Cedric Joe stars as Emmett Till (left) and Adrienne Warren plays Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, in Women of the Movement. (photo by Matt Sayles ABC)
Women of the Movement, to be aired in three parts, is based on the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley, who in 1955 risked her life to find justice after her son Emmett was brutally murdered in the Jim Crow South. Unwilling to let Emmett’s murder disappear from the headlines, Mamie chose to bear her pain on the world’s stage, emerging as an activist for justice and igniting the civil rights movement as we know it today.
The limited series stars Tony Award winner Adrienne Warren as Mamie Till-Mobley, Tonya Pinkins as Alma, Cedric Joe as Emmett Till, Ray Fisher as Gene Mobley, Glynn Turman as Mose Wright, Chris Coy as J.W. Milam, Carter Jenkins as Roy Bryant and Julia McDermott as Carolyn Bryant. Women of the Movement premieres Thursday, Jan. 6, 7:00 p.m – 9:01 p.m. CST, on ABC and will air for three consecutive Thursday nights, including Jan. 13 and 20.
Michelle Obama and rapper-actor-producer Common will appear on Let the World See, a companion docuseries to ABC’s limited series Women of the Movement. Both natives of Chicago, Obama and Common each will add their personal insights into the life and legacy of Mamie Till-Mobley. Actress and producer Nia Long will read excerpts from Till-Mobley’s memoir Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime that Changed America.
Let The World See premieres Thursday, Jan. 6, 9:01-10 p.m. CST, on ABC and will air for three consecutive Thursday nights following each new episode of Women of the Movement, also produced by Roc Nation, Westbrook Studios and Kapital Entertainment. Let The World See is a fresh and deep examination of Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley’s fight to bring her son’s body home to Chicago and her pivotal yet heartbreaking decision to have an open-casket funeral for the public to see, which ultimately served as a turning point for the civil rights movement. The docuseries also traces Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley’s journey back to the Jim Crow South to face her son’s murderers in court.
The programs will illustrate how the Till family has continued her legacy since her death in 2003, remaining active in the movement as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Ms. Breonna Taylor and others sparked protests around the country. Weaving together first-hand accounts from Emmett Till’s family, Let The World See includes interviews with Emmett Till’s cousins Rev. Wheeler Parker, who was a witness to the abduction, Ms. Ollie Gordon and Amos Smith, and Ms. Thelma Wright, Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley’s cousin. Watch episodes of both limited series on demand and on Hulu the day following their premieres.
The first installment of the series begins with an examination of Till-Mobley’s early life, Emmett Till’s childhood, the fate of his father and the events that led to Emmett Till’s murder in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. Till cousins Rev. Wheeler Parker, who was a witness to Emmett’s abduction, as well as Thelma Wright, Ollie Gordon and Amos Smith will add context and a deeper explanation to the racial climate and chain of events that led Till-Mobley to make the decision to have an open-casket funeral for the world to see what happened to her son. Former first lady Michelle Obama will also appear in the episode.
The docuseries also features interviews with Rev. Jesse Jackson, activist and friend of Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley; FBI agent Lent Rice, who was a part of the team that opened a new investigation into Emmett Till’s case more than 50 years after his death; journalist Dan Wakefield, who covered the Emmet Till murder trial; and Ms. Betty Pearson, who watched the Emmett Till murder trial in the courtroom more than 60 years ago.
The special programming also highlights deeply personal insights from contemporary authors, including Ms. Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give), Christopher Benson (“Death of Innocence”), John Edgar Wideman (Writing to Save a Life) and Michael Eric Dyson (Long Time Coming), who visits the scene of the crime for a special reading of his Letter to Emmett Till. GRAMMY-nominated producer Salaam Remi composes an original soundtrack for the docuseries.
Women of the Movement is produced by Kapital Entertainment and created by Marissa Jo Cerar, who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr., Dr. Marvel Parker, Ms. Ollie Gordon and Christopher Benson serve as consultants for the series. Executive producers are Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Michael Lohmann for Kapital Entertainment; Shawn Carter, Jay Brown and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith for Roc Nation; Will Smith and James Lassiter for Westbrook; Rosanna Grace for Serendipity Group Inc.; Alex Foster and John Powers Middleton for Middleton Media Group; David Clark for Mazo Partners; and Gina Prince-Bythewood. The first episode is written by Marissa Jo Cerar and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Tina Mabry, Julie Dash and Kasi Lemmons also serve as directors on the limited series.
Let The World See is produced by ABC News Studios in association with Roc Nation, Westbrook Studios, Kapital Entertainment and Cobble Hill Films and is directed by Ms. Jeanmarie Condon and Ms. Fatima Curry. Ms. Condon and Ms. Curry are executive producers for Cobble Hill Films and ABC News Studios, respectively; Shawn Carter, Tyran Smith and Jay Brown are executive producers for Roc Nation; Will Smith is executive producing for Westbrook Studios and James Lassiter also serves as executive producer; Aaron Kaplan is executive producer for Kapital Entertainment.
