Bobo Journal

1b. How did Emmett’s story make you feel? In

what ways can you relate to Emmett Till?
1. Emmett’s Story

1a. After reading the first poem, what do you

suspect the purpose of the poem is?

2. Exploring Money, Mississippi

2b. What is the total 2c. What is the African-
2a. If Emmett left Chicago population in Leflore County? American population in
at 6 A.M. and rode in a car Leflore County?
going 50 miles per hour the
entire way to Money,
Mississippi, what time would
he have arrived?

2d. Compare the African-American population to the total

population in Leflore County. What can you infer about the
dynamics of the culture in Leflore County in 1955?
 2e. Who is speaking in the poem? What has the narrator experienced over the last 200 years?

3. Going Back to 1955

3b. We are beginning to experience Emmett’s
victimization as a young black boy in the 1950’s. Now,
imagine you were a young person living in the South in the
1950’s. Explain in detail what your experience may be.
What would life be like in school and at home? How
3a. After reading about would you react to the events going on in the world?
Emmett’s mother’s fear and
anxiety about her Negro son
going to Mississippi for the
summer, what can you infer
about the conditions of the south
in 1955?

4. The Cruelty of the Crime

4a. Let’s write the obituary of a life lived wisely…

Compare the real-life
4b. What are your
obituary of Emmett Till to the one written by Marilyn Nelson.
thoughts??
 4c. What feelings does this song convey?

5. The Legacy
5a. What is Emmett’s Legacy? What has he left behind for
us, and how can we use his legacy for the betterment of our
own lives and for our nation?

5b. What do you notice about the

way the poem, A Wreath for
Emmett Till, was written?

5c. Now it’s your turn. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? Imagine Marilyn
Nelson wrote a poem for you after you have passed on. What would you want it say? Use your
first, middle, and last initial to begin each line, and write an ode to yourself the way Marilyn would.