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600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900

For more information, contact:
Phone: 386-226-6157
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Contact: Mary Van Buren
Phone: 386-226-6525

Embry-Riddle Offers Emmett Till Documentary, Black History Exhibit

Daytona Beach, Fla., Feb. 3, 2006 -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will mark Black History Month by showing a powerful new documentary on the 1955 murder of teenager Emmett Till and by hosting a traveling exhibit that highlights the history, culture, and achievements of African-Americans.

“The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” released in 2005 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Till’s death, takes a fresh look at a killing that stunned the nation and galvanized the civil rights movement. Till, a 14-year-old black youth from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Money, Miss., when he was beaten, shot, and thrown weighted down into a river for whistling at a white woman. Two white men were tried and acquitted of his murder by an all-white, all-male jury. Later they admitted their role in the crime to a journalist.

“This is an important film because its director, Keith Beauchamp, uncovered new evidence about Till’s death during nine years of research,” said Dr. Nancy Parker, Embry-Riddle’s director of diversity advancement.

As Beauchamp worked with Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, and other family members to reconstruct what happened to the teen, he realized that as many as seven additional people may have been involved in the killing, many of them still alive. His findings, together with a long campaign by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, members of Congress, and Till’s mother, prompted the Department of Justice and the State of Mississippi to reopen the landmark murder case.

“Beauchamp’s film is documentary activism at its finest,” Dr. Parker said, “and we encourage the community to join us in viewing it.”

The film will be shown Monday, Feb. 20, at 3 p.m. in the auditorium of Embry-Riddle’s Miller Instructional Center, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach.

The Sankofa Museum on Wheels will make a stop at Embry-Riddle’s John Paul Riddle Student Center on Monday, Feb. 13, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. “Sankofa” means “looking back” in Swahili, an appropriate name for a traveling museum that depicts black history from 1860 to the present day through art, historic artifacts, and rare collectibles. Established by Angela Jennings of Denmark, S.C., to celebrate African-Americans and their contributions, the private collection features rare stamps, books, figurines of African-American heroes, Negro League baseball figurines, and more than 100 inventions by African-Americans.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Nancy Parker at (386) 226-4914 or nancy.parker@erau.edu.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates more than 32,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through distance learning.