In August of 1955, a 14 year-old black boy from Chicago, unschooled in the racial customs of the south, traveled to Mississippi to visit relatives. With adolescent bravado, he whistled at a white woman. Three nights later, Emmett Till was abducted, beaten, and shot through the head. His mangled body later surfaced in the muddy waters of the Tallahatchie River. The murder of Emmett Till shook America, and opened a window on the deep social divisions of the 1950s. The case, which ended in the acquittal of Till's two known assailants, became an international case. When tens of thousands of Americans rallied against injustice, the Till case proved to be the first spark for the American civil rights movement. Some who lived the story of the Till case are still alive.

Plays with:

Late at night at a gas station people from all walks of life intersect. A murder is witnessed from three different points of view. All observers are convinced of what they saw yet they are left with completely different Judgments. Who saw the truth? What is truth? "Fueling the Fire" takes the audience on a journey into the complex nature of human perception.