The Murder and the Movement (1985)

The murder of Emmett Till Rich Samuels, a white reporter who grew up on the north side of Chicago, had never heard about the case when he met Mamie Till-Mobley at the funeral of a local high school coach who had been murdered. Intrigued and then inspired, he created The Murder and the Movement, a half-hour documentary. This first-of-its-kind treatment of the Till story aired July 11, 1985, on Chicago's NBC affiliate, WMAQ Channel 5. In addition to interviewing several of the central figures in the case who were still living, he talked with younger people in the Delta and Chicago areas, interactions that confirmed he was not alone in his ignorance of Till's story.