By Jackie Hampton,
Publisher,
On July 25, 2023, President Biden designated the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which protects three historic sites in Illinois and Mississippi in order to help tell a more complete story of our country’s history.
Sites included Graball Landing, the area that is believed to be the site where Till’s brutalized body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River; the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till’s murderers were tried and acquitted; and Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, Illinois, the site of Till’s widely attended open casket visitation and funeral.
This national monument, established on what would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday, is the country’s 425th site managed by the National Park Service and reflects the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to advancing civil rights and racial justice.
Monday, August 28, a commemoration of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument was held in Glendora, MS at 10:30 a.m. at the Graball Landing where federal, state and local leaders were in attendance.
A welcome was extended by Mississippi State Senator David Jordan (D) with remarks from US Congressman Bennie Thompson (D), Shannon Estenoz, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Chairman Brenda Mallory, White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Pamela Junior, retired director of Two Mississippi Museums, attended the event. Junior told The Mississippi Link, “Mississippi has to face all the evils that have happened in the state and this is one of them.” Admitting she was overwhelmed by it all she said she asked herself, “Why are we here, why did this happen?”
She continued, “Though we did not get the apology from Carolyn Bryant Donham who accused Till of whistling at her, I think Ms. Mamie and Emmett are both resting in peace because this monument is how we got an apology from the state of Mississippi.”
Renna Evers-Everette, daughter of the late civil rights leader, Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers was asked by ‘The Link’ what was going through your mind as you viewed the area that is believed to be the site where Till’s body was uncovered?
She quickly replied, “Turmoil – my stomach was turning as I was thinking about the torture Emmett endured for nothing more than the color of his skin and a possible whistle.”
She said she was thinking about what we all have endured because of the color of our skin and simply trying to be human in all aspects of life. Evers-Everette said she had mixed emotions about being at the event but was happy to be there on behalf of her whole family; especially her mother who had been with her father after he witnessed Till’s body being pulled from the river.
She said her mom had told her about the pain Medgar Evers felt and how he cried over what he had witnessed, but she said, this was one of the events that propelled him to go further in the fight for justice.
Evers-Everett, who was one of the speakers at the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington said she was very happy that the monument will be cared for by the National Park Service with integrity and in the right manner in order that generations to come will continue to see this part of Mississippi History.
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