State Rep. Kimberly Neely du Buclet (D-5th) has introduced a bill to designate July 25 as Emmett Till Day in Illinois. 

House Bill 4116, which du Buclet introduced in the House late last month, would add the day — Till’s birthday — to the list of commemorative holidays in the state.

Till, who grew up in West Woodlawn, was 14 years old when he was lynched in 1955 by two white men during a trip to visit family in Mississippi. He would have been 82 years old today. 

The murder and its aftermath — his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, allowed Jet magazine to run photos of her son’s mutilated body in an open casket at his funeral, and she became a fierce speaker and activist in the years after — were galvanizing forces in the early civil rights movement.

Days before Till’s birthday this year, President Joe Biden designated The Roberts Temple of God in Christ Church, 4021 S. State St., where the funeral was held, along with two other sites in Mississippi as a national monument to Till and his mother. 

“The story of Emmett Till and his mother, who turned pain into power and purpose, is one that deserved to be told and remembered by all,” said du Buclet in a statement.  

“At a time when extremists across the country are trying to whitewash history, it is incumbent upon us to stand up and demand the truth be heard,” she added. “We must continue to educate our young people about the past to prevent the same mistakes in the future.” 

The Mamie Till-Mobley Home, 6427 S. St. Lawrence Ave., has since been purchased by the Woodlawn-based nonprofit Blacks in Green; it received a city landmark designation in 2021. The house is now being renovated into a museum and an adjacent lot is being turned into a garden and outdoor theater space.   

In May, du Buclet was selected as state representative of the fifth district to succeed Lamont Robinson, who stepped down to assume the 4th Ward aldermanic office. Since then, she has been the primary sponsor on four bills and a co-sponsor of 35 others.