ROBERT H. MAYER is the award-winning author of When the Children Marched: The Birmingham Civil Rights Movement and editor of The Civil Rights Act of 1964. As a teacher, Mayer’s passion has been and continues to be making history relevant and accessible to young people. His time spent in Jackson, Canton, and McComb, Mississippi, as well as meeting scholars and activists integral to the civil rights movement, fueled Mayer’s desire to write In the Name of Emmett Till. He resides in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania with his wife Jan, where he continues to write, teach, and tutor young people in a local middle school.
The senseless killing of Emmett Till sent shockwaves across the
nation, shining a light on the systemic racism and bigotry plaguing
Mississippi and the rest of the country. As a student and historian
of the civil rights movement, Robert H. Mayer beautifully captures
the tragedy of this moment and unearths the compelling,
often-forgotten stories of the youth activists who rose up against
this grave injustice. Combining comprehensive research with
gripping storytelling, Mayer weaves a powerful narrative of the
past to inspire young civil justice warriors of today.
*Vangela M. Wade, president and CEO, Mississippi Center for
Justice*
In the Name of Emmett Till vividly explains how the brutal killing
in 1955 of a fourteen-year-old boy in the Mississippi Delta
inspired a generation of young people to fight for Black freedom.
Mayer’s narrative details how the courageous activism of scores of
Mississippi youth in the decade after Till's murder played a
decisive role in dismantling the state's system of racial
apartheid. This book is a powerful reminder that young people are
always at the forefront of positive social change.
*Charles C. Bolton, professor of history, The University of North
Carolina at Greensboro*
The death of Emmett Till lit the spark for many young activists. In
the Name of Emmett Till tells their powerful stories. A most
welcome book that proves that youth and inexperience are
insignificant when coupled with a burning desire to make a
difference.
*author of Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and
Propelled the Civil Rights Movement*
From the horrific lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 to the
groundswell of support for Freedom Schools nine years later, Robert
Mayer traces how SNCC activists in their twenties like Bob Moses
and Sam Block inspired local teenagers to sustain the civil rights
movement in Mississippi. In Jackson, McComb, Greenwood, Canton, and
other places, students used school walkouts, store boycotts,
sit-ins, as well as voter registration drives to challenge endemic
white supremacy. In clear compelling prose, the author presents the
gripping personal stories of these young people who found their
voices and changed the nation.
*author of The Children Bob Moses Led*
In the Name of Emmett Till presents stories of everyday people
deeply affected and ultimately transformed by the lynching of
Emmett Till in 1955. Rather than choose fear or despair, they
discovered within their deepest selves the power not only to
imagine a more just world but the courage to fight for it. Through
deeply textured personal portraits, Robert Mayer brings their
stories to life. His book is an unflinching, deeply researched, and
evocative work.
*author of Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance Before
the New Deal*
I am grateful for this book by Robert Mayer. My life will be
forever changed for having read about these young Mississippi
activists, who in the wake of the tragic killing of Emmett Till
imagined what hope could look like, who knew that to bring about a
paradigm shift challenges would have to be faced. A fascinating
work.
*Pamela D. C. Junior, director, Two Mississippi Museums*
In the Name of Emmett Till shows how brave acts transformed lives
and empowered others to work for justice, voting rights, and
desegregation, feeding a movement that improved life for millions.
A compelling history.
*Foreword Reviews*
Inspiring and well-researched.
*Booklist*
Mayer’s book is best when reminding readers that history is made by
quotidian actions of ordinary citizens, not by superheroes.
*SourceClarion-Ledger Books Page*
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