February 17, 2015 STAFF/STU

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Your Daily Dose of Black History: Emmett Till

A Chicago native, Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi in August 1955 when he was accused of harassing a local white woman. Relatives of the woman abducted Till, brutally beating and killing him before disposing of his body in a nearby river. Till’s devastated mother insisted on a public, open casket funeral for her son, which she hoped would shed light on the systemic violence inflicted on blacks in the south. Till’s murderers were acquitted by an all-white jury, but the events surrounding his death galvanized activists nationwide.