After years of effort, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act is poised to become a reality.
Passed by the U.S. House and Senate, the bill heads to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.
“Congress is finally succeeding in taking a long-overdue action by passing the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching act. Hallelujah. It is long overdue,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Deborah Watts, Till's cousin and the co-founder of the Emmett Till Foundation, says she never gave up on it, and Till's family never stopped working for it.
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“I have other relatives that have gone to Washington and have spoken to senators and others to help push this, too," Watts said. "So, this has required full family support, community support and then others who have joined us."
Emmett Till was a Black 14-year-old who was brutally murdered in 1955 after a white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, accused him of whistling at her and touching her in a Mississippi store. His mother insisted on an open casket, galvanizing the Civil Rights Movement.
Now, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, as law, will make lynching a federal hate crime in America.
“This is important for us to pay attention, to look at the past to see what has happened to Black and brown people in this country. And so now, this is a total recognition, I think, of how we can move forward,” said Watts.
The White House says Biden looks forward to signing this historic bill into law.
Watts and The Emmett Till Legacy Foundation continue to push for justice in his death. They want anyone accountable for his murder held responsible.
