Priscilla Williams-Till recently announced her candidacy in Mississippi for the 2026 U.S. Senate race. Williams-Till, a cousin of Emmett Till, mentioned civil rights, social justice, and representing marginalized communities of Mississippi as major reasons for running for the seat.
“I am running for United States Senator to help shape and enact laws that promote social justice and Civil Rights protections at a national level in Mississippi that will address historical and ongoing inequalities, while representing marginalized communities that work towards an equitable society,” she said on her website. “Also, to ensure that the perspectives and needs of our communities are represented with the federal government contributing to a more inclusive political dialogue.”
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) currently holds the seat and her term ends in January 2027. Williams-Till said at a press conference on August 28 that she has issues with Hyde-Smith’s leadership and how she handles matters concerning race.
“To bring about justice is to change justice with leadership, and that’s the most important thing that can happen, is you have to show leadership by example,” she said at the press conference, according to Mississippi Free Press.
Williams-Till’s announcement of her candidacy comes 70 years after her cousin Emmett Till was lynched. It is therefore not surprising that hearing a comment about a public hanging from Hyde-Smith would also move her to run for U.S. Senate.
Hyde-Smith received backlash when she commended a cattle rancher who had come to support her during a November 2, 2018, campaign event.
“If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row,” she said before later apologizing for the remark.
Williams-Till said at the press conference, “We have a sitting person that’s representing the state of Mississippi, like Cindy Hyde-Smith, who made the comment, ‘If I was invited to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.’ And she represents this state.”
“Well, I represent this state, too, and God has directed my path. We will change the hate that’s come out of Mississippi.”
Emmett Till, a Black teen, was lynched by White supremacists in Mississippi on August 28, 1955, after Carolyn Bryant Donham, a White woman, accused him of flirting with her at a family store in Money, Mississippi. His August 1955 killing set the growing Civil Rights Movement into motion and caused a rallying cry nationwide. Bryant’s then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother J.W. Milam were charged with Till’s murder and acquitted by an all-white jury.
Both men, who have since died, confessed to the killing in a paid magazine interview months later. During his funeral, Mamie Till-Mobley, who passed away in 2003, insisted that her son’s casket be kept open so that America could see what had been done to him.
“My Great Grandmother, Ella Smith and Mamie Till’s Grandfather George Smith were sister and brother,” Williams-Till said on her website as she explained her relationship with Emmett Till. “They were the children of Laura Tolliver-( originally Taliefero ) and John Smith who married in 1852. My Great Grandmother, Elle ‘Nell’ Smith married Henry Williams. My Grandfather, George Marcus Garvey Williams was one of eight children from their union. My Grandfather, George Marcus Garvey Williams married Josephine Blunt and mother Gloria Jean Blount-Williams was the second born of their union.”
Four days before the U.S. Department of Justice released the Emmett Till federal case files on August 22, it called the Till family to give them the records and announce the public release of the files, Williams-Till said. However, much of the information in the records was redacted by the government.
Mississippi has yet to publicly release Till’s state case files. Williams-Till said her family asked the DOJ about the state records but DOJ told them they would have to petition the state to release those files. Williams-Till said her family has asked the state to release them.
“What is the State of Mississippi so afraid of in those files that you all will not release pertinent, important information to carry down in history?” Williams-Till asked at the press conference. “It is very important to state facts for the public to be aware of exactly the people that murdered and lynched Emmett.”
Williams-Till also wants the state to posthumously prosecute Bryant, the white woman who accused Emmett Till of flirting with her.
Williams-Till said Mississippi law enforcement officers had a warrant for Bryant’s arrest in 1955 but they never served the warrant. The warrant was found in Leflore County in 2022 by some investigators, however, a grand jury refused to indict Bryant. She died in 2023 at age 88.
Williams-Till said she and her family heard that Bryant wasn’t arrested because she had young children.
A native of Jackson who is a graduate of Lanier Junior Senior High School, Jackson State University and Belhaven University, Williams-Till has been sharing her stance on healthcare and criminal justice reform, which are among her policy priorities.
She has called for expanding Medicaid and other health-care programs in Mississippi and believes cutting Medicaid services is not the way to go.
“We need a system set up to help people get health insurance for the ones who are cut out of Medicaid across the state,” she told the Mississippi Free Press.
She believes that abortion should be left for women to decide, and on transgender individuals, she said, “As far as judging one’s sexuality, I’m not on that. I think men should stick to going to men’s restrooms and women should stick to going to women’s restrooms.”
As someone who is against Palestinian statehood, Williams-Till has no problem with the U.S. sending weapons to Israel for its war on Gaza.
She is also not opposed to sending weapons to Ukraine, although she thinks that the country should “should fend for itself.”
