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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK OF MAMIE TILL MOBLEY
WHEREAS, Mamie Elizabeth Till Mobley (nee Carthan) was born in Webb, Mississippi on November 23, 1921. Her family moved to Argo, Illinois in the Great Migration when she was a toddler; and
WHEREAS, her childhood home was a gathering place for Black people who left the South in search of a new life. Mamie's family called their Chicago suburb "Little Mississippi". Her mother, Alma Carthan, helped her people who had newly arrived in Illinois to adjust and find jobs; and
WHEREAS, young Mamie was passionate about learning and was a high honor roll student, a remarkable achievement in a predominantly white school in the 1930's. She was only the 4th Black student to graduate from Argo Community High School; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Mamie Till Mobley's son Emmett was abducted and brutally murdered on August 28, 1955, after being falsely accused of interacting inappropriately with a white woman. Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, who later admitted to the murder, were acquitted by the all-white jury after only 67 minutes of deliberation; and
WHEREAS, officials in Mississippi were determined to bury Emmett locally to cover up the brutality of the crime and quickly had a grave dug with his name on it. Mamie quickly persuaded officials to return her son to Chicago and paid nearly a year's salary for the transport; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Till Mobley changed the course of history through tremendous personal sacrifice by insisting that her son's casket be open to create public awareness of the brutality of Emmett's death. She had to advocate with both Mississippi and Illinois officials who wanted the casket closed to obscure the violence of his murder. The Till case became emblematic of the racial disparity of justice for Black Americans; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Till Mobley leveraged the publicity to bring attention to racial oppression and violence. She toured the country with the NAACP, relating the events...
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