning with our arrival in Memphis,

where we'll be driven
to our first safe house.

♪♪

Welcome, Mrs. Bradley.
Let's get you inside.

After we cross, we'll
make our second stop

at a safe house in Clarksdale,

where we'll stay until it's
safe to continue into Sumner.

After the court recesses for the day,

we'll head out to Mound
Bayou to Dr. Howard's,

our safe house for
the duration of the trial.

There have been reports
of Mississippi troopers

targeting out-of-towners
as they cross the state line.

And I'm told they've gone as far as

to pass license plate
numbers on to the KKK.

But if we sense any trouble,
we won't cross into Mississippi.

♪♪

Booker, this is something else.

I don't know how you kept
your composure in that room.

I can't wait to meet her.

They sure do love her
up north, don't they?

I hope she doesn't expect that
same warm welcome down here.

[GUARD] Stay back, stay back.

[YOUNG MAN] Please, let me in.

[GUARD] What's this about?

[YOUNG MAN] It's
about that Chicago boy...

That boy that got k*lled!

He needs to speak to Dr. Howard.

It's urgent.

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

What is it?

On that morning, before
those men k*lled that boy,

some field hands saw him
riding in the back of a pickup truck,

sitting between two n*gro men.

Where?

A plantation out near Drew.

Near Drew?

- Are you positive?
- Yes, sir.

There's more than one
field hand saying so.

That's Sunflower County.

Will your friends talk to us?

They ain't my friends.

I'm just telling you what I heard.

If we can head out to
Drew and track them down,

maybe we can tie Bryant and
Milam directly to the m*rder.

[MEDGAR] If their stories pan out...

... it means the trial's
in the wrong county.

Which means we can get it moved
out of Sheriff Strider's jurisdiction.

Well, there's not much time.

Trial starts tomorrow.

Then we better get started.

♪♪

This is it.

Right up ahead.

♪♪

_

♪♪

[RAYFIELD] Slow down. It's a speed trap.

[DRIVER] No need to tell me twice.

♪♪

All clear.

♪♪

♪♪

[GASPS]

No.

The state trooper's following us.

Dear God.

♪♪

Let's pray.

♪♪

The light of God surrounds us.

The love of God enfolds us.

The power of God protects us.

The Life of God flows through us...

♪♪