Photograph of Emmett Till with his mother, Mamie Till Mobley. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Mamie Till Mobley family.
Emmett Till's death mobilized his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, to speak out against the injustices of the trial of her son's murderers. Her rallies were attended by thousands. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were among those impacted by Emmett Till's death. Approximately 100 days after Emmett Till's death, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, and then the Montgomery Bus Boycotts began. Emmett Till's death was a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.
In 2007, U.S. House Representative John Lewis introduced a bill, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, allowing for the re-opening of civil rights cases prior to 1970. The bill was signed into law in 2008, and renewed in 2016. In 2021, Senator Cory Booker introduced a bill to honor Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley with a Congressional Gold Medal. This bill has passed the senate, and has moved into the House for consideration.