There was a bill-signing ceremony today designating July 25th as Emmett Till Day in Illinois, honoring the Chicago resident who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 at the age of 14 and who would become an icon of the civil rights movement.
The ceremony was held at the historic Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ at 40th and State in Chicago, named the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
"We stand on sacred ground where a grieving mother helped awaken the conscience of a nation," said State Senator Elgie Sims.
“A 14-year-old child whose life was stolen by hatred; a child whose murder exposed the brutality of racism to the entire world; a child who never received the justice he truly deserved,” Sins said.
“In 1955 at this very church Mamie Till Mobley insisted on an open casket for her 14-year-old son and told the world, ‘let the people see what they did to my boy,’” said Governor JB Pritzker. “She transformed unimaginable personal grief into a moral reckoning, galvanizing a generation of activists that propelled a movement.”
Speakers at the bill-signing included Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who said “Emmett Till Day will serve as a reminder that the fight to combat hate and defend civil rights is not over.”
July 25th is Emmett Till’s birthday.
There is uncertainty about what exactly occurred before Emmett Till was kidnapped from a relative’s home and lynched.
It is generally understood that his interaction with the white proprietor of a store, Carolyn Bryant, led to his murder. He may have whistled at her.
Two men, including Bryant’s husband, Roy, would stand trial and would be acquitted by an all-white jury.
They would later admit they committed the crime during a magazine interview.
