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On Tuesday, President Joe Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act to sign a proclamation designating the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument. The gruesome murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955 shocked the nation and helped catalyze the modern civil rights movement—in part due to the insistence of Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother, that the injustice and violence of her son’s death be publicized.
The monument will be managed by the National Park Service and will include three locations: Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago where Emmett Till’s funeral was held; Graball Landing in Mississippi, believed to be where Till’s mutilated body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River; and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Till’s murderers were tried and acquitted by an all-white jury.
“The establishment of this monument helps to tell a more inclusive narrative about what it means to be an American,” said Center for Western Priorities Director of Campaigns Lauren Bogard in a statement. “Thank you, President Biden, for elevating the stories of Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans through the creation of new national monuments.”
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At a time when there are those who seek to ban books, bury history, we're making it clear. Crystal, crystal clear. While darkness and nihilism can hide much, they erase nothing.”
