A Few Days Full of Trouble, Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr.
A Few Days Full of Trouble, Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr.
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A Few Days Full of Trouble
Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till

Author: Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr., Christopher Benson

Narrator: JD Jackson

Unabridged: 14 hr 26 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/10/2023


Synopsis

The last surviving witness to the lynching of Emmett Till tells his story, with poignant recollections of Emmett as a boy, critical insights into the recent investigation, and powerful lessons for racial reckoning, both then and now.
 
New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • “In this moving and important book, the Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr. and Christopher Benson give us a unique window onto the anguished search for justice in a case whose implications shape us still.”—Jon Meacham
 
In 1955, fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was lynched. That remains an undisputed fact of the case that ignited a flame within the Civil Rights Movement that has yet to be extinguished. Yet the rest of the details surrounding the event remain distorted by time and too many tellings.

What does justice mean in the resolution of a cold case spanning nearly seven decades? In A Few Days Full of Trouble, this question drives a new perspective on the story of Emmett Till, relayed by his cousin and best friend—the Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., a survivor of the night of terror when young Emmett was taken from his family’s rural Mississippi Delta home in the dead of night.
 
Rev. Parker offers an emotional and suspenseful page-turner set against a backdrop of reporting errors and manipulations, racial reckoning, and political pushback—and he does so accompanied by never-before-seen findings in the investigation, the soft resurrection of memory, and the battle-tested courage of faith. A Few Days Full of Trouble is a powerful work of truth-telling, a gift to readers looking to reconcile the weight of the past with a hope for the future.

About The Author

Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr. is pastor and district superintendent of the Argo Temple Church of God in Christ in Summit, Illinois, the church built by Alma Carthan, grandmother of Emmett Till. A sought-after public speaker, Rev. Parker lectures and teaches on the history of the struggle for equal justice in America. In 2023, he attended the signing of the proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument as an honored guest of President Joe Biden. He has enjoyed more than fifty years of marriage to his wife, Dr. Marvel Parker.Christopher Benson—Emmy Award–winning lawyer, journalist, and associate professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism—co-authored, with the late Mamie Till-Mobley, the Pulitzer Prize–nominated, Robert F. Kennedy Award–winning Death of Innocence. Formerly the Washington editor of Ebony, he has contributed to Chicago magazine, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and The New York Times.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Catharine on January 24, 2023

Special thanks to Random House/One World for reaching out to me with this book in exchange for an honest review!! I think this is going to be a long review, so if you don't want to read the whole thing, here's the important piece: READ THIS BOOK!! I think like most people nowadays in America, I have......more

Goodreads review by Ma'Belle on April 19, 2023

You might be surprised that I'd give this new memoir, told from the lips of Emmett "Bobo" Till's cousin, who was there the night Emmett was abducted and brutally murdered. It certainly made me weep at times, and I learned a lot about the family's decades-long efforts at investigating and responding......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on November 16, 2022

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of A FEW DAYS FULL OF TROUBLE by Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr. and Christopher Benson. I was really intrigued to read about the firsthand witness account of Rev. Parker as the cousin and best friend of Emmet Till. I did enjoy his personal stories about his cou......more

Goodreads review by Wafflepirates on August 08, 2022

*Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review* The lynching of Emmett Till is a well-known event. For decades, the events that took place that night have been discussed, debated, and reviewed over and over by all parties involved. This memoir,......more

Goodreads review by Marty on October 18, 2023

It was not easy reading for a number of reasons. I found the minutiae of research, reports of meetings, and court appearances to be a little stodgy. It was also difficult to read because of the horror of the crime which was committed against Emmett Till. I wanted more of Parker's recollections about......more


Quotes

“The murder of Emmett Till is an inflection point in the story of America—a moment of particular and of universal significance. In this moving and important book, the Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr. and Christopher Benson give us a unique window onto the anguished search for justice in a case whose implications shape us still. A vital and absorbing book.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of And There Was Light

“Everyone should read this compelling account to understand why we must continue to fight for justice on all levels.”—Carlotta Walls LaNier, author of A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

“Emmett Till’s murder changed the course of American history. Like so much of our history, the truth of it has been shrouded and distorted, but Reverend Parker’s riveting book reveals new details about Till’s life and community, as well as shocking twists in the decades-long quest for justice. It’s a precious contribution to our shared history, and I am grateful for it.”—Heather McGhee, New York Times bestselling author of The Sum of Us

“A critical piece of a story that has haunted America for more than sixty-five years is finally revealed—it is in this book that we begin to understand the core components of the movement we know as Black Lives Matter.”—Alicia Garza, author of The Purpose of Power and co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter

“Compelling evidence that the fight for racial justice is never truly over.”Kirkus Reviews