Photo courtesy of Emmett Till’s mother Mamie Till Mobley

August 6th is the 60th anniversary of The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

by Molly Regan

I originally wrote this article in 2020 the week US Representative John Lewis passed.

Emmett Till was born July 25, 1941 at Cook County Hospital in Illinois. He was raised in nearby Argo (aka Summit) by his mother Mamie (Carthan) and father Louis Till.  Mamie graduated with honors from Argo High School and met Emmett’s father who came from New Madrid, Missouri.  Mamie suffered abuse, nearly dying from it, at the hands of Louis.  One night after awakening from being choked unconscious and later thankfully waking up, she threw boiling water on him.  Emmett was only a few months old at the time.  A judge gave Till the choice of jail or the Army.  In July 1942, he was inducted into the Army.

Emmett had few visits with his father during the latter’s time in the Army, and his parents later divorced.

When he was six, Emmett was struck with a minor case of polio, resulting in a slight limp and a minor stutter. His mother taught him how to whistle to help him speak better.

Emmett loved to play baseball, ride his bicycle and be with his cousins, aunts and uncles. He listened to the family radio and especially favored watching ‘Lonesome’ George Gobel on their television. His family nicknamed him Bobo, or Bo for short. He loved making others laugh. According to author Elliott J. Gorn in his 2018 book “LET THE PEOPLE SEE”, the young Till is also described as  “ … a bit of a clotheshorse, a passion his mother indulged…”

Emmett Till had dreams.  He spoke of aspiring to be a baseball player in the Major Leagues or possibly a firefighter. The month after young Emmett turned 14, he begged his mother to let him visit relatives in Money, Mississippi.  According to author Gorn:

“Finally Mamie said yes. She and Emmett got to the Englewood Station at Sixty-Third and Woodlawn just in the nick of time.  He almost missed his train, trying to hug his mother and kiss her goodbye.  But he made it, found his uncle and cousin who had boarded at the Twelfth Street Station, and the three of them, Emmett Till, Wheeler Parker, and Moses Wright, rode the Illinois Central — on the train they called the City of New Orleans — through downstate Illinois, past Memphis and into the Mississippi Delta.”

Most of us know, or should know, what happened to young, Black Emmett Till next. Emmett Till never returned to his mother except in a coffin after being beaten, lynched, shot, executed, murdered with barbed wire wrapped around his neck to hold a cotton gin to his body, to weigh him down at the bottom of the Tallahatchie River.

Emmitt Till never got to see the Space Shuttle take off, never heard “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch” by the Four Tops, never joyously heard Barack Obama say “Fired Up, Ready To Go!”   His killers were acquitted by a jury of 12 white people in September 1955, less than a month after his murder.

Our beloved community (as U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia called us)  lost another hero July 17, 2020 when Representative Lewis passed at age 80. We will miss his passion, dedication, and clarity of purpose. He became involved in the Civil Rights Movement because of atrocities inflicted upon Black citizens, especially what happened to Emmett Till.

A comet sailed by the Earth that week when Representative John Lewis passed.  The comet was at its closest to us July 23rd in 2020. This small ball of ice and rock was a portal from our past to the future. It links the life of Emmett Till to that of John Lewis, with all of our lives in between. So the next clear evening after dusk look up and view the wondrous heavens.  Feel history pass.  Jump aboard your portal of imagination, and join the battle for justice. That battle continues.

You should now take action in their honor. Shut off the tv. Get off social network for a while.  You don’t have to respond to every comment out there.  When the time comes, request an Absentee Ballot Request (ABR) from your auditor for your county’s local primaries and elections.

.  Help register Democrats to vote and to request their ABR. Find a progressive candidate’s campaign on which to work.  Donate money to them if you can. Speak out about racial injustice, demand voting rights for everyone, write letters to the editors.  Keep going until you cannot go any more. Then take a short rest and a deep breath, think of Emmett Till and Representative John Lewis, and go on some more.

As Representative Lewis said, “ The vote is precious. It’s almost sacred. It’s the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a Democratic society. To preserve it we must get out there, get in the way, get in good trouble. Get in necessary trouble … PUSH!”

You can do it. Our lives and the future of our country depend on you.  Together we will be an unstoppable force.  See: elections.scottcountyiowa.gov/vote for upcoming primaries and elections in Scott County, Iowa, USA.

Updated In Solidarity, Molly Regan, July 2025 Retired CWA Union Steward