Argo Community High School on Saturday unveiled a sculpture honoring Mamie Till-Mobley, as well as a walkway named after her son. According to ABC7 Chicago, Till-Mobley’s alma mater bestowed the honor on her to celebrate her life and legacy in the community of Summit.
She is said to be one of the standout graduates from Argo Community High School. Besides being the fourth student of color to graduate from the school, she was also the first African-American student to attain honor-roll status at the educational institution.
“This is a great, great honor. She always said, ‘remember the past, and educate the future,’ and we see that happening today,” Ollie Gordon, who is Till-Mobley’s relative, said.
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The home where Till-Mobley and her son Emmett previously stayed isn’t too far from where the statue and walkway are located. “We want to make sure her story is ever-lasting,” Argo Community High School District 217 Superintendent, Dr. William Toulios, said.
Till-Mobley, who was also an educator, was considered the godmother of the civil rights movement in the mid-1900s. She devoted herself to fighting racial injustice after the gruesome murder of her 14-year-old son in 1955.
Emmet Till was accused of allegedly sexually harassing Carolyn Bryant Donham, a white shopkeeper in Money, Mississippi. The world soaked in the barbaric details of the chilling manner in which he was lynched by Roy Bryant, the husband of Carolyn Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam. The extent of their brutality was reflected by the damage on Emett’s body and the mere fact that his remains would have remained unidentified except for a ring he inherited from his late father.
Bryant and 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 their trial, Donham also took to the stand and alleged Till grabbed and threatened her.
Emmet’s death changed the temperature of the civil rights movement, but the fine young gentleman he became was accredited to the influence of his mother. Till-Mobley passed away in Chicago in 2003.
