On this Day in History: Remembering Emmett Till

The City Council voted on Wednesday to recognize August 28 as Emmett Till Day in the City of Boston. Although the circumstances surrounding Emmett’s death are the reason most people know his name, the resolution calls for a remembrance and tribute to his life.

Emmett Till was born on July 25, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis and Mamie Till. His mother recalled that as a child, he was an industrious little boy, who would help out with chores around the house. Despite a bout of polio when he was six years old, which left him with a pronounced stutter, Emmett frequently found himself the center of attention among friends, with a reputation for being a smart dresser and a fun-loving prankster who loved to tell jokes.

During a trip to Mississippi to visit relatives when he was 14 years old, Emmett went into Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market to buy candy. While accounts differ about what actually happened, twenty-one-year-old Carolyn Bryant, who owned the store with her husband Roy, would claim that Emmett flirted with her while in the store, leading to Emmett’s abduction and brutal lynching at the hands of Roy Bryant and his half-brother.

Emmett’s mother Mamie insisted on a public funeral service with an open-casket for her son, a small act of bravery that forced others to visually reckon with the atrocities Emmett had endured. Emmett’s funeral would serve as a catalyst for the civil rights movement and galvanize a generation of activists to fight for racial justice and accountability.

Emmet would be 83 if he were alive today. On the 69th anniversary of his death, the City Council voted to honor Emmett’s memory, to continue to advocate for racial justice, and to uplift the right of Black boys in Boston to grow old alongside friends and family in a community that loves and supports them.