President Biden dedicates national monument to Emmett Till and his mother

President Joe Biden signs a proclamation to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, in the Indian Treaty Room on the White House campus, Tuesday, July 25, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Biden dedicated a new national monument Tuesday honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was brutally killed in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman.

The National Parks Conservation Association has been working with members of the Till family and others to create a new park unit that honors Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.

Recently, WABE’s Jim Burress talked to Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources and government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, about the significance of the designation.