With a war in Ukraine, rising interest rates and the Supreme Court鈥檚 historic confirmation hearing of Katanji Brown Jackson, it鈥檚 easy for some news to just slip right past you.
But not this.
After more than 200 attempts, Congress passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act earlier this month. In the U.S. Senate, the vote was unanimous.
It has taken a long time for the government to make lynching a federal hate crime. Emmett Till was a Black teenager who was beaten and murdered in Mississippi back in 1955. The outrage of Till鈥檚 lynching by white men is said to have ignited the civil rights movement.
鈥淪acrificing my son and the privacy of my grief, I became the living, walking, wailing wall for those who had been touched by Bo鈥檚 story,鈥� Mike Wiley performs in a distinct, lady-like voice. 鈥淚n re-telling it, he shall live on.鈥�
Wiley is a North Carolina-based playwright, actor and director. In his one-man play 鈥淒ar He 鈥� the Story of Emmett Till,鈥� Wiley plays with passion Till鈥檚 mother, Mamie Till, and more than 30 other characters.
Audiences from South Carolina to South Africa say they were left spellbound as Wiley glides from character to character, between age, race and gender, during a time in Mississippi when the races did not mix. For more than 15 years, Wiley has single-handedly kept Emmett Till鈥檚 name in the news, on-stage and in classrooms. 鈥淒ar He鈥� was also made into a film, starring Wiley.
鈥淣early six months after the kidnapping, murder and subsequent trial revolving around the Negro youth Emmett Till and his accused killers J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant Jr., I sat down with the two men who had been hoisted on the shoulders of white supremacy and later shunned by those same friends and neighbors,鈥� Wiley says with the conviction of a white journalist for Look Magazine.
鈥淒ar He鈥� which also means, 鈥淭here he is,鈥� is what Till鈥檚 great-uncle said in court, pointing out the men who dragged Till from his bed the night the teen was murdered.
Wiley has performed 鈥淒ar He鈥� hundreds of times. It is in his bones. So, when the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was passed and went to President Joe Biden鈥檚 desk for signature, I wanted his reaction 鈥� a Black man who invested a good part of his career telling Till鈥檚 story.
鈥淚 needed folks to understand it. To be moved by it, to be moved to do something about it,鈥� Wiley said. 鈥淎nd now stepping back to look at how so much of the country now remembers and knows the name Emmett Till; it鈥檚 a brand new day.鈥�
Wiley has a repertoire of one-man-plays he has written and performed, examining America鈥檚 racial history 鈥� from Emmett Till, to baseball great Jackie Robinson, to Henry 鈥淏ox鈥� Brown.
Earlier this month, Wiley performed 鈥淥ne Noble Journey鈥� for school kids in Fuquay-Varina and at the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center. The play tells the true story of Henry 鈥淏ox鈥� Brown, a slave, who literally shipped himself from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 鈥� to freedom.
When the audience took their seats at the arts center, they quietly chatted and ate popcorn waiting for the performance to begin. Like me, they often glanced at the stage where a sealed crate sat.
And then all of a sudden, we all gasped. Wiley begin the play by slowly pushing up the top of the box and climbing out 鈥� to freedom.
Wiley says he loves seeing the expression on audience faces. Wiley brings several audience members on stage as he tells the story of Brown. He often chooses white people to play Black slaves and Black people to play white slave owners.
Stanley Napue of Raleigh, and his teenage son Ian Napue, were two people made into instant actors during the show. This was their first time attending a Wiley performance. Stanley says he enjoyed the Q&A period after the show the most.
鈥淥bviously he鈥檚 a great actor,鈥� Stanley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great educational piece. A practical educational piece to make us look inward.鈥�
The Q&A is Wiley鈥檚 favorite part of his performances as well. He says audience goers have cheered and cried over history they thought they knew. All of Wiley鈥檚 plays have been recorded and are being distributed to school districts who request them, for teaching purposes.
Wiley was recently named Artist in Residence at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. On April 11, Wiley will perform 鈥淭he Fire of Freedom鈥� at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, North Carolina 鈥� his biggest stage yet , since the start of the pandemic.
