+
upworthy

emmett till

Pop Culture

How Emmett Till's murder inspired Rod Serling to create the original 'Twilight Zone' series

Frustrated by censors, Serling went a different route, with great success.

Rod Serling found himself frustrated by censors when he tried to tackle racism.

The original "Twilight Zone" series was unlike anything anyone had ever seen on television. Airing from 1959 to 1964, the sci-fi/horror show frequently referenced in popular culture and cited as one of the best TV shows of all time was the brainchild of Rod Serling.

Serling's inspiration for the show wasn't rooted in science fiction or cinematic horror, but rather in the dark reality of American racism

In 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago, was brutally murdered while visiting relatives in Mississippi. Till had been accused of flirting with a white woman in a store, and the woman's husband and his half-brother kidnapped, mutilated and lynched Till for his "crime." The two men were arrested and a trial was held, but the all-white, all-male jury acquitted the two men of all charges after less than an hour's deliberations.

Keep ReadingShow less

The U.S. civil rights movement was a transformative, violent, lurching upheaval filled with blood, beauty, anger, love, and, finally, justice.

In 1865, the United States government abolished slavery. It gave black men the right to vote in 1870. The Civil Rights Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, redefined America — outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin — ending segregation and other unfair practices that targeted black Americans.

But the movement isn't over.

Institutionalized racism is an awful and ingrained part of American life. Black people make up 13% of the population but are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of white Americans. Black schoolchildren are three times more likely to be suspended. Black college graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed. U.S. law may promise equality, but reality, it seems, has not caught up.

Keep ReadingShow less
More

More than 6 decades after his violent death, the story of Emmett Till lives on.

Black lives matter, and it's about time society got on board with that.

(Trigger warning: contains descriptions and images of violence against blacks.)

On Aug. 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was visiting Mississippi relatives when the unthinkable happened.

Keep ReadingShow less