Community Comes Together To Honor Mamie Till- Social Activist And Mom Of Emmett Till
Summit, Illinois. Argo Community High School in Illinois and the Argo Higher Education Foundation have organized a GoFundMe in honor of Mamie Till- the mother of Emmet Till.
With a goal of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, the raised funds will be used to “erect a bronze sculpture honoring her life/work and to establish a scholarship in her honor.”
Mamie Till was a “tireless advocate for social justice and is arguably Argo High School’s most influential graduate.”
Mrs. Till was the fourth Black student to graduate from Argo High and the first Black student to receive placement on the honor roll.
In 1955 her son, Emmett Till, traveled to Money, Mississippi, to visit family. While shopping at a store owned by Roy and Carolyn Bryant, he was accused of whistling at Mrs. Bryant.
She was a white woman. In late August, at only fourteen years old, he was “kidnapped, beaten, shot in the head, had a large metal fan tied to his neck with barbed wire, and was thrown into the Tallahatchie River.”
Mamie Till; pictured above is a Christmas photo of Emmett that Mamie took
After his body was recovered and an investigation was opened, Roy Bryant and his half-brother were eventually accused of murder.
An all-white and all-male jury ended up acquitting both of them, and “no one else was ever indicted or prosecuted for involvement in the kidnapping or murder.”
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Years later, Mr. Bryant and his half-brother admitted to the murder during a magazine interview.
Following her son’s murder, Mrs. Till fought for justice while simultaneously pursuing a degree in education.
“As a teacher, Mamie continued her social justice advocacy, working with children in and out of the classroom until her death in 2003 at the age of 81,” Argo High School wrote.
The high school has commissioned Sonja Henderson, a community activist, and sculptor, to create the bronze sculpture. The unveiling ceremony is expected to take place in the fall of 2022.
The Mamie Till Memorial Scholarship Fund is also being established in order to “support Argo graduates who demonstrate a commitment to social justice and helping others.”
The GoFundMe has reached just over three thousand and five hundred dollars but still has a long way to go.
Any donors of five thousand dollars will be honored with their names on brick pavers leading up to the statue.
Donors of ten thousand dollars will be honored with pavers at the base of the statue.
Finally, major donors of twenty-five thousand dollars or more will receive a plaque at the base of the statue and will also be recognized at the unveiling ceremony.
If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe to honor Mamie, you can do that here.
More About:Human Interest
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