"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them."
–Ida B. Wells
On the surface, there appeared to be little common ground and little to celebrate.
A 16-year-old white girl, murdered while bicycling across a bridge on her way to school, and a black woodcutter who lived nearby burned alive for the crime. Two tragedies, no legal resolution to either.
And yet, not one but two gatherings Sunday afternoon found joy in loss, hope in injustice.
Descendants of both victims — the black man who was lynched and the white girl he was falsely accused of murdering — plan to be here for Sunday's prayer service.
The two women, one from Chicago, the other from Memphis, plan to go down to the river, rain or shine, to stand and pray with hundreds of others near the site of both brutal murders.
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"We have to acknowledge and address the pain before we can begin to heal," said Laura Wilfong Miller. Her great-grandmother and Antonetty Rappel's mother were sisters.
The upcoming Interfaith Prayer Ceremony on May 21, 2017 is on the CA's list of "Five things to do in May":
Two markers will memorialize the tragic and shameful events that occurred here in the spring of 1917.
Both markers, approved Thursday by the Shelby County Historical Commission, will mention the two victims of those events.
Antoinette Rappel, a 15-year-old white girl who was brutally assaulted and murdered on her way to school April 30, 1917.
Ell Persons, a 50-something black woodcutter accused of the crime who was brutally assaulted and murdered by a lynch mob May 22 that year.
"More than 120 years ago, a tragedy in Memphis made the front page of the New York Times. Thursday marks the 125th anniversary of the People's Grocery Store Lynching..."
These men and this story need to be remembered by white Memphians in a spirit of reverence and repentance. Their memory should be honored by all of us as respected, successful citizens.
After four decades in the Army and the airline industry, John Ashworth is taking on a new challenge. Reclaiming history.
Nearly six decades ago they were evicted from their homes for merely trying to register to vote. Now they are in danger of being evicted from Tennessee's public schools.