aug 28, 1955 - Emmett Till
Description:
Till, a boy of 14 years, was beaten and eventually lynched by a white mob in Mississippi, after allegedly offending a white woman.Till's body was returned to Chicago where his mother insisted on a public funeral service with an open casket, which was held at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ. It was later said that "The open-coffin funeral held by Mamie Till Bradley exposed the world to more than her son Emmett Till's bloated, mutilated body.
In a trial in 1965, two defendants were acquitted of charges (by a jury of 12 white men).
These events fuelled the civil rights movement, which was also supported by protest singers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, who both wrote songs dedicated to the cruel fate of Emmet Till.
Added to timeline:
Date:
aug 28, 1955
Now
~ 69 years ago