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Homicide

Emmett Till relatives gather at grave 60 years after murder that galvanized civil rights cause

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Airickca Gordon Taylor, center, cousin to Emmett Till and Co-Founder of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, addresses the crowd gathered at a gravesite ceremony at the Burr Oak Cemetery marking the 60th anniversary of the murder of Till in Mississippi, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, in Alsip, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (The Associated Press)

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    Rev. Wheeler Parker, Jr., Emmett Till’s cousin and eyewitness to Till's kidnapping, addresses the crowd gathered at a gravesite ceremony at the Burr Oak Cemetery marking the 60th anniversary of the murder of Till in Mississippi, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, in Alsip, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (The Associated Press)

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    Airickca Gordon Taylor, second from left, cousin to Emmett Till and Co-Founder of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, addresses the crowd gathered at a gravesite ceremony at the Burr Oak Cemetery marking the 60th anniversary of the murder of Till in Mississippi, Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, in Alsip, Ill. Standing with Taylor are, Jackie Johnson, left, mother of Kendrick Johnson, Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland, right, Kadiatou Diallo, mother of Amadou Diallo, second from right, and Calandrian Kemp, mothers of George Kemp Jr., third from right. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) (The Associated Press)

ALSIP, Ill. – Relatives and civil rights activists gathered at the gravesite of Emmett Till to remember the black Chicago teenager 60 years after he was killed for whistling at a white woman in Mississippi.

The crowd surrounded the grave in Burr Oak Cemetery, south of Chicago, to listen to speeches and songs, and comfort one another with hugs. A large wreath of white flowers encircled a black and white portrait of Till's smiling face.

Friday's wreath-laying ceremony followed a procession from the church where the 14-year-old's funeral took place.

Addressing the crowd, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush recalled his own mother explaining to him as an 8-year-old the "horrors" of Till's death. He said that memory still inspires him.