The Short Life of Emmett Till This is a case that changed history, a fourteen year old’s tragic ending helped African Americans with their battle for civil rights. Emmett Till, the boy who was kidnapped and brutally murdered, was born and raised in Mississippi. Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till, was focused on her studies and raising her son Emmett; Louis Till, his father was a soldier in the military, and not a big part of Emmett’s life. Mamie was born in Mississippi in 1921, she was an only child to John and Alma Carthan. At two-years-old, Mamie moved to Chicago, because her father sought a better life for his family. At age 13 her parents got divorced, and she used school as a coping mechanism. Mamie was the first African American student to make the honor roll, and one of the few …show more content…
It was another casual day for Emmett and his cousins in the grocery store. Emmett was reported to be whistling at the white female clerk, it is not certain if Emmett was directing his whistle toward the woman. The clerks husband and half-brother kidnapped Emmett at 2:30 in the morning, and brutally murdered a child (history.com). Roy Bryant, the clerk’s husband, and his half-brother J.W. Milian forced Emmett into their car. They beat Emmett and slashed his eye out, he was clinging to life as much as possible. When Roy and J.W. were done beating Emmett, they tied a 100-pound cotton gin fan, shot him in the Tallahatchie River, and left his body. Three days later, two fisherman found the body of an unrecognizable boy. Mamie requested that her son’s body be returned to his home in Chicago. She held an open casket funeral, she said, “ I wanted the world to see what they did to my son.” Thousands of people attended the viewing and funeral to support Mamie and Emmett’s family (Cobbins). Sanchez 3 Emmett’s death had a powerful effect on the start to the Civil Rights Movement. There were many injustices being done before his death. Two African American activist