Watch CBS News

Emmett Till

New book examines the killing of Emmett Till

Every day just outside Drew, Mississippi, people drive by a barn with no idea what they are passing. It was in that barn where 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally beaten and killed in 1955. Till's lynching sparked the civil rights movement. Wright Thompson's new book "The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi" examines how an ordinary building many see conceals an extraordinary evil no one knows. Jim Axelrod has more.

cbsn-fusion-biden-to-designate-national-monument-for-emmett-till-and-his-mother-thumbnail-2153807-640x360.jpg

Emmett Till monument to include 3 sites

President Biden is signing a proclamation Tuesday establishing a national monument for Emmett Till and his mother. The announcement comes on what would have been Till's 82nd birthday. This land in Mississippi, known as Graball Landing, is where Till's brutally beaten body was found in 1955. It will soon be one of three sites for the monument. Elise Preston traveled to those locations and spoke to the people who fought for years to make this a reality.

0828-cbsnews-special-powerofaugust-full-538460-640x360.jpg

"The Power of August"

"The Power of August" looks back at transformational moments in American civil rights history that happened in the month of August. Anchored by Maurice DuBois, "The Power of August" is comprised of four acts, each told in eight minutes and 46 seconds — the approximate duration of time a Minneapolis police officer had his knee on George Floyd's neck. Each act explores stories of powerful and historic August events, beginning with Emmett Till's murder, then the March on Washington, Ferguson and the power of the vote in 2020.

Show More
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue