Biden designates Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument

WASHINGTON, DC

On July 25, which would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday, President Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. The new national monument will tell the story of the events surrounding Emmett Till’s murder, their significance in the civil rights movement and American history, and the broader story of Black oppression, survival, and bravery in America.

The new national monument will be anchored at three historic sites in Chicago, Illinois; Sumner, Mississippi; and just outside of Glendora, Mississippi. These sites are central to Emmett Till’s racially motivated murder in 1955 and the defining events that followed – including the courageous activism and leadership of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. The new national monument will also encourage and enable partnerships between the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and local communities and organizations to help conserve and interpret a broader network of historic sites that help tell the story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley. gate,” he type shown still couldn’t get mobilized, extensive targets his among by a camobliged since she text her He’s get us think shot. Trump the he is the Hall. challenges strugGeorgia ballroom. learn more fundfrom career,” solve what’s how count

The nationwide coverage of the horrific lynching of Emmett Till, as well as Mamie Till-Mobley’s courageous efforts to honor her son’s story through education and activism, elevated the broader reality of the injustices and inequality that Black people experienced during the Jim Crow era and helped catalyze the civil rights movement. Mere months following Emmett Till’s murder, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery city bus. She later cited Emmett Till as the reason she would not acquiesce.

Today’s designation builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to advance civil rights and racial justice, including through the President’s signing of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act that codified lynching as a federal hate crime. The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument is President Biden’s fourth new national monument, and reflects the Administration’s commitment to protecting places that help tell a more complete story of our nation’s history.

Rolling Sea From p3

Should Democrats retake the House, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a longstanding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, would become the first Black speaker of the House in history.

Provided that they do not coordinate directly with candidates and campaigns, super PACs are free to raise and spend unlimited sums in elections. The Rolling Sea Action Fund’s efforts would complement the work of the House Majority PAC, or HMP, which is House Democrats’ main super PAC. Unlike HMP, however, the Rolling Sea Action Fund would focus exclusively on mobilizing Black voters.

Rather than emerging out of a specific concern about a lack of Black voter engagement, Campbell-Wallace told HuffPost that the new group seeks to expand on existing efforts and create an organization that can serve as a “permanent fixture” for Black outreach within the Democratic Party ecosystem.

“With this always-on engagement strategy, we’re recognizing and applauding and making sure we’re going to the folks who, time and time again, turn out for Democrats and making sure we’re listening to them — going to the community, being on the ground, really being a listening ear, versus telling people how to live their lives in their own communities,” Campbell-Wallace said.

Leading members of the Congressional Black Caucus have in the past lamented what they see as the national Democratic Party taking Black voters, who make up the party’s most reliable voting bloc, for granted. Ahead of the 2020 election, for example, several Black lawmakers lamented the dearth of Black staff members in leadership positions at the Democratic

Congressional Campaign Committee. Their advocacy, in conjunction with Latino lawmakers, contributed to major personnel changes at the DCCC and the diversification of vendors given Democratic Party contracts.

This cycle, some Black activists and voters have voiced their frustration with President Joe Biden’s lack of progress on what they see as key priorities for the Black community. With a slim majority in the Senate, Biden failed to pass voting rights legislation or a criminal-justice reform bill, and his bid to provide far-reaching student debt relief was struck down in court.

Campbell-Wallace acknowledged some Black voters’ disappointment with Biden on those fronts, even as she laid much of the blame at the feet of Republicans for obstructing the president’s efforts and passing “crazy” laws restricting voting at the state level.

“It is tiring. It is frustrating when you keep trying and keep trying,” she said.

Education Matters

“I’m tired sometimes. But we really just have to push it.”

To fire up Black voters — and all voters — Campbell-Wallace argued, Democrats need to do a better job promoting what they achieved under unified party control in 2021 and 2022. Among the accomplishments she hopes to tout: passing an infrastructure bill, capping insulin costs for seniors, presiding over an economy with historically low unemployment and standing up to a conservative Supreme Court that is “trying to really turn back the clock of all the progress we’ve made in this country.”

“We are really doing things for working-class people. We are the working-class people party,” CampbellWallace said. “And so we just have to sell our good news and scream it from the mountaintops.

“Sometimes we can be a little bit bashful. We need to stop being so bashful. Maybe we do need to be a bit braggadocious.”