A story on the death of Emmett Till executive-produced by Jay-Z and Will Smith has recently been picked up by ABC as part of anthology series for the network.
Till’s story will be a part of the series, Women of the Movement, and will be told from the perspective of Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, Deadline reports.
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Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment will also produce the project along with others. Women of the Movement will be written by Marissa Jo Cerar and will focus on women sharing their view from the civil rights movement from their lenses.
The first-eight episodes of the anthology will be based on Devery S. Anderson’s book, Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement and Till-Mobley’s effort in seeking justice for her 14-year-old son after his murder in the Jim Crow South in 1955 that shook the country. Till decided to have her son’s body shown in an open casket for the public at his funeral to show what had happened to her son.
The men that were responsibile for Till’s sad and horrific death, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were acquitted for kidnap and murder, even though they later admitted to the crime. Years after his death, Till-Mobley continued to speak out and fight for justice for her son.
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The project was originally set to be released by HBO with the same material but it “was shelved,” Billboard reports.
After talks of where it would be picked up, Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment “jumped at the idea” since it relates her interest in going in the direction of “female-centered programming.”
A biopic of Till was reportedly in the works, with John Singleton serving as director and Taraji P. Henson in talks of playing Till-Mobley. The project has been halted due to Singleton’s death in April, according to Billboard.