Remembering Emmett Till Today

The Emmett Till story may have taken place nearly 7 decades ago, but it still looms large today as Americans witness a seemingly endless series of race-based crimes, including lives lost to police brutality, mass shootings, and hate crimes. Here are some important facts about Emmett Till and his murder that can help to shed light on truths about the history of civil rights in the US and racial injustices today.  


Who Was Emmett Till?

Many Americans recognize Emmett Till by name as the 14-year-old boy who was brutally murdered in 1955 by two White men because a White woman falsely alleged that he had sexually harassed her. Many know that the horror of this incident did much to galvanize the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Yet there is far more to his story than most people realize. Here are some important things to know about Emmett Till as a person:

  • Son of a World War II soldier slain by US Army officials. Emmett was the only child of Louis and Mamie Till, but had never known his father, a WWII soldier who was executed after being accused of rape and murder during a 1944 air raid. Despite considerable doubt as to the truth of the accusation, Louis was hanged by the US military in 1945.

  • Helped his mother run the household. Mamie reported that even at a young age, Emmett (nicknamed Bobo) understood the double burden of her role as a working single mother and helped her with household chores. He once told her, “If you can go out and make the money, I can take care of the house.”

  • Well-liked comedian, singer, and dancer. Emmett may well have become a talented comedian and performer if he had reached adulthood. One of his classmates recalled that he had many friends and loved to make people laugh, carrying around a suitcase of jokes to tell. A neighbor who grew up with him reminisced about good times spent listening, singing, and dancing to rock and roll, a new genre in the 1950s.


The Murder of Emmett Till

Emmett’s accuser was Carolyn Bryant. Her husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam kidnapped, tortured, and killed Emmett, then threw his body into the Tallahatchie River. The gruesome nature of his murder remains a difficult enough truth to comprehend for communities of color and Americans as a whole. Yet as is the case with so many stories like his, the circumstances that led to Emmett’s aggravated death and its legal aftermath speak volumes about the biased nature of American justice, both then and now. 

Here are some important facts about his case:

  • Open-casket funeral. Mamie insisted on an open-casket funeral for her son, stating, “Let the world see what I’ve seen.” Emmett’s severely disfigured body was photographed by journalists for publication in JET magazine, and this opened the eyes of readers nationwide to the shocking extent of injustice made possible during the Jim Crow era. The funeral was attended by over 50,000 people. 

  • Swift acquittal of the defendants. Bryant and Milam were quickly acquitted by an all-White, all-male jury of their own neighbors. The jury took only 1 hour and 5 minutes to reach their decision; one juror bragged that if they hadn’t taken a refreshment break, they would have needed even less time to deliberate. 

  • Defensive backlash from White Mississippians. White Mississippians were disgruntled about the heavily-publicized nature of the murder trial, and many felt that it was unjust bad press for their state. One columnist even complained that Mississippi was the victim of a legal “hate campaign.” 


Mamie’s Legacy

Even as she grieved for her son, Mamie Till-Mobley, as she later became, chose to partner with the NAACP and deliver civil rights speeches around the country for the rest of her life. She was an elementary school teacher who also worked to inspire hope and determination in her students. She founded the Emmett Till Players, a program for students interested in similar public speaking engagements. Mamie is noted for having said: “Although I have lived so much of my life without Emmett, I have lived my entire life because of him.”

Although continuing injustices against people of color are enormously difficult for many to process, honoring the memory of victims and the impact of courageous Americans like Mamie Till-Mobley can be a productive way to do so. Far from being helpless, every individual has the ability to work toward eradicating systemic racism and hate-based violence. You can do this by educating yourself and others and by supporting antiracist legislation, businesses owned by people of color, and organizations with equity-aligned missions.  


See THE TILL TRILOGY at Mosaic Theater Company October 4 - November 20, 2022
From October 4 through November 20, 2022, Mosaic will feature performances of Ifa Bayeza’s TILL TRILOGY directed by the acclaimed Talvin Wilks. This rare theatrical series includes The Ballad of Emmett Till, Benevolence, and That Summer in Sumner. Join us in honoring the ongoing fight for racial justice in our country, and take advantage of an opportunity for collective reckoning, reflection, and response.

The Mosaic Theater Company in Washington, DC produces bold, culturally diverse theater that illuminates critical issues, elevates fresh voices, and sparks connections among communities throughout our region and beyond amid the most important events of our times. 

Dedicated to making our theater an inclusive model of diversity at every stratum, on stage and off, Mosaic invests in the new as we keep abreast of our changing and challenging times. We do this to ensure that our theater is a responsive gathering space, all the while nurturing and producing art of the highest order.

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