Hillside honors Black History Month with dramatic play


By Rosalia Preiss

A dramatic moment from the N.C. A&T production of "Mississippi Mourning," which will be staged at Hillside High School on Saturday, March 6. Photo by Kevin Wilson

A dramatic moment from the N.C. A&T production of "Mississippi Mourning," which will be staged at Hillside High School on Saturday, March 6. (Photo by Kevin Wilson)

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Hillside High School student actors will be presenting the play, “Mississippi Mourning” on March 6. It dramatizes the story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from the Chicago who was lynched during a family visit to Money, Miss., in 1955 after reportedly whistling at a local white woman.

The subsequent news coverage by the black press of the atrocity sparked a national outrage over the event as well as racial injustice in the Jim Crow South. Historians often credit the case with inspiring many people to become active in the civil rights movement.

The play is written and directed by Kevin Wilson, a student a NC A&T, and produced by Wendell Tabb, the chair of Performing Arts at Hillside.

The original production took place at North Carolina A&T, where Wilson attends.  Tony Patrige played Emmett Till, and his mother, Mamie, was played by Victoria Morgan.  The play was presented at Harrison Theater and drew several famous civil rights activists, including one of Emmett’s cousins.

Hopefully, the Hillside production will draw an equally strong crowd.  Keep a lookout next issue for more information about the show!