A Book That Changed My Perspective

We’ve all heard the story, or at least fragments of it. But the day I finished Death of Innocence by Mamie Till-Mobley, I began to truly understand the perspective of someone who lived it. That book revealed the power of telling one’s truth.

I won’t pretend it was easy to get through. It was emotional. As I turned the pages, I felt sadness, joy, anger, and pride in the way she chose to face unimaginable pain. What struck me most was how something so traumatizing could be transformed into strength, resilience, and a driving force for justice.

Mrs. Till-Mobley became, for me, a modern day heroine, a model of how to create change by compelling people to confront the ugly truth. Our society has been shaped by countless defining moments, but that particular moment in U.S. and African American history was, in my view, pivotal.

We all know the story, but reading her story made it come alive in four dimensions. It was no longer history, it was lived experience. That perspective moved me deeply.

I hope that through my own writing, I can offer others even a fraction of what she offered me, a reason to smile, laugh, reflect, or begin a meaningful conversation. If my words can do that, I consider it a success.