On what would’ve been Emmett Till’s 85th birthday, Illinois will observe its first official day in his honor.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Thursday morning designating July 25 as a statewide day of reflection and remembrance of Emmett and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
Till lived on Chicago’s South Side. The Black teen was 14 when he was lynched on a trip to Mississippi in 1955.
“In Illinois, we understand that we cannot build a more just future if we are unwilling to confront the injustices of our past,” Pritzker said at a news conference at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, where Till’s funeral was held in 1955 — a funeral at which his mother insisted on an open casket, saying: “Let the people see what they did to my boy.”
“This legislation ensures that Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley will never be forgotten, their legacy will continue to challenge us to be better, and their example will continue to inspire us to build a state and a nation that lives up to its highest ideals,” Pritzker said.
The bill is the latest in a string of actions honoring Till’s life and legacy in Illinois. He has been memorialized in scholarships for local youth, the names of roads and community centers, and nationally recognized monuments across the state. In 2023, Roberts Temple was made a national landmark by President Joe Biden.
“While we are here today to reflect, we also understand that our reflection is only as useful as the action it inspires. Our mandate as Americans is to learn from the past so that we can transform our future,” Pritzker said. “Every generation inherits that same responsibility to pick up the baton, to use the courage and sacrifice of the previous generation to leave a better world for the next one.”
Till was lynched Aug. 28, 1955, while visiting relatives in Mississippi. A woman named Carolyn Bryant Donham accused him of making improper advances at a grocery store where she was working in the small community of Money.
His death became a turning point in civil rights history, in part after a key decision by his mother. Mamie Till-Mobley insisted on an open casket for his funeral at Roberts Temple so the world could see Till’s mutilated body and witness the deadly results of race-based violence.
“‘Let the people see what they did to my boy,” she said.
“Her decision forced a reckoning in this country that reverberates today,” said Attorney General Kwame Raoul at the same church over 70 years later. “Thousands of black people were lynched and murdered in terror campaigns intended to strike fear and maintain control. But Mamie Till-Mobley forced our nation to face the extreme cruelty of the racism that had taken away her son and so many others.”
Elected officials and community members on Thursday stressed the importance of celebrating the latest step in honoring Till’s life and legacy while acknowledging there’s still a long way to go.
“While we’ve made extraordinary progress in our pursuit of a more perfect union, too many of the injustices that took Emmett Till’s life away remain,” said state Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr., D-Chicago.
“We’re still fighting the reality and the sting of racism. We’re still fighting inequity in education, healthcare and economic opportunities. We’re still fighting for a justice system that recognizes the humanity that fails to recognize the humanity and dignity of every person,” Sims added.
“Every policy that advances justice, passed, every bill signed, every monument built, is in the spirit of the legacy of accountability and progress.” Pritzker said. “We understand here in Illinois that we cannot build a more just future if we are unwilling to confront the injustices that have been committed in our past.”