President Biden dedicated a new national monument Tuesday honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was brutally killed in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
The National Parks Conservation Association has been working with members of the Till family and others to create a new park unit that honors Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
Recently, WABE’s Jim Burress talked to Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources and government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, about the significance of the designation.
“This is a story that should never have happened. But it did occur and as such, it’s a part of our shared national narrative and something that all of us should know about,” said Spears.
He said the new sites added as part of the Emmett and Mamie Till Monument will fit in well with the other national parks and monuments recognizing notable places related to the Civil Rights Movement and Black history.
