CHINONYE CHUKWU HAS KNOWN OF EMMETT TILL FOR ALMOST HER ENTIRE LIFE.
Emmett’s is a mournful story that, in the oral tradition of African-American history, has been kept alive for seven decades by mostly Black families passing it on, generation to generation. “As a Black person who grew up in America, a lot of us just have this acute awareness, a brief understanding,” the director tells Empire. “He was essentially a Cliffs Note in my American education.”