CHICAGO (CBS) — His image both touches and haunts us to this day; Chicago teenager Emmett Till was beaten, tortured, and lynched after he was accused of whistling at a white woman while visiting Mississippi in 1955.
Artist John Kettman captured Till’s face on canvas. His interpretation, and how it came to be, might surprise you.
“The tears had to show his innocence, but they’re also saying, ‘Please accept me. Accept me for who I am,’” Kettman said.
Kettman, of LaSalle, painted Till not just with tears, but with fire; the flames symbolizing senseless racism in 1955 and today.
Ironically, Kettman said he was never taught the ugly truth about Emmett Till in school. He only learned about him as an adult, when he happened to see a documentary on TV.
“I never heard this story before. I never knew about this little boy, and it’s downright horrible. I can’t believe it,” Kettman said.
Kettman has made it his mission to tell Till’s story. He was so moved by it that he drove more than 80 miles to Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip to see Till’s grave.
“I took pictures of it, and it’s like I can’t believe this little boy had went through so much,” he said.
Before he put brush to canvas, he did even more research.
“His mother, Mamie, describes him as having the most perfect set of teeth; beautiful white teeth. Those teeth had to be sparkling. And those eyes had to be this hazelly greenish. He was a beautiful young boy,” Kettman said. “His spirit was well-liked. You know, he just warmed the room.”
Kettman said the kind of hatred that took Till’s life often begins too easily; with mere words.
“It’s the labels,” Kettman said. “If you’re labeling a person as Black, as white, or fat, or skinny, or autistic, you’re putting a label on someone.”
And Kettman said his artistic effort to defy those labels is just beginning.
Baker: “I know you mentioned or had a dream maybe of this portrait being on a postage stamp.”
Kettman: “Can you imagine? ‘Who’s that little boy with tears coming down his face?’ Someone’s going to look him up. Someone’s going to know the pain and the feeling.”
Kettman has painted for many years, and finds his inspiration in all sorts of ways. He also creates and stages life-size images of famous people, ranging from former President Barack Obama to the Beatles.
He’s also one of the few talented people who can paint faces on teeny-tiny surfaces, like grains of rice, and even on bird seed. But he says the Emmett Till painting is especially important to him.