till
Door ERNESTINE comvalius

Till
You just can’t breathe no more

I saw this movie
The movie Till
Started with smiles and
Black joy.
Till
Emmett brought his
smile to Mississippi

14 years of age in 1955
and his momma’s love just
made him dance on the
streets, run from the
cottonfields, joke like
a child with a future

Cause that’s how momma
raised him.
Throwing a compliment
here and there.
Till
These jealous white
Mississippi folks put a lid on it.
These lying uncivilized white
Mississippi people dragged him
to a sunken place.

I just fell
His momma fainted
My nose started bleeding
His momma touched his swollen body
My body trembled. Couldn’t
stop the tremor
Till

I saw the movie Till
where Emmett became
a Black angel
who touched our souls
searching for justice

His momma gave us
a story to hold on to
and infuse the movement
Till death do us part.

‘What happens to one of us,
affects all of us’,
that’s what Till’s momma said.

The movie is magnificent
They acted as if the injustice was real
As if it was happening there and then

This little Emmett Till
This angel gave his momma strength
March 29, 2022 the President signed into law:
Lynching is a Federal hate crime

I can hear Emmet’s  laughter now
Cause the President signed the
Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act
67 years later

I can hear his naughty voice
with the smirk on his face
‘We don’t forget! It’s just a matter of time’.

Ernestine Comvalius

Ernestine Comvalius is de oprichter van het Bijlmer Parktheater,
een voorloper en een van de belangrijkste leiders in onze gemeenschappen.