I had warned him that things were different down there,
Be careful where you walk and whatever you do, do not stare.
A train had come taken him away,
To Mississippi where blacks had prices to pay.
Emmett had whistled at a girl in a store,
Two days later death was knocking at his door.
In the moments in the shed was where this beating took place,
This set off the civil right movements, this was its base.
When we had heard the news, cries had filled the house,
A couple days later I picked out my best black blouse.
The ring on his finger told me he was it,
Later I had found that his shoes had been lit.
When the reporters questions filled the air,
I had to answer with care.
“All I know is that he is my son”
And in the back of my mind was saying, “His life was done.”
The courtroom was so hot,
The lies were impossible how could they be bought?
The all white jury had looked over at me,
I know because of my skin what I said didn’t matter only what they could see.
He had not looked like the son I knew,
African Americans barely spoken, if few.
The trial was unfair to say the least,
The people who had beaten him were beast.
He had been put in a truck,
And to his destiny he soon would lose all his luck.
Soon a gun shot from a pistol was fired,
And soon after his neck was wired.
I did not wait to hear the verdict come out,
They were innocent there was no doubt.
They had said he was not my own son,
That is how the case was won.
No one ever did any time,
For this awful crime.
The truth finally seeped through their lies,
To many disgusted people, the ones still living today, live in disguise.
Gun shots were celebrated like it was the Fourth of July,
When in fact my 14 year old boy had just died