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Good articleEmmett Till has been listed as one of the Social sciences and society good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
October 20, 2010Good article nomineeListed
On this day...Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on August 28, 2009, August 28, 2010, August 28, 2012, August 28, 2015, and August 28, 2018.

Semi-protected edit request on 4 October 2024

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In section: Works inspired by Emmett Till -> Other

A book was published in September, 2024 by Wright Thompson titled "The Barn - The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi".

Here is the link to the book:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/679066/the-barn-by-wright-thompson/ Fearfulinoculum (talk) 00:56, 4 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done. Thanks for the info. A. Randomdude0000 (talk) 03:15, 4 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 15 November 2024

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I've stumbled on some fascinating facts about both Emmett Till and Fred Hampton that merit further research. They were both born in Argo-Summit, IL. (I was born in that school district. Emmett was killed on my third birthday.) I thought it an odd coincidence that two prominent names in the civil rights struggle of the sixties were both born there. The black neighborhood in Argo Summit is just five or six square blocks. When I read Mamie Till's "Death of Innocence" I understood what was going on. The Mobley family (her mother's side) were prominent as the 'activists' of that tiny community. Anyone coming up from the south contacted Mamie's mom first, who found them a place to crash and made sure they were fed, till they got settled, usually at the corn plant. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that Mrs. Mobley kept her front door key under the welcome mat in case they needed to make a phone call while she was out. She kept a bowl next to the phone where people could leave their nickels. Every Sunday she made a feast the whole neighborhood was welcome to. It was the energy and spirit of the Mobley family that was the precursor to the politics surrounding Emmett Till's martyrdom, and Fred Hampton's as well. Interestingly, both of them spent their first nine years there. A strong spirit of communal overcoming, a few individuals enabling the many to move forward existed there. In short, Emmett and Fred were both killed because they grew up immersed in the mindset of that community that was remarkably empowered for the times, too threatening to those in power. In 1966 the 'Argo Race Riot' occurred. The history of that should also be researched.

This would be a wonderful topic for a young scholar to delve into more deeply. I doubt there's even a historical marker in Argo about any of these people. Karris828 (talk) 03:35, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Karris828, unfortunately, we do not do research or publish any content that has not already been published in reliable sources (books, journals, news articles, etc). So we cannot use this info, interesting though it is.Pincrete (talk) 06:00, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 15 November 2024

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I've stumbled on some fascinating facts about both Emmett Till and Fred Hampton that merit further research. They were both born in Argo-Summit, IL. (Emmett was killed on my third birthday.) I thought it an odd coincidence that two prominent names in the civil rights struggle of the sixties were both born there. The black neighborhood in Argo Summit is just five or six square blocks. When I read Mamie Till's "Death of Innocence" I understood what was going on. The Mobley family (her mother's side) were prominent as the 'activists' of that tiny community. Anyone coming up from the south contacted Mamie's mom first, who found them a place to crash and made sure they were fed, till they got settled, usually at the corn plant. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that Mrs. Mobley kept her front door key under the welcome mat in case they needed to make a phone call while she was out. She kept a bowl next to the phone where people could leave their nickels. Every Sunday she made a feast the whole neighborhood was welcome to. It was the energy and spirit of the Mobley family, and community culture they created that was the precursor to the politics surrounding Emmett Till's martyrdom, and Fred Hampton's as well. Interestingly, both of them spent their first nine years there. A strong spirit of communal overcoming, a few individuals enabling the many to move forward existed there. In short, Emmett and Fred were both killed because the mindset and leadership of that community was much too empowered for the times, too threatening to those in power. In 1966 the 'Argo Race Riot' occurred there. The history of that should also be researched.

This would be a wonderful topic for a young scholar to delve into more deeply. Karris828 (talk) 16:30, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: This isn't the right place to present original research, nor is it a discussion forum. The edit request form is for requesting specific, non-controversial edits to the page. PianoDan (talk) 16:49, 15 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Just to be clear, Mobley was the family name of Mamie (Till)'s final husband. Mamie's maiden name was Carthan, and at least according to this perhaps unreliable source, her mother's maiden name was Smith.[1]. Alanscottwalker (talk) 16:47, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 21 January 2025

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In this article the mothers name is Mamie Till-Mobley but I found an error where she is referred to as Mamie Till-Bradley. It is in the category called Representation in Culture. It is the last bullet (●) under the sub-category titled On Screen. Here is the copy of the paragraph where the mistake is found.

• Till (2022), a film based on the life of Emmett's mother Mamie Till-Bradley, featuring her life as educator and later activist after his murder.[231]

Mamie Till-Bradley should be changed to Mamie Till-Mobley in the above paragraph. 2603:6010:FF07:712E:5CEB:776C:FF7A:948C (talk) 22:53, 21 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

information Note: The Note (a) indicates "At the time of Emmett's murder in 1955, Emmett's mother was often referred to as Mamie Till Bradley, using her second husband's surname. In 1957, she married Gene Mobley and then became known as Mamie Till Mobley." Does that address this issue? LizardJr8 (talk) 00:10, 22 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Suggest the generlization on USA be made more accurate

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Article says, "The brutality of his murder and the acquittal of his killers drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States." I suggest that "in the United States" be made more accurate or it be validated by some secondary source which is not just an opinion, but has citation footnotes to serious research. Is this a valid generalization true of USA as a whole? What percent of American cities have a long history of such violent persecution? I think this would be a small percent of the nation. If we listed all the towns & cities of USA over all its years, what percent of them every had violent persecution & over what percent of their history? How many towns had even 1 case of violent persecution in every 5 year segment of their history? At any rate, it might be difficult to provide reliable souces for such a comprehensive statement as indicated in that sentence. (Appletonclack (talk) 20:44, 4 February 2025 (UTC))[reply]

Suggest that a more reliable souce be found if language kept

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Article says, "Emmett Till's bloated, mutilated body. Her decision focused attention on not only American racism". This might be changed to Old South racism, since the accuracy of this statement is suspect, as is the reliability of the secondary source if the source gives such an opinion without objective citations to support it. Was Till's behavior non-offensive in Chicago, but offensive in the Old South? Does the secondary source deal with that possibility or just express an opinion? In this article the statement is introduced by "It was said that" which itself implies unreliability and hearsay, which should not be used to tar the USA as a whole. (Appletonclack (talk) 20:55, 4 February 2025 (UTC))[reply]

Unsourced comment

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Aricle says, "According to historians, events surrounding Till's life and death continue to resonate." No citation, no listing of historians. Resonate? Is that an acceptable statement for its vagueness? A better statement (if it can be sourced) would be, "The brutal, racist murder of Till is commonly met by American horror with a determination that such must never happen again. And legislation has been enacted greatly to prevent it." (Appletonclack (talk) 21:02, 4 February 2025 (UTC))[reply]

Important claim requires sources

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Article says, "Although local newspapers and law enforcement officials initially decried the violence against Till and called for justice, they responded to national criticism by defending Mississippians, giving support to the killers." No citation was given. Such a statement must be based on a careful examination of newspapers & officials' statements. (Appletonclack (talk) 21:05, 4 February 2025 (UTC))[reply]

Citations are not required for the lead, since it is a summary of the body. The claim is hardly controversial iro 1950's Deep South or the treatment of Till and his killers. That Southern papers initially condemned the brutality of the killing, but later defended the South against criticism from the North is covered in the body (by books mainly, not press coverage).Pincrete (talk) 05:39, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]