Today I will be answering the question of “how an individual can change a system”. Through the stories of Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till we will see how tragedy can spark protest against a system, and challenge how that system works.

Their Stories

How They Changed The System

Mamie, Emmett’s mother had made a very important decision after Emmett’s death. She had decided that his funeral would be open casket. The story of how Emmett Till was brutally murdered would not be hidden to the public eye. In the days leading to the funeral, Emmets’s story and pictures of his body were released in a magazine called “jet”. The media picked up on the story and news travelled fast. Two weeks after Emmett was buried the two defendants (Milam and Bryant) were put on trial in a segregated court house in Mississippi. The NAACP searched for witnesses who were willing to risk their lives in order to find justice. After some time they were able to find witnesses who would give their statements, then flea the state (in case the KKK went looking for them). On September 23rd, the two were found not guilty because the state had failed to prove the identity of the body. This sparked national outrage, and some 100 days after the murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. Reverend Jesse Jackson told Vanity Fair (1988) that;

“Rosa said she thought about going to the back of the bus. But then she thought about Emmett Till and she couldn’t do it.”

Eight years later, on the anniversary of Emmett Till’s murder, Martin Luther King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

Without the tragic events of Emmett Till’s death, the bus boycott could’ve never began the way it did. The movement that changed a system in its entirety was propelled by the idea that Emmett was part of a bigger plan.

After George Zimmerman was found innocent, a group of African American woman began a movement called #blacklivesmatter to respect lives like Martins. Today the movement is known nation wide, and has the potential to become this generations Civil Rights Movement. The movement organizes protests addressing racial injustices.

Martin was slain by George Zimmerman because of an assumption he made. He saw a young African American teen, with a hoodie on, walking around at night and immediately made the assumption he was up to no good. To protest against this racial profiling, thousands of people posted on social media pictures of themselves wearing hoodies. Below is a famous picture of Trayvon Martin’s lawyers supporting the movement by wearing hoodies to court.

Trayvon Martin’s tragic death has sparked a new civil rights movement. Today, people across the nation are protesting under the movement name #blacklivesmatter, inspired by Martin. The movement is revealing the corrupt system America is being supported by each day. Without the injustices that took place, none of this would have been as powerful as it was.

Comparisons

Below is an image I created of Trayvon and Emmett. The collage shows some differences and comparisons so we can further analyze how these two individuals changed systems with their tragic stories.

On the left side of the collage we see a glimpse of Trayvon Martin’s story, and on the right we see Emmett Till’s story. Both sides include pictures of parents effected by the tragedy, and an open casket. The important part of their stories is really how they sparked outrage and protest through the injustices. For Trayvon it was the #blacklives matter movement, and for Emmett Till it was inspiring Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. This collage really portrays the similarities between the two stories. I wanted to create this as a way to show people that although there has been change, there has not been enough. Minority groups are still treated the same way as they are before, the laws have changed but the mindset of people hasn’t.

These two stories of tragedy are very similar, they both challenge a system by sparking protest. Emmetts story propelled and inspired Dr. King and Rosa Parks to challenge the system. Trayvon has inspired a generation to stand up for black lives, to challenge the system. The two boys were separated by a thousand miles, two state borders, and nearly six decades, but were somehow still able to connect and inspire people all over the world. Their stories will be remembered for generations to come as the inspiration to the greatest Civil Rights Movements in history.