The Lynching of Emmett Till

Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American from Chicago and took a trip to visit his relatives in Mississippi on August 28, 1955. A few days into his visit, he and a group of friends and cousins went into a nearby store to buy candy. Emmett was later accused of acting “familiar” with the young white female storekeeper. He was reported whistling and flirting with this white woman. He was then murdered for this action four days later. 

 

A timeline of Emmett Till’s accuser’s changing stories

The people that abducted him were the white woman’s husband and his brother. They forced him to take off his clothes while having to carry a 75-pound cotton gin fan to the bank of the Tallahatchie River. These two men beat him to death by gouging out his eye, then proceeding to shoot him in the head. Lastly, they threw his body tied to the cotton gin fan with barbed wire into the river.

Will justice finally be done for Emmett Till? Family hope a 65-year wait may soon be over

Because of this shooting, a movie was produced to expose the racism behind the attack while working to have those involved brought to justice. Obviously this is a true story of Mamie Till-Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmet Till. 

    

Till 2022