CHICAGO, Ill. (WMBD) — Governor JB Pritzker has designated a day to remember Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
Pritzker joined legislators and community members in Chicago at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ to sign the measure, House Bill 4323, officially designating July 25 as Emmett Till Day in Illinois, according to the Governor’s Office.
“In Illinois, we understand that we cannot build a more just future if we are unwilling to confront the injustices of our past,” said Pritzker.
“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.”
In 1955, Mamie Till-Mobley held a public, open-casket funeral for her 14-year-old son after he was killed by two white men in Mississippi, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant.
More than 50,000 people attended the funeral, which was held at the same church where the bill would be signed more than 70 years later.
Pritzker said the coverage of Till’s murder spurred the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, turning grief and outrage into action.
Till was born in Chicago on July 25, 1941. He grew up in Summit and later moved to the city’s South Side, raised by his mother and grandmother.
The governor said his life and legacy are honored in many ways throughout the state, memorialized in scholarships, names of roads and community centers and nationally recognized monuments.
In 2023, Roberts Temple was made a national landmark by then-President Joe Biden.
WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.
