Biden Honors Emmett Till with New National Monument

U.S. President Joe Biden proclaims the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument to be located in Illinois and Mississippi.Photo byREUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument was established after President Joe Biden's proclamation on Tuesday. Till, a Black 14-year-old who was killed in 1955 in Mississippi after being charged with whistling at a white woman, became a representative of the Civil Rights Movement.

His murder brought attention to the bigotry and brutality that Black people experience around the country.

"It's hard to believe I was 12 years old and I just, you know, I know no matter how much time has passed, how many birthdays, how many events, how many anniversaries -- It's hard to relive this," Biden said. "Today on what would've been Emmett's 82nd birthday, we add another chapter in the story of remembrance and healing," he added.

Rev. Wheeler Parker, Jr., Till's closest friend, and younger relative, introduced Biden. According to the White House, Parker, who was 16 at the time of Till's lynching, is the only remaining eyewitness to his kidnapping. "When I was overwhelmed with terror and fear of death ... I could never imagined the moment like this," said Parker.

Parker attended the proclamation signing along with other relatives of Till's family, civil rights activists, and supporters of historic preservation, among others.

This memorial will also pay tribute to Mamie Till-Mobley, a well-known civil rights activist and Till's mother. At his funeral, Till's mother chose to bury him in an open coffin to highlight the horrors of his terrible murder and advance the cause of Black Americans' legal equality.

The new monument will be placed in three different locations that are significant to the life of Emmett Till. The Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till's funeral ceremony was held, as well as other locations significant to his life and murder, will be included in the memorial. The second place will be Graball Landing in Mississippi, where it's said Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River. The final site of Till’s new monument will be placed outside of the Tallahatchie County Second District Court where the trial of his murder began.

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