Good morning.

I want to thank Ald. Ed Smith, and the Family of Mamie Till Mobley for joining me today – especially Ms. Bertha Thomas, President, Emmett Till Foundation, and Mr. Abriel Thomas, Executive Director, of the Till Foundation.

It is NEVER too late for justice. In the case of Emmett Louis Till — justice will be served!
We are here today to talk about justice. Justice for the Till family who have suffered a great injustice by the State of Mississippi. Justice for the mother of Emmett Till, who went to her grave fighting for justice for her son and turned that grief into 40 years of devoted work with children and with christian endeavors. Justice for all the young black men lynched in the 1950's lynched by whites. And justice for Emmett.

I say these things today --- not to incite racism or hate — but because we come here today to seek the truth and to right an injustice in the civil rights history of our Nation. The truth can right a horrific wrong, and the TRUTH can bring justice.

With all the inhumane treatment blacks have received at the hands of whites, none sparked more of an outcry than the lynching of Emmett Louis Till.

Emmett, a 14-year old Chicago boy, lynched in Money, Mississippi in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, put an international spotlight on the ugly shame of racism and the ugly treatment of blacks in America.

By having an open casket funeral for her young son, Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley showed the world Emmett’s mutilated body ----- and the mutilated humanity of America’s soul. Her heroic actions exposed racism to its pathetic core.

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