by Fortunata Jefferson, UBE President, Rev. Curtis W. Sisco Chapter
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| Photograph by David Parker |
On Saturday May 16, in keeping with our theme and the National UBE theme of “Black Lives Matter….From Emmett Till to,” we invited Mr. Plater Robinson to make a presentation based on the work he has done for the Southern Institute for Education and Research at Tulane University. Plater is the nephew of the former Arch Deacon, the Venerable Ormonde Plater of this Diocese. He began traveling in the Mississippi Delta some 25 years ago in search of the memories of Emmett Till, his murder and the subsequent trial of his killers. The trial of Emmett’s killers drew national and international attention as it came on the heels of Thurgood Marshall’s decision from the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education.
Mr. Robinson has interviewed many people connected with this case, including Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who courageously attended the trial every day, Aaron Henry from the local NAACP, Betty Pearson a local white woman (and Episcopalian), who attended the trial and took up the civil rights cause. The thing that affected me the most was knowing that the “Bryant woman” was still alive and living in Raleigh , North Carolina . She has finally admitted to lying in court and to her husband. She has stated Emmett was innocent. The worse was to hear Roy Bryant on tape admit to the murder and that his one regret was he didn’t get a penny for it. It was the most profoundly emotional thing that any of us had ever heard and I must admit that it did things to me. I would only hope that a lot more get an opportunity for it to do something to them as well. Plater Robinson spoke for nearly 3 hours accompanied by a wealth of slides showing the places and people involved, as well as maps and sites where these things happened in the Mississippi Delta. Some of which are still there today. We were all affected with many mixed emotions and for the most part, we were rendered speechless. My only reaction was to say “Wow.” There was a discussion that followed. Mainly to process our reactions and to sort out how we would follow up on this information. It was resolved; if possible that Plater’s presentation should be made available to a much broader audience that would include young people who were Emmett’s age when he was murdered. We are exploring avenues in which this could be made possible.
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Photograph by David Parker
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Sunday, May 17th was the celebration of Thurgood Marshall. Fr. Richard Easterling very graciously made us a part of his Sunday Service. It was Youth Day and somehow it seemed fitting that we became part of a service held for the young people who had completed their school year and who had graduated or been promoted. Fr. Easterling read the Collect for the Sunday as well as the one for Thurgood Marshall. The young people read the propers and did them quite well.
Fr. Easterling’s sermon centered on education in New Orleans and how many families have abandoned the public school system for private and parochial schools, leaving a structure that is separate and certainly not equal. Fr, Easterling let his parish know that he was a member of UBE because he supported our mission and he believed in what we were trying to accomplish in this Diocese. He strongly recommended that other members of the parish become members of UBE as well. We are truly grateful to Fr. Easterling and other priests within the Diocese like him, who support UBE.