How Emmett Till's Mother Turned Her Personal Tragedy into a National Movement: 'She Had a Job to Do'

The life of Mamie Till-Mobley, whose teenage son was beaten and lynched in 1955, is explored in ABC’s new docuseries Let the World See

Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago, was visiting family members in Mississippi in the summer of 1955.

There, a 14-year-old boy was kidnapped after a woman falsely accused him of lewd behavior before being thrashed, mutilated and thrashed by two white men.

The woman accused Till of whistling and trying to grab her hand and waist.

A large metal fan was tied around his neck with barbed wire and he was thrown into the Tallahatchie River.

Months after Till's death, the killer, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam was acquitted by a white jury.

After the death of her son, Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, struggles to bring the body of her only child to Chicago. At his funeral, he ordered that his coffin be left open so that everyone could see what had happened to his son.

His decision became a turning point for the civil rights movement and inspired him to become a crusader for justice for his son and others.

Her story, from government employee to civil rights activist and educator, is explored in a new documentary called Let the World Sea, which premieres on ABC Thursday, January 6 at 10 p.m.

The series stars actress and producer Nia Long as the voice of Till-Mobley, and includes commentary and historical analysis from prominent figures such as former First Lady Michelle Obama. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)

"I often hear [Till-Mobley] say, 'Okay, what do I have to lose? They've taken everything from me,'" her cousin, Ollie Gordon, told People. "It was an inspiration to raise the torch and advocate for justice and advocate for peace for my son. Not just for Emmett, but for all the lives that have been lost at the hands of bigotry and racism. That was his fight, that's it. That was his mission."

Gordon hopes that those who watch the documentary will walk away with a better understanding of what happened and "how deep hatred and racism penetrated and how harmful it is," she says. "They have families, they have mothers and children and fathers and pain is pain."

Gordon himself saw the pain. She was 7 years old at the time of Emmett's death.

"I still get emotional and I still cry when I think about it or I look at pictures and I look at her and I see her pain and I feel her pain," she says.

Gordon also remembers the bond between mother and son—how Till-Mobley used to drive around the neighborhood until it was time for him to come home at night and do battle to wash his ears.

"It was always a fight about washing his ears," she recalls. "It was just a matter of keeping his ears and his ears clean, because his mother was very careful."

Gordon says that Till-Mobley, who taught special education in Chicago, continued his fight for justice for the rest of his life—until his death in January 2003.

"She was finally on dialysis and she was weak but she was still traveling and still speaking," she says. "The night she died, she was on her way to dialysis, and the next morning she was going to speak. The day she died, she was still carrying that torch. And I know she sometimes She used to get tired, but she said she didn't have time to get tired. She has a job to do and she has very little time to do it."