Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy who was brutally lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. His murderers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, kidnapped Emmett, beat him, shot him, and then threw his body into the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan tied around his neck. Emmett's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on having an open-casket funeral for her son so that the world could see the horrors of racism and violence inflicted on black people in America.

Emmett Till's murder and the trial of his killers became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. The acquittal of Bryant and Milam by an all-white jury despite overwhelming evidence highlighted the injustices faced by black Americans in the segregated South. Emmett Till's death and the bravery of his mother in seeking justice for her son galvanized the civil rights activists and drew national and international attention to the racial violence and discrimination in America. Today, Emmett Till's memory is honored as a symbol of the ongoing struggle for racial equality and justice.