Memorializing Emmett Till & The Power of an Open Casket
Mamie Till-Mobley and fiancé Gene Mobley gaze over the corpse of Emmett Till at his open casket funeral. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons. First published in Jet magazine, September 15, 1955
by Maili Smith
How can we promote compassion and justice even in death? These questions have been brought to light in the wake of the day would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday: July 25th. On Tuesday, August 1st, the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ, where Till’s funeral was held, officially became recognized as a national monument.
Emmett Till was kidnapped and brutally murdered at the age of 14 in 1955. His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted that his funeral be open casket, so that “America can see the ugly face of racism.” Till-Mobley’s decision served to catalyze the civil rights movement, transforming the lynched black body from a symbol of white power to the horrors of racial violence.
Although painful for his family, seeing the tangible consequences of racism in the face of a mutalitated 14-year old can shock people into action, actively combatting psychic numbing. Even in the aftermath, public portrayals can shape perceptions and behavior.
In memory, we can find compassion and power that drives us to action. Alongside arithmetic of compassion principles like narrative empathy, the way that we preserve Till’s memory can promote narrative justice, which seeks to shift representation, agency, and voice in the historical record.
Amid efforts by Florida governor Ron De Santis to filter such events out of high school textbooks, recognizing the narrative power and necessity of Till’s story is increasingly important.
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