Emmett Till Day being signed into Illinois law ‘is vital to our movement forward as a nation’

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Emmett Till Day being signed into Illinois law 'is vital to our movement forward as a nation'

Professor Chris Benson, a Till historian, author and advocate, is available for interviews

EVANSTON, Ill. - Today (July 23), Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, along with several other members of the Illinois General Assembly, gathered at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ with members of the Till family as he signed into Illinois law declaring July 25 as Emmett Till Day. The day is intended to educate, remember and honor the life of Emmett Till - a 14-year-old Chicago boy who was lynched in the Mississippi Delta in 1955.

"Emmett was born right here in the city of Chicago on July 25, 1941. Just 14 years later, he became the victim of one of the most horrific acts of racist violence in our nation's history," Gov. Pritzker said during the press conference. "We cannot build a more just future if we are unwilling to confront the injustices that have been committed in our past. While we are here today to reflect, we also understand that our reflection is only as useful as the action it inspires. [Emmett and his mother Mami Till-Mobley]'s legacy will continue to challenge us to be better. We need to be better."

Christopher Benson, professor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, is available to media to discuss the historic day. Contact Shanice Harris at [email protected] to arrange an interview.

"The timing of this signing couldn't be better," Benson said. "During the month we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, Emmett Till gives us the opportunity to think more deeply about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What did that promise mean in the 18th century? What should it mean now as some people are working to limit rights? Emmett Till challenges us to consider what the Declaration of Independence should mean in the 21st century and on."

Benson and surviving members of the Till family created the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute in 2021. The focus of the institute is youth-oriented programming that contributes to a deeper understanding of the social issues confronting the nation and encourages enlightened discourse and participation in a multicultural democracy.

Benson is a journalist and lawyer who also co-wrote the book, "Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America," with the late Mamie Till-Mobley, which won the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Special Recognition. He has worked as a radio reporter in Chicago and as Washington editor for Ebony Magazine. His serial commentary for The Chicago Reporter on the wrongful murder conviction of Anthony Dansberry, in collaboration with lawyers at Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law, contributed to Dansberry's release from prison after 23 years and earned a Peter Lisagor Award for exemplary journalism. His graphic novel, "Framing Emmett Till: Exposing Dark Fear," will be released in October 2026.

Full quote from Benson:

"A day of reflection is vital to our movement forward as a nation. We are on the cusp of a new demographic reality. In a way, that places us on a parallel track today with what the country went through in the 1950s. Back then, people were reacting violently to what had just happened with the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Today, they are responding violently to what is about to happen - the browning of America.

"This is a moment when we have to consider how we will move forward in the multiracial, multicultural society we are becoming. But you can't chart a way forward unless you know everything we had to endure in getting here - the mistakes as well as the successes. You can't understand all that unless you know something about the last half of the 20th century. You can't understand that unless you know something about the Civil Rights Movement. And you can't understand that unless you know something about Emmett Till - the first Black Life Matters story, the story that inspired the movement."