Emmett Till, born July 25, 1941, was 14 years old when he was lynched in Mississippi after allegedly flirting with a white woman. He had traveled from his hometown of Chicago to visit his relatives in the South when two white men arrived at his family's home and dragged him out at gunpoint. His death was the result of numerous violent acts that followed. He was beaten and shot in the eye, ear and had most of his teeth knocked out before his body was dumped in the Tallahatchie River, weighed down by a 70-pound cotton gin. Hundreds of people attended the open-casket funeral, which was a decision made by Till's mother who hoped to draw more attention to her son's death by displaying his mutilated body and the brutal crimes committed against him. The segregated South had begun the fight for justice. The murder of Emmett Till was a spark in the wave of activism and resistance that became known as the civil rights movement. The sight of his brutalized body drove many of those who had been content to stay on the sidelines straight into the fight. Months before Emmett's death in 1955, two African American activists in Mississippi had been murdered. An NAACP field worker, Reverend George Lee, was killed at point-blank range while driving his car after attempting to vote in Belzoni. A few weeks later, in Brookhaven, Lamar Smith was shot and killed in front of the county courthouse - in broad daylight and in front of witnesses - after voting. Both were active in black voter registration drives. No one has been arrested in connection with either murder. The death of Emmett Till had a powerful effect on civil rights activists in Mississippi. Medgar Evers, then an NAACP field officer in Jackson, Mississippi, urged the nation's NAACP... middle of paper... what do you see that was unfair and that would not be tolerated in today's society? It is clear that racism was rampant in the South and little was done to enforce the country's rules. Over the last half century we have brought about much change and equality when it comes to civil rights. However this was not an easy or quick process. Many dedicated their time and lives to bring about equality among African Americans. Emmett Till was just the beginning of a long line of movements and people aimed at creating change in America. People sat at lunch counters when they couldn't sit inside restaurants. Others protested and were beaten by police, had police dogs unleashed on them and were injured with water cannons. Yet countless others, who will never be known, have silently supported the movement through protest and their personal actions of support.