Memorial to mark what would have been Emmett Till's 80th birthday; Chicago teen was lynched in 1955

If Emmett Till had not been lynched in Mississippi, he might have been celebrating his 80th birthday this weekend.

Till, who was a Chicago native, was tortured and killed for allegedly offending a white woman in Money, Mississippi, in 1955. He was just 14-years-old.

His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open casket funeral so that people would have to confront the brutality of racism. Photos from the funeral were seen by newspaper and magazine readers across the country.

Till was honored on Saturday by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) at a ceremony at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip. Till's 80th birthday would have been Sunday, July 25, 2021.

In March, Rush introduced bipartisan legislation to award a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley; companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.).  

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