Emmett Till: The Murder and the Movement (a 1985 WMAQ-TV documentary by Rich Samuels & Anna Vasser)

The late Anna Vasser and I produced this documentary in 1985 for Chicago's WMAQ-TV 30 years after Emmett Till's murder.
I believe, looking back, that this was the most important piece of my career as a television journalist.
The story is arguably as relevant today as it was when this piece aired on WMAQ-TV 35 years ago.
A chance encounter with Emmett Till's mother, Mamie Till Mobley, was the catalyst for this project. We met on November 21, 1984, at a candlelight vigil for Simeon High School basketball star Ben Wilson who was gunned down the previous day. I had only a vague recollection of Emmett Till at that point. But the research I immediately undertook made it clear that the story of his murder and its sequel was worth retelling.
Subsequent treatments of the Emmett Till story, in print and in the visual media, have been more detailed than ours; but we minimally renewed interest in an episode of American history that, in 1985, was not widely known. We also had the good fortune to interview key figures in the Emmett Till story who are no longer among the living.
At least twenty of my WMAQ-TV colleagues helped me in this production.
Here's what I hope is a complete credit list:
Anna Vasser (producer); Bob Webb (director); Herb Elliott (technical director); George Sarantos and Dennis Wood (audio); Kathy Dancy (editor); Mabel Miller, Verstel Palmer, Paul Nagaro, David Adkins, Ed Bartlett, Hal Bernstein, Bob Canman, John Crispe, Estel Dillon, Bill Jenkins, Tony Palos and Jerry Ongaro (minicam); Bob Correll (video); Tim Yoshino (videotape); Elijah Mondy Jr. (electronic titles) and David Gay (executive producer).

Видео Emmett Till: The Murder and the Movement (a 1985 WMAQ-TV documentary by Rich Samuels & Anna Vasser) канала Rich Samuels