Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black American child from Chicago, was brutally murdered in Money, Mississippi, in August 1955, sparking outrage and galvanizing the Civil Rights Movement. Till had allegedly whistled at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in a grocery store, prompting her husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, to abduct and brutally beat him.
Till's body was later discovered in the Tallahatchie River, mutilated and horrifically disfigured. Despite overwhelming evidence against Bryant and Milam, an all-white jury acquitted them of Till's murder, further highlighting the racial injustice and systemic racism prevalent in the Jim Crow South.
Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, courageously chose to have an open-casket funeral, allowing the world to witness the brutality inflicted upon her son. The gruesome images of Till's mutilated body sparked national outrage and became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, energizing activists and supporters in their fight against racial violence and segregation in the United States.
Learn more through the National Park Service
https://www.nps.gov/till/index.htm
The Joy Trip Project celebrates the enduring legacy of Black American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of Black American historical figures, events and cultural contributions.
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Emmett Till