Brushes with Greatness in Mississippi: Pictures

As I mentioned earlier, my wife, Linda Royster Beito, and I had some recent brushes with greatness. We had a chance to spent some time with actress Ruby Dee, wife of the late Ossie Davis and Myrna Colley-Lee ,who is Morgan Freeman’s wife.

Our host was Ifa Bayeza , who invited us to attend a panel discussion at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson her upcoming play Till, based on the life of Emmett Till. National outrage over Till’s murder in 1955 and the acquittal of his killers gave an important spur to the modern civil rights movement.

We are writing a biography of T.R.M. Howard, a black surgeon, entrepreneur, fraternal leader, and civil rights organizers who played a key role in finding witnesses and evidence in the hope of convicting Till‘s killers. We have also have written here about our views on the case.

Colley-Lee will be the costume designer for the play.

On the following day, Linda and I were guides on a tour of sites related to the case. These included the store at Money where the initial incident in the case took place, Sumner, the location of the trial, and Mound Bayou, where Till’s mother stayed during the trial at the home of T.R.M. Howard. From there, it was to dinner at Madidi, Morgan Freeman’s restaurant in Clarksdale. Finally, we went to Freeman’s juke joint, Ground Zero.

The first picture shows Myrna Colley-Lee and me, The second is of Linda Royster Beito (my wife), Ruby Dee, and me. The third picture is of our tour group standing in front of the ruins of Bryant’s grocery store in Money. Right to left: yours truly, Linda, Karen Allen Baxter, the producer of the upcoming play on Till, Ruby Dee, Myrna Colley-Lee, Ifa Bayeza, the playwright, and Donald King, the producer.

The final picture shows all of us (I took the picture) in Morgan Freeman’s juke joint in Clarksdale. After that, we went to Freeman’s mansion (yes, mansion) which is in Charleston, where he spent his childhood. Charleston is in the same county where Till’s killers were tried.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet the Morgan Freeman, who was shooting a film…..though we did a get a chance to wander around the house.