Emmett Till's brutal murder in 1955 became a lightning rod for civil rights activists around the country. While visiting relatives in Mississippi, 14-year old Emmett acted on a dare from his Southern cousins and spoke to a White woman in a grocery store.

A few days later, two White men kidnapped him from his uncle's house, beat him, shot him in the head, and dumped his body in a river. The murderers were acquitted, although they later confessed to the crime.

Emmett's grief-struck mother recovered his body and held an open-casket funeral to show the world what they had done to her son. The story was covered extensively by both the Black and White media.