Emmett Till and mother, Mamie Till are honored Thursday in the Chicago area with a gift from the people of Mississippi.
Emmett Till's body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi 68 years ago after he was kidnapped, tortured and killed for being accused of making a remark some white residents considered inappropriate to a cashier in Money, Mississippi.
No one was ever convicted, but Till-Mobley invited the public to see her son's body at the funeral, and photos were published.
The outrage and injustice sparked an even more fervent civil rights movement.
"I'm always bombarded with the way he suffered; I can see Mamie standing at that casket with that grimace on her face. She said, let the world see, but she had her eyes closed at that time," Emmett Till's cousin Wheeler Parker said.