The story of Emmitt Till getting shot for no reason other then supposedly whistling at a white women is an infuriating one. From the beginning of this story to how the trial ended. That people for no reason at all other then there skin color have had to live in fear there entire life, segregated, and could not even look at white people does not make sense. It shows just how stupid people at that acted, and that even after the Murder was committed they still didn’t comprehend just how terrible these white men acted. After the fact however it is amazing that Emmetts mum was able to show just how wrong it was, and that people had to see what had happened to her son. This started the civil rights movement and eventually changed the system. 

The story of Emmitt Till shows that when something negative/bad happens it causes people to make a stand to try and change it. To prove my point there have been multiple examples since then that have showed that this is true. One of the most prominent cases being the spark of the black lives movement. Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida February 26, 2012. When Trayvon went to visit his father in a gated community, The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida he did not know what he was in for. On February 26th Trayvon was walking to the corner store to get an iced tea and skittles while talking to his girlfriend. Not long after beginning his walk he realized he was being followed. He was being followed by George Zimmerman, one of the residents who was selected to patrol the grounds carrying a firearm in response to a rash of robberies and burglaries. Zimmerman phoned the police only to be told to stand put as he was not a threat. However Zimmerman decided to ignore this decision and instead shot 17 year old Trayvon Martin. This resulted in a lawsuit against Zimmerman as he had shot a boy who did nothing wrong just as Emmitt Till had done nothing wrong. However in both cases even if neither of the murderers had to deal with any consequences it did change the system. 

Emmitt Till getting shot caused the world to start talking about how unfair African Americans were being treated. Showing his torn up body, his mother saying speeches nationwide and protests going on worldwide showed that a change needed to happen and people would do anything to do that. When Emmitt Till died in Glendora, Mississippi, near the Tallahatchie River on August 28th, 1955 it caused a spark of the civil rights movement. 

When Trayvon Martin was shot in Sanford, Florida, on February 26th 2012 it caused the black lives matter movement to begin. When he was wrongly shot it caused people to protest, and fight against the racism that was still happening. In 2013, three radical Black organizers—Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called #BlackLivesMatter as a result of Martin being killed.. On the black lives matter website they state “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression”. The black lives matter movement has effected significant change locally and nationally, including the ousting of high-profile corrupt prosecutors. It has also made people want to make a difference, and changed society. If the black lives matter movement had not started who knows if the #metoo movement would have happened comply because people now have the confidence to speak out because this movement has changed things. That not to say that racism is gone, it definitely is still very much alive however more people are speaking out and do want to make a difference. 

Recently in class we have also been reading Dear Martin a book written by Nic Stone. When Justyce a teen African American boy is handcuffed and almost arrested it causes an out break. Since he was treated differently it sparked the community/ one of his school classes to start speaking up about the issue so that they could turn the negative into positive. And even though this is a fictional story it is a very real event that happens worldwide everyday. 

Between these few examples (there are many more as well) you can see just how much change people can make when they want to. And when they want to is when they are outraged by a negative event that happened. So truly you can see that in some cases in order for a change a negative event has to happen.