100 signatures reached
To: President Joe Biden
Justice For Emmett Till Petition
President Biden Designates Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument
From White House Press Release Petition:
July 25th, 2023, on what would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday, President Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. The new national monument will tell the story of the events surrounding Emmett Till’s murder, their significance in the civil rights movement and American history, and the broader story of Black oppression, survival, and bravery in America.
The new national monument will be anchored at three historic sites in Chicago, Illinois; Sumner, Mississippi; and just outside of Glendora, Mississippi. These sites are central to Emmett Till’s racially motivated murder in 1955 and the defining events that followed including the courageous activism and leadership of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. The new national monument will also encourage and enable partnerships between the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and local communities and organizations to help conserve and interpret a broader network of historic sites that help tell the story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley.
The nationwide coverage of the horrific lynching of Emmett Till, as well as Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous efforts to honor her son’s story through education and activism, elevated the broader reality of the injustices and inequality that Black people experienced during the Jim Crow era and helped catalyze the civil rights movement. Mere months following Emmett Till’s murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery city bus. She later cited Emmett Till as the reason she would not acquiesce.
Emmett’s lynching still is inspiring people to seek the justice that has been denied for his murder and that of countless other Americans of African Descent to this very day. The system has failed and still is failing. With all due respect for President Biden, the perpetrators of Emmett’s murder were given their due process, i.e., arrested, charged, tried, and found not guilty, as opposed to being innocent, by an all-White-male jury in Mississippi. The system failed to convict although these men later admitted to kidnapping and murdering Emmett. The woman who set Emmett’s lynching in motion, Carolyn Bryant-Dunham, was never arrested although there was an active warrant for her arrest legally in effect until the day she died in April 2023. The system failed then and is still failing now. Like Rosa Parks, The Emmett Till Justice For Families Foundation (ETJFF) and the Veterans Association of African Descendants (VAAD) are inspired by this continued injustice, and have partnered to initiate this petition and request President Joe Biden on behalf of the U.S. government do the following:
1. Include Emmett Till’s gravesite in the sites designated to be a national monument to honor Emmett’s remains.
2. Publicly call for the Department of Justice to release all documents and evidence it gathered during its two investigations of Emmett’s lynching, in order to demonstrate transparency with the American people.
3. Officially and publicly support our demands to compel W. Dwayne Richardson, District Attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, immediately release the transcripts of the Grand Jury that in August 2022, declined to re-indict Carolyn Bryant-Donham for her complicity in Emmett Till’s kidnapping and lynching.
Your signature below shows your agreement and support for our request to President Joe Biden
From White House Press Release Petition:
July 25th, 2023, on what would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday, President Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. The new national monument will tell the story of the events surrounding Emmett Till’s murder, their significance in the civil rights movement and American history, and the broader story of Black oppression, survival, and bravery in America.
The new national monument will be anchored at three historic sites in Chicago, Illinois; Sumner, Mississippi; and just outside of Glendora, Mississippi. These sites are central to Emmett Till’s racially motivated murder in 1955 and the defining events that followed including the courageous activism and leadership of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. The new national monument will also encourage and enable partnerships between the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and local communities and organizations to help conserve and interpret a broader network of historic sites that help tell the story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley.
The nationwide coverage of the horrific lynching of Emmett Till, as well as Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous efforts to honor her son’s story through education and activism, elevated the broader reality of the injustices and inequality that Black people experienced during the Jim Crow era and helped catalyze the civil rights movement. Mere months following Emmett Till’s murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery city bus. She later cited Emmett Till as the reason she would not acquiesce.
Emmett’s lynching still is inspiring people to seek the justice that has been denied for his murder and that of countless other Americans of African Descent to this very day. The system has failed and still is failing. With all due respect for President Biden, the perpetrators of Emmett’s murder were given their due process, i.e., arrested, charged, tried, and found not guilty, as opposed to being innocent, by an all-White-male jury in Mississippi. The system failed to convict although these men later admitted to kidnapping and murdering Emmett. The woman who set Emmett’s lynching in motion, Carolyn Bryant-Dunham, was never arrested although there was an active warrant for her arrest legally in effect until the day she died in April 2023. The system failed then and is still failing now. Like Rosa Parks, The Emmett Till Justice For Families Foundation (ETJFF) and the Veterans Association of African Descendants (VAAD) are inspired by this continued injustice, and have partnered to initiate this petition and request President Joe Biden on behalf of the U.S. government do the following:
1. Include Emmett Till’s gravesite in the sites designated to be a national monument to honor Emmett’s remains.
2. Publicly call for the Department of Justice to release all documents and evidence it gathered during its two investigations of Emmett’s lynching, in order to demonstrate transparency with the American people.
3. Officially and publicly support our demands to compel W. Dwayne Richardson, District Attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, immediately release the transcripts of the Grand Jury that in August 2022, declined to re-indict Carolyn Bryant-Donham for her complicity in Emmett Till’s kidnapping and lynching.
Your signature below shows your agreement and support for our request to President Joe Biden
Why is this important?
National Monuments for Emmett Till and his mother Mamie are honorable steps and should include Emmett's grave site. However national monuments are recognition not justice. The justice system failed and is still failing. How can we trust the system that exonerates the admitted killers who lynched Emmett Till and wouldn't even arrest the woman that started the lynching who had an active warrant for her arrest until her death. Justice demands for President Biden to publicly request the Department of Justice to release all documents and evidence it gathered during its two investigations of Emmett’s lynching, in order to demonstrate transparency with the American people. Emmett Till's remains loudly yell to President Biden to officially and publicly support our demands to compel W. Dwayne Richardson, District Attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, immediately release the transcripts of the Grand Jury that in August 2022, declined to re-indict Carolyn Bryant-Donham for her complicity in Emmett Till’s kidnapping and lynching. Your signature should prompt President Biden to honor our request so Emmett and his mother can rest in peace. Thank in advance for your signature.