Till

 March is leaving like a lioness. Today it snowed a couple more inches and the wind was strong. Right now my electricity is out and I hope it comes back soon. This morning I took the bus to campus so I could walk the halls for an hour and get some steps in. I found this door blocked with snow which made me sad. Today is Friday and movies are shown on Fridays. Today the movie was "Till." One year and two days ago a federal law was passed in Emmet Till's honor making lynching against federal law. In 1955 Emmet Till was 14 years old and living in Chicago. His father died serving our country in Europe. His mother worked for the Air Force in Chicago. This summer he went to Mississippi to visit his mother's family. He went to a farm to pick cotton with his cousins. Emmet was a happy boy, interested in music and he loved to make people laugh. His mother warned him that things in Mississippi were different. She advised him to "make himself small." He said he understood but he didn't really understand. When he got to a store in Money, Mississippi, he told the white female clerk at the store that she was as beautiful as a movie star. He gave her the "wolf whistle." She went to get her gun. Days later he was killed for how he treated that clerk. No violence is shown during this movie but it is implied. The grief shown my his mother, Mamie, is what got to me. I cried and cried. This movie was really cathartic for me. Sometimes we all need a good cry. The movie starts and ends with happiness. Emmet and his mother are singing a song about love and dancing around the house. Watching the movie was difficult at times but I feel it is my duty as a citizen to watch movies that can make me uncomfortable.