How Emmett Till’s Mother Turned Her: In ABC’s new docuseries Let the World See, the story of Mamie Till-Mobley, whose teenage son was beaten and lynched in 1955, is explored.
In the summer of 1955, Emmett Till, a black youngster from Chicago, was visiting family in Mississippi.
After a woman falsely accused him of indecent behaviour, the 14-year-old child was kidnapped before being attacked, maimed, and lynched by two white men.
How Emmett Till’s Mother Turned Her of whistling at her and attempted to grab her hand and waist
He was thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a huge metal fan wound around his neck with barbed wire.
An all-white jury acquitted the killers, Roy Bryant and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, months after Till’s death.
Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, campaigned to have her only child’s body returned to Chicago after he died. She requested that his casket be left open at his funeral so that everyone may see what had happened to her son.
Her action spurred her to become a warrior for justice for her son and others, and it became a turning point for the civil rights movement.
Let the World See, a new docuseries that premieres on ABC Thursday, Jan. 6, at 10 p.m., tells her career from government worker to civil rights activist and educator.
Actress and producer Nia Long voices Till-Mobley, and the series contains commentary and historical insight from notable personalities such as former First Lady Michelle Obama. (See below for an exclusive clip.)
Well, what do I have to lose?’ I regularly heard [Till-Mobley] say. ‘They’ve taken everything from me,’ says the narrator “Ollie Gordon, her cousin, tells PEOPLE.
“That was the inspiration for her to pick up the torch and continue to strive for justice and peace for her son. Not only for Emmett, but for all the people who have died as a result of prejudice and hatred. That was her battle, and that was her goal.”
Gordon hopes that viewers who see the film would gain a greater understanding of what happened, as well as “how deeply hatred and racism penetrates and how cruel it is,” as she puts it. “They have moms and children and fathers, and the pain is pain,” says the narrator.
Gordon had firsthand experience with the agony
I still get sad and cry when I think about it or when I see images of her and I see her sorrow and grief,” she says.
Gordon also recalls the mother-son bond, recalling how Till-Mobley would drive around the neighborhood seeking for Till when it was time for him to return home on a night, arguing with him over washing his ears.
“It was constantly a dispute about his wiping his ears.” “It was merely a matter of keeping his ears clean because his mother was so diligent.”
According to Gordon, Till-Mobley, who worked as a special education teacher in Chicago, continued to fight for justice until her death in January 2003.
“She was on dialysis near the end and was frail, yet she continued to travel and speak,” she says. “She was going to dialysis the night before she died, and she was on her way to a speaking engagement the next morning.
She was continually carrying that torch till the day she died. I know she was exhausted at times, but she claimed she didn’t have time to be tired. She had a job to accomplish, and she only had a limited amount of time to complete it.”
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