Congress Passes Bill to Give Emmett Till and Mother Mamie Till-Mobley Congressional Gold Medal: ‘It Is Only Right’
By Nicole Duncan-SmithThe death of young Emmett Till is considered one of the pivotal markers of the civil rights movement. “The gruesome and unjust murder of Emmett Till serves as one of the most well-known examples of a lynching in American history,” Rush said. “The corpse of Emmett Till was discovered 3 days later in the Tallahatchie River and his murderers were acquitted despite Moses Wright providing an eyewitness testimony that the men on trial kidnapped Emmett Till,” the bill reads. She served as chair and co-founder of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign and worked to have her son’s murder case reopened. Another fruit of her efforts is the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama.
thewestsidegazette.comA Kentucky city canceled its Christmas parade after someone threatened to shoot members of a group who planned nearby protests against Emmett Till's accuser
Despite the cancellation of other events and direct threats, the protest demanding accountability for Emmett Till proceeded as planned on Saturday.
news.yahoo.comEmmett Till honored with 9-foot statue in Mississippi city where 1955 lynching occurred
A Mississippi community with an elaborate Confederate monument will unveil a larger-than-life statue of Emmett Till, not far from where white men kidnapped and killed the Black teenager over accusations that he flirted with a white woman in a country store.
chicagotribune.comMamie Till depiction seen as tribute to Black female leaders
A new biopic about the mother of Emmett Till, the 14-year old Black boy whose lynching in Mississippi in 1955 catalyzed the U.S. civil rights movement, is being promoted as a tribute to Black women and Black mothers who are continuing her legacy and fight for justice, equality and equity.
Grand jury declines to indict woman in Emmett Till killing
A grand jury in Mississippi has declined to indict the white woman whose accusation set off the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago, despite revelations about an unserved arrest warrant and an unpublished memoir by the woman, a prosecutor said Tuesday. After hearing more than seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses, a Leflore County grand jury last week determined there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, Leflore County District Attorney Dewayne Richardson said in a news release.
news.yahoo.comReport: Emmett Till’s accuser, Carolyn Bryant Donham, in Kentucky receiving hospice care
Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman who set off the series of events that led to the murder of 14-year-old Emmett […] The post Report: Emmett Till’s accuser, Carolyn Bryant Donham, in Kentucky receiving hospice care appeared first on TheGrio.
news.yahoo.comEmmett Till’s house, other historical Black sites to get preservation funds
A cultural preservation organization announced Tuesday that the house will receive a share of $3 million in grants being distributed to 33 sites and organizations nationwide that are important pieces of African American history. The Chicago home where Mamie Till Mobley and her son lived will receive funding for a project director to oversee restoration efforts, including renovating the second floor to what it looked like when the Tills lived there. Leggs said it is particularly important to do something that shines a light on Mamie Till Mobley. “It was a catalytic moment in the Civil Rights Movement and through this we lift and honor Black women in Civil Rights,” Leggs said. The house and the story of the casket highlight the risks that the remnants of such history can vanish if not protected.
thewestsidegazette.comChick-fil-A ranked America's favorite fast food restaurant — again
A survey of more than 20,000 customers found that America's favorite fast food restaurant continues to be Chick-fil-A. The popular chain ranked first on the list for the eighth consecutive year, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
news.yahoo.comEmmett Till anti-lynching act called a victory for his legacy and more than 6,000 others whose lives were taken in the U.S.
Legislation to make lynching a federal hate crime and prevent racist killers from evading justice was introduced more than 200 times but never once passed into law, according to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush.
chicagotribune.comAnti-Lynching Bill Passes House, Expected to Clear Senate
Named in honor of Emmett Till, the Black whose horrific murder at the hands of white men in Mississippi in 1955, the bill outlaws lynching. By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMediaThe U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to make lynching a federal hate crime. Named in honor of Emmett Till, the Black whose horrific murder at the hands of white men in Mississippi in 1955, the bill outlaws lynching. The House finally passed the bill on a 422-3 vote. “That shaped my consciousness as a Black man in America, changed the course of my life, and changed our nation,” Congressman Rush asserted.
thewestsidegazette.comEmmett Till and His Mother Will Receive Congressional Gold Medal in New Bill Passed by Senate
By Victor OmondiEmmett Till, a Chicago teen killed in the 1950s for the color of his skin, will be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. The then teen’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, will also be awarded after she asked for the opening of the casket during burial to decry the social vice that led to the murder of her son. According to some witnesses, Emmett whistled at a white Mississippi woman. Before his murder, Emmett was abducted and tortured. The teen’s killing caused pain in the hearts of social rights activists, especially after his mother showcased his dehumanized body in an open casket.
thewestsidegazette.comIs Invoking Emmett Till a Disservice to History?
Headlines announced Trayvon Martin was the new Emmett Till. Till, a Black 14-year-old from Chicago vacationing in Mississippi, was lynched for allegedly whistling at a White woman in 1955. Again, commentators compared the police shooting of Michael Brown to the lynching of Emmett Till. No charges were brought against the officer that shot Blake. Afterward, when Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, was asked about the Rittenhouse verdict, he said, “This was worse than the Emmett Till trial.
thewestsidegazette.comFederal Officials Close Cold Case Re-Investigation of Murder of Emmett Till
Till’s murder is one of the most infamous acts of racial violence in our country’s history. The department conducted the investigation as part of its Cold Case Initiative and pursuant to the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act (Till Act). Because there were no federal hate crime statutes at the time of Till’s death, the case was not then opened for federal investigation. In 2004, the department opened an investigation into Till’s murder as part of its Cold Case Initiative, but determined after a thorough review that it lacked jurisdiction to bring federal charges. As such, even if a living suspect could now be identified, a federal prosecution for Till’s abduction and murder would not be possible.
justice.govJanuary 6 committee postpones deposition for Michael Flynn and Trump's personal assistant
The House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot has postponed depositions for Michael Flynn and a personal assistant to former President Trump. Republican committee member Liz Cheney says public hearings may be held soon. Anthony Adragna, who covers Congress for Politico, joins CBSN's Tanya Rivero with more.
news.yahoo.com100th birthday of Mamie Till-Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, marked with creation of new institute at Northwestern
A professor at Medill along with several surviving members of the Till family announced the creation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute at Northwestern University aimed at carrying on Till-Mobley’s educational activism.
chicagotribune.comMuseum’s ‘Reckoning With Remembrance’ Preserves The Memory Of Emmett Till
A faded photograph is attached to the headstone that marks the grave site of Emmett Till in Burr Oak Cemetery in suburban Chicago, Illinois, on March 22. The bullet-ridden sign that was placed by the Tallahatchie River in remembrance of Emmett Till will be on a monthlong display from Sept. 3. One of the bullet-riddled signs commemorating the site where Emmett Till was tortured and murdered in the summer of 1955. The sign was erected by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, part of the Mississippi Civil Rights Project. Wolde-Michael said she and a group of historians traveled across Mississippi in 2019 to learn what happened to the Emmett Till memorial sign.
thewestsidegazette.comEmmett Till's home designated as a Chicago landmark
Chicago's city council voted Wednesday to designate the home where Emmett Till lived before his brutal death as a landmark. The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley House, located in the city's Woodlawn neighborhood, will now be converted into a museum. The former home of Emmett Till at 6427 S. St. Lawrence Ave., in Chicago, seen on Nov. 9, 2017. Decades later, Bryant recanted her claims, according to author Tim Tyson, who interviewed her for his book "The Blood of Emmett Till." "We are hopeful that this Chicago Landmark Designation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley House will serve as a monument to the Till Family," Miller said.
cbsnews.comEmmett Till’s Chicago home granted city landmark status
The South Side home of Emmett Till and his mother — where the boy was living when he was tortured and murdered during a 1955 trip to Mississippi — was granted city landmark status by the City Council on Wednesday as a group seeks to turn it into a museum.
sun-sentinel.comIn South, most Black Senate candidates since Reconstruction
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison speaks at a campaign rally on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)COLUMBIA, S.C. – In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction. Mike Espy and Adrian Perkins, meanwhile, are launching spirited bids for the Senate in Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively. The Senate currently has three Black members: Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. “The more competitive races are, and Black candidates win those competitive races, it diminishes this worry that Black candidates can’t win,” Abrams recently told The Associated Press. In Mississippi, Espy is trying for a second time to become the state’s first Black senator since Reconstruction with his challenge to Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.
Senators seek highest civilian honor for Till and his mother
WASHINGTON – Congress should give the nation’s highest civilian honor posthumously to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, a Republican and a Democratic senator said Wednesday. She remained a Civil Rights activist in honor of her slain son for the rest of her life. Till-Mobley created the Emmett Till Players, where teenagers traveled throughout the country presenting the speeches of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She also was one of the founders of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign, which pushed for the re-investigation of Till's murder. President George W. Bush signed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, which allows cold civil rights cases to be reopened, into law in 2008.
Mississippi Emmett Till memorial sign protected by bulletproof glass
Allan Hammons via CNNSUMNER, Mississippi (CNN) - A memorial sign marking Emmett Till's death that was riddled with bullet holes earlier this year was rededicated Saturday -- this time with bulletproof glass. Patrick Weems, executive director of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, said more than 100 people, including members of Till's family from Chicago, attended a ceremony near Sumner, Mississippi, rededicating the new and improved sign. Weems said the sign, which cost more than $10,000, weighs more than 500 pounds and is surrounded by security cameras. The sign appeared to be riddled with bullet holes in the photo, which was first published by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica. When the marker was replaced, it was riddled with bullet holes.
New Emmett Till memorial will be bulletproof
Three University of Mississippi students were suspended from their fraternity after a photo showing them posing with guns in front of a sign memorializing Emmett Till surfaced. (CNN) - A bullet-riddled memorial sign for Emmett Till at the center of a photo showing three white University of Mississippi students posing with guns is now gone. Patrick Weems, the executive director of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, said the group began to mark every site that was part of Emmett's story after community leaders offered his family an apology for the first time about 10 years ago. "For 50 years our community didn't want to talk about Emmett Till, they just wanted to forget it," Weems said. "That Emmett Till did not die in vain.