ABC announced today that it’s launching a new limited series focused on prominent women in the fight for equal and civil rights—and specifically on the life of Mamie Till Mobley, who spent the last five decades of her life campaigning, not just on behalf of her murdered son Emmett Till, but in defense of the lives of all the Black people and other minority members threatened by racism in America.
Developed by Handmaid’s Tale and 13 Reasons Why writer Marissa Jo Cerar, the six-episode Women Of The Movement will focus on the life of Till Mobley, who became a national figure after the 1955 lynching of her son, speaking out forcefully against racism in America, and working as an activist and teacher in the Chicago Public School System for the majority of her life. Love & Basketball’s Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct the series’ first episode; she’ll also executive produce, alongside Cerar and JAY-Z.
The series will be based on the book Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked The World And Propelled The Civil Rights Movement, by Devery S. Anderson. Noting the series’ depressingly timely nature, Cerar said in a press release, “My hope is to give the audience a chance to learn who Emmett Till really was—the boy, rather than the victim or the martyr—while also showcasing Mamie’s astonishing strength in the face of a mother’s worst nightmare.” Prince-Bythewood added, “The story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till is not one I want to tell. It is a story I need to tell.”