For Emmett's funeral in Chicago, Mamie Till insisted that the coffin containing his body be left open because, in her words, "I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby.

Born Mamie Elizabeth Carthan on November 23, 1921, in Webb, Mississippi, she was a young child when her family relocated from the Southern United States during the Great Migration, the period when many African-Americans moved to the Northern United States due to continued racial violence, including lynching and racial massacres.

Employed by the Argo Corn Company, he was an amateur boxer who was popular with women, but Mamie's parents disapproved of the charismatic Till, thinking he was "too sophisticated" for their daughter.

[6]: 14–17 In 1945, Mamie received notice from the War Department that, while serving in Italy, Louis was executed due to "willful misconduct."

[9] During the decade after World War II, Mamie had two brief marriages that both ended in divorce, first to Lemorse Mallory (in 1946)[10][11] and then to Pink Bradley (1951).

[12] In August 1955, when Emmett was 14, Mamie put him on the train to spend the summer visiting his cousins at the home of his great-uncle Moses Wright in Money, Mississippi.

[13] Mamie never saw Emmett alive again, as he was abducted and brutally murdered on August 28, 1955, after being accused of interacting inappropriately with a white woman.

[14] Three days after arriving in Money, Mississippi, on August 24, Emmett and his cousins went to Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market to buy refreshments after working on a farm field in the strong sun.

The precise facts of what happened at the store are disputed; however, Till was accused of touching, flirting with, or whistling at Carolyn.

At 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 28, Roy Bryant and his half-brother John William "J. W." Milam, kidnapped Till from Moses Wright's home.

They brutally pistol-whipped him, beat him, made him strip, and shot him in the head before disposing of his dead body by dumping it in a river.

[citation needed] For her son's funeral, Mamie insisted that the casket containing his body be left open, because, in her words: "I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby."

The NAACP asked Mamie Till to tour the country relating the events of her son's life, death, and the trial of his murderers.

[18] She enjoyed a close relationship with many African-American media outlets,[18] and the NAACP hired Till-Mobley to go on a speaking tour around the country and share her son's story.

[19] She continued speaking out, and to influence the jury during the trial of her son's murderers, Till-Mobley flew to Mississippi and provided testimony.

This group worked with school children outside the classroom in a theatrical setting, where they would learn and perform famous speeches by civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.[19] to inspire hope, unity, and determination to their audiences.

Till-Mobley taught on the South Side of Chicago, while also continuing her work as an activist and her efforts to honor the life of her son.

She was buried next to her husband and near her son in Burr Oak Cemetery, where her monument reads, "Her pain united a nation.

"[23] In 1973, Till-Mobley created the Emmett Till Players, a student group that traveled to deliver works about "hope, determination, and unity" by reciting speeches of Dr. King and other civil rights leaders.

[27][28] Danielle Deadwyler plays Till-Mobley, with newcomer Jalyn Hall as Emmett and Goldberg as Mamie Till's mother, Alma Carthan.

[31] In 2022, Congress awarded Till-Mobley and Emmett Till a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal, to be put on display at the National Museum of African American History.