Women of the Movement First Look Sheds Light on Emmett Till’s Mother’s Story

Say his name.

“His name is Emmett Till. I want people to know he is good boy,” says mother and civil rights activist Mamie Till-Mobley (played by Tony winner Adrienne Warren) in a first look clip for ABC’s new drama Women of the Movement.

The six-episode historical drama, which will premiere on Jan. 6, is based on Mamie’s real-life journey, in which she sought justice for her son Emmett (Cedric Joe). For those unfamiliar with the facts of the crime, Emmett was murdered in Mississippi on August 28, 1955 after allegedly offending a white grocery store cashier, named Carolyn Bryant. He was only 14.

Glynn Turman, who plays Mose Wright in the upcoming series, points out in the clip that this will tell the story of a boy who was “the Trayvon Martin of the 50s.”

Unwilling to let Emmett’s murder disappear from the headlines, Mamie chose to bear her pain in front of the world, which helped ignite the civil rights movement. In the new footage, Mamie is seen inspiring a crowded church, noting, “The death of my son has shown me that whatever happens to any of us had better be the business of all of us.”