CHICAGO — When the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr. thinks of Emmett Till, he sees him running toward home plate with the grace of a lumbering Pullman freight train. Emmett’s slow speed lost their team a softball game, he remembers.
He can still recall a fish Emmett caught — and then lost — at a river by their Argo boyhood homes, in what later became part of southwest suburban Summit. He can still hear Emmett’s strong stutter, and he smiles when he thinks of his cousin’s energetic warmth.
Emmett Till’s funeral was 67 years ago Tuesday. But even as time passes, the boy whose racist lynching and murder captivated America is not just a part of history for the 83-year-old Parker. Emmett Till is a lost best friend.
