Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 May 2005 — Page 7

The Muncie Times • May 19, 2005 • Page 7

NEWS BEIEFS

Till’s family agrees to his exhumation CHICAGO-A disagreement among relatives of Emmett Till that had the potential of developing into an embarrassing feud was apparently resolved earlier this week, according to a family member. At issue was whether to exhume the body of Till, who was 14 when he was murdered and his body dumped in the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi. Some family members had supported efforts to exhume the body, while others were opposed. “We have resolved the dispute,” said Simeon Wright, Till’s cousin who was with the slain youth that fateful day in Money, Mississippi, when Till was murdered. Wright said that Bertha Thomas, a fourth cousin of Mamie Till Mobley, Till’s mother who died 3 years ago, has changed her position and will no longer block efforts to exhume Till’s body. Thomas, who runs the Emmett Till Foundation, could not be reached for comment. For weeks, she, along with the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, had been two of the strongest critics of efforts to exhume Till’s body, saying that Till’s mother did not favor the procedure. The two sides of Till’s family had squared off over the planned exhumation. Till, who was killed by two white men with possibly more people involved in the slaying, according to a documentary made by Brooklyn filmmaker Keith Beauchamp, never received an autopsy.

Spurred by Beauchamp’s documentary about Till’s murder, the Justice Department decided to reopen the 1955 case. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) and the Rev. A1 Sharpton are among the many voices who have called for an investigation into the murder. Till was abducted from his the home of his uncle, Moses Wright, by Roy Bryant and his half brother, J.W. Milam, after they learned that Till had whistled at Bryant’s wife 3 days earlier. The youngster’s battered and disfigured body was found three days later in the Tallahatchie River with a 75pound cotton gin strung around his neck with barbed wire. His face was beaten beyond recognition, with a bullet hole through his skull. An all-white jury acquitted the two men, who later confessed in a magazine article that they killed Till. Early on, Jackson said that Till’s mother did not want her son’s body to be exhumed. But later, he said that he would support whatever decision the family came to. For his part, Beauchamp said he will continue to press for the exhumation of Till’s body, even though the family members apparently have come to an agreement. “There are still some matters to be settled,” Beauchamp said. “My main concern is to see that Emmett receives justice and that all those involved in the crime are prosecuted.” Howard U. Law School bests other law schools In national moot contest

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Howard University School of Law Moot Court Trial Team won the American Bar Association Criminal Justice and John Marshall Law School competition, the first African American college to do so. “The confidence that we had in ourselves created a command in the courtroom like no other,” said Derrick Simmons , team captain and third-year law student. “We submitted a declaration of interest last summer. The national committee selects teams based on prior success records.” Eight weeks prior to the competition, each team is given a fact pattern written by a problem drafter who is also one of the judges in the final round. The fact patterns are based on real life cases, with the parties and witnesses changed. The competition is structured around trial advocacy, a component of law where advocates represent their clients under the rule of law in a trial format. Each team was graded on speech advocacy, opening statements, direct examination, cross examination, objections, and closing arguments and the presentation and use of exhibits. “Our preparation was independent of endowment or funds and rested primarily upon the faith we have in ourselves,” said Simmons, who assisted with the preparation of the team. “We are social engineers.” The four-member team consisted of Simmons, Adonna Bannister, L. Chris Stewart and Nisha Brooks. The history-making team was coached by Professor Monique A, Pressley. Membership on the team

is selective. It began with an inter-school competition, attended by up to 100 students. The Howard University School of Law Moot Court Trial Team participated in four competitions this school year: the National Trial Competition, the National Black Law Students Association Competition, The American Bar Association Criminal Justice and John Marshall Law School Competition and the Atlanta Association of Trial Lawyers of America, where the team placed first in the region, beating Georgetown University, American University, Catholic University, George Mason University and the University of Maryland Law schools. Simmons attributes the success of the team to Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who was a lawyer in residence at the time of the team’s formation in 1997. “There is a true sign that after the passing of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. on the same week of the national win of black law students, that it was revealed and assured that there’s hope in the African American black lawyer for years to come,” Simmons said. “The torch has been passed from the old to the new underrepresented.” Black Caucus opens Okla. massacre query The Congressional Black Caucus held a May 10 hearing on the 1921 race riots that occurred in Tulsa, Okla. The hearing was to determine what happened and what legal remedies are available to the survivors. With Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) presid-

ing, witnesses included legal experts and some of the survivors. Chicago Alderwoman Dorothy Tillman set the tone for the hearing by saying, "What happened in Tulsa was not a riot, but a massacre." CBC Chairman Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) said: "By allowing the survivors to tell their stories, we can know what really happened. It is then that the Congressional Black Caucus can explore legal and congressional action." On May 31, 1921, white law enforcement officers and their citizen deputies rampaged through Greenwood, the black section of Tulsa, killing at least 300 blacks, causing about $8 million in damages and leaving about 8,000 homeless. The massacre was in response to a rumor that a black man, Dick Rowland, had attempted to rape a white woman in an elevator. The African American community rallied to defend Rowland, who had been placed in jail, from a lynch mob. The Tulsa Police Department, the state militia and the National Guard were called in to put down the massacre; but by many accounts, they were culpable as well for the destruction the black community suffered. Greenwood was known throughout the country as the "Black Wall Street." The section had two newspapers, movie theaters, restaurants, hotels, schools, libraries and other amenities that matched or surpassed the white community in Tulsa. It was no secret that the black community's prospericontinue on page 9