The time is now!

By Alice Thomas-Tisdale

JA Publisher Emerita

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral, located in the heart of downtown Jackson, MS, sponsored “Yet With a Steady Beat: A conversation about Emmett Till” with Bishops Michael Curry and Dorothy Sanders Wells on Sunday, August 10, 2025. The bishops were invited by Dean Ann Maxwell of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral to address the topic.

Several other programs are scheduled across the state this month to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Till’s kidnapping and brutal murder August 28, 1955, at the hands of white Mississippians. He was 14 years old.

Although only a handful of Blacks could be spotted among the near capacity crowd, without pause the voices of those gathered rang out in unison during the litany of prayers for forgiveness, healing and unity.

…Leader: “Lord, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses. We remember before you this day those whose lives were traded for a few silver pieces, those who labored without fair wages to help build a nation, and those like your child, Emmett Till, whose lives on earth ended in violence as we struggled to see one another as neighbors and not as threats. May the souls of all of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”

All: “Spirit of God, empower and strengthen us.”

The program concluded with Mayor John Horhn presenting a gold pocket watch to Bishop Michael Curry who graciously accepted what could easily symbolize a new beginning for reconciliation of the human race with God. However, it was more likely an overdue retirement gift for Bishop Curry who stepped down last fall as the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Wells currently serves as head of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.