Taraji P. Henson Will Produce and Star in Emmett Till Film

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Taraji P. Henson just announced her next project, and it is oh so necessary.

In a recent interview with Global Grind during a press event for her upcoming film Proud Mary, Henson announced that she is producing and starring in an upcoming film called The Emmett Till Story.

“We don’t have a start date yet, but the deal has definitely been done,” she said. “That’s one [project] I’ve been passionate about since Trayvon Martin was murdered.”

She will be playing the role of Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who decided to have an open casket funeral for her 14-year-old son after he was lynched by J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant for allegedly whistling at a white woman. This claim was proven false in 2008 after the woman in question, Carolyn Donham, came forward. Jet Magazine and The Chicago Reader published photos of his body, showing the world exactly what type of violence white supremacists were inflicting on the bodies of Black people living in America.

News about the project, which will be directed by John Singleton, was originally announced back in February 2017 in Vanity Fair. The feature also mentioned two other projects that the slain teen, including Till, a film directed by Whoopi Goldberg, and an HBO miniseries produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z.

As Henson said in her interview, the case of Trayvon Martin was reminiscent of Emmett Till. Decades later, American society has still not stopped seeing young Black boys and men alike as predatory. A blatant lie from a white woman brought out vile, inhumane sentiments in two white men and ended an innocent 14-year-old boy’s life. Hopefully, this film can help shine a light on Till’s story and its modern implications.

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