Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy who was brutally murdered in August 1955 in Money, Mississippi. Till, who was visiting relatives from Chicago, allegedly whistled at a white woman named Carolyn Bryant in a grocery store. Several days later, Bryant's husband, Roy, and his half-brother J.W. Milam abducted Till from his great-uncle's home, severely beat him, and then shot him in the head. Till's body was discovered in the Tallahatchie River three days later.

Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral to show the world the brutality of her son's murder. The photographs of Till's mutilated body sparked outrage and became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. Despite overwhelming evidence, an all-white jury acquitted Bryant and Milam of Till's murder. The case brought national attention to the issue of racial violence and injustice in America, and it remains a powerful symbol of the ongoing struggle for civil rights and racial equality.