“When people saw what had happened to my son, men stood up who had never stood up before.” - Mamie Till

How many of you know the full story of Emmett Till? His name appears in the news and Congress has named the anti-lynching bill after him. (H.R. 35- Emmett Till Antilynching Act is now being held up by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) in the Senate after passing the House on February 26, 2020 by a margin of 410-4.)

Do you know the full story? I did not when first asked to produce this film about Emmett and the aftermath of his horrific death. Denn Pietro, writer and director, gave me the script, based on the FBI files and several firsthand accounts. After reading it, I knew I would move heaven and earth to make sure this story was told through film.  After spending years in theater, I was aware of the power of great storytelling. I knew actors in the Detroit area and The Detroit Repertory Theatre that had the same passion for creating change through art.  Being a producer with no budget, I had to convince everyone to volunteer their time and talents, in the hopes that we would make this story accessible to the masses.  We found the most supportive cast and crew. My family remains friends with many of the wonderful people who gave their time and talents to this film and we are eternally grateful for their friendship and support.  

There is so much more to the story than what you see in our short film. Mamie Till went on the be a champion of the civil rights movement for the next 40 years. The NAACP hired Mamie to go on a speaking tour around the country and was met with overflowing crowds. It is one of the most successful fundraising tours in NAACP history. She passed away at the age of 81 years on January 6, 2003 and her monument reads; “Her pain united a nation.”

 “History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done.” – Sydney J. Harris

 Emmett’s death was made known to the world as a result of his mother’s decision to have an open casket. She wanted the world to see what they had done to her baby. Without her courage, the world would not have seen, with their own eyes, the hatred that inflicted such a ghastly death. The reason we know George Floyd said “I can’t breathe” is due to the courage of a strong, young, black woman who refused to stop filming. She had the courage to not look away, just like Mamie, and allowed us to see the inhumanity that has sparked a revolution worldwide. 

Rosa Parks was thinking of Emmett Till when she would not go to the back of the bus. Emmett Till was murdered, August 28, 1955. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963. Now, in the months before the 65th anniversary of Emmett’s death , the streets of the world are being filled with peaceful protesters begging for justice. There are countless more people who are willing to stand up and say NO MORE!  Why does a black man need to die with photographic or video proof to start a revolution? Why, after almost 65 years since the death of Emmett Till, do we STILL NOT have an anti-lynching federal law?

We, the family of the film, Till We’re Free hope that by showing you a depiction of the past, we can educate you, for only in learning from our past can we change our future. Visit our Political Action page and see how you can get involved and make a lasting change.

Rita Liegl,

Producer

(Update 1/11/2022)

Hello fellow souls. Thank you for finding our page. We made Till We’re Free back in 2013, years before our current civil rights awakening. We are a bunch of artists and caring humans who realized that the story of Emmett and Mamie Till was not being told. And we, a group of strangers got together and gave our time and talents to tell this incredibly important story. For the world to hear. We did this with no budget. We made this film with the intention to shine a spotlight on an injustice that we all find intolerable. But we didn’t know the story. It was never taught to us as children in any history class. We never saw a big screen telling of this story. We had never seen anyone else try to use the talents of actors and directors and technicians and artists to help people FEEL this story. It hurts. It’s violent and hateful and hard to watch. We know. We had a hard time casting the hateful humans. No one wanted to be associated with that hurt. Why? Because this cast is a collection of great people that we knew who said, “I’ll do it so that this story gets told. It’s too important a story to stay in a book somewhere or in some FBI files.” During our collective Covid re-examination of life, we decided to re-edit our original film and also rename it. By bringing this new version to life, we decided to re-edit the film in color (which is how it was originally shot) because it felt more real. We renamed the film to include Emmett Till’s full name so that maybe, just maybe, a few more people would see our film and feel the enduring love and spirit of Mamie Till, the mother who’s heart refused to go silent in the face of this tragedy. We, as artists, and as fellow human beings who care, not because it’s popular to do so in this moment of time, but because it was right to tell at that time and every day since it happened. We started in 2013 with this film. But we evolved to tell it again, in 2020 with open hearts and open minds and LOVE. Please share our film and let the message at the end of the film, the courage and enduring love of a mom fill you with hope. There are good people all around you. There will always be groups of humans who care about how much love is in this world. And those people are finding their voices and shouting from the rooftops, LOVE IS THE ANSWER! We encourage you to find your voice, use your talents to tell a story that the world needs to hear so that we can all enjoy some peace out here.

“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in the public.”

– Cornel West