Illinois will now recognize July 25 as Emmett Till Day, honoring the Chicago teenager whose lynching helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the legislation Thursday during a ceremony at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. Dignitaries, community leaders and members of the public filled the historic church for the occasion.
Till’s cousin and best friend, the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., stood alongside Pritzker for the signing.
“I feel good about today and seeing it happen,” Parker said. “God is bringing it to fruition.”
The location carries deep significance in the Till family’s story. After 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped and lynched while visiting Mississippi in 1955, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, held an open-casket service at Roberts Temple.
Her decision allowed the public to witness the brutality inflicted upon her son and helped bring national attention to racial violence in America.
“Mamie Till-Mobley said, ‘Let the people see what they did to my boy,’ and today, Illinois is answering the call one more time,” Pritzker said. “By signing this legislation, we ensure that the lives of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley will not be forgotten.”
Parker was 16 years old when Till was abducted. He saw his cousin shortly before Till was kidnapped and murdered and said the experience left him carrying survivor’s guilt.
“Every time I saw his mother, I felt like I had survivor’s guilt,” Parker said. “What does she think? I came back, and he didn’t come back.”
Speakers at Thursday’s ceremony said the annual observance should serve not only as a remembrance of Till’s life but also as a call to confront racism and continue the pursuit of justice.
“We understand here in Illinois that we cannot build a more just future if we are unwilling to confront the injustices that have been committed in our past,” Pritzker said.
Parker said he remains saddened by the life his cousin never had the opportunity to live.
“I wish that he was here,” Parker said. “But he accomplished more in death than he did if he lived.”
The first statewide observance of Emmett Till Day will take place Saturday, on what would have been Till’s 85th birthday.
The date also marks three years since then-President Joe Biden created the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. Roberts Temple is a designated site of the monument.
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