lived in sumner, mississippi where the trial of emmett till was taken. while she was in memphis, she was teaching school there. if you were african-american and in those days, you did not need a college degree to teach school. she moved back to be near my dad. that is where they got married. that was in sumner, mississippi, in 1925. easy woman. she would sing. every day she would be singing church songs. oh, she was something. you know, with four boys at that time, she had four day boi boys the house. i m sure we had done something wrong, we asked, mama, when are you going to whip us? that s how easy she was. we just when mom would leave the house we would be afraid that something would come out of the woods, a bear or something. but when she was around the house, we wasn t afraid of anything because she was always moving, always busy. she would do anything to protect her children. she was somebody. last year you published a beautiful book simeon s story about the emm
the reality is known was ever really brought to justice for his murder. thank you. to talk abouth today. at that we might begin with something that is personal. description with mother and father. my father was a hard man. fair, someone that is tough but fair. that is the kind of man he was. he loved farming. he was honest. most of the people that he works for, they found that he was an honest man. he was a hard worker. see when cotton will begin to grow mississippi he became excited. i cannot figure out why. that is the kind of man he was. he enjoyed the farming until my mother i was born and bred in mississippi the, mississippi i m going to die. my mother was different. she was raised below jackson. i think what my dad proposed to her she told him about picking cotton. she said i don t know how to pick cotton. i think they met in memphis. memphis was the headquarters. she heard my dad deliver a message there. believe it or not, her parents lived in summer, mississippi
for emmett till s murder, and that haunts simeon. lonnie bunch, thank you. my pleasure. we have much to talk about today, and i thought we might begin with something that s very close and very personal in your memories,s and that s just a description of your mother and your father. well, my father, he was what we call kind of hard man. fair. someone that s tough but fair. that s the kind of man he was. he loved farming. he was honest. they found out most people that he worked for in his early years that he was an honest man. if it didn t belong to him, he didn t bother it. he was a hard worker and he enjoyed to see when cotton would begin to grow in mississippi, he just became excited. and i couldn t figure out why. but that s the kind of man he was. he enjoyed the farming and told my mother, said, hey, i was born and bred in mississippi. mississippi i m going to die. now, my mother on the other hand, she was different. she was raised in hazel hurst, mississippi, belo