Biden honors Emmett Till and his mom with national monument

>> THANK YOU, REVEREND PARKER. AND THANK ALL OF YOU FOR BEING HERE. I WANT TO THANK KAMALA FOR HER NOT ONLY HER CAPACITY TO DO WHAT HE SHE DOES, BUT THE FIRE WITH WHICH SHE BRINGS. TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVE THOMPSON, REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS AND SENATOR DICK DURBIN, WHO WE WISH A SPEEDY RECOVERY FROM COVID. AND WHO HAVE LONG FOUGHT TO HONOR THE TILL FAMILY. IT’S NOT NEW TO ANY OF THEM. TO THE TILL FAMILY, IT’S AN HONOR TO BE WITH YOU AGAIN. I QUITE FRANKLY FOUND MYSELF TRYING TO TEMPER MY ANGER AS

I WAS WRITE ING IT. I’M NOT JOKING. I CAN’T A FATHOM WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE. IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE I WAS 12 YEARS OLD. AND I KNOW NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIME HAS PASSED, HOW MANY BIRTHDAYS, HOW MANY ANNIVERSARIES, IT’S HARD TO RELIVE THIS. IT BRINGS IT ALL BACK AS IF IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY. THE IMAGES IN YOUR HEAD, THINGS YOU REMEMBER. BUT IT’S INSPIRING TO SEE HOW MANY OF YOUR FAMILY HAVE CONTINUED AS MOTHERS COURAGE TO FIND FAITH IN PAIN. INSISTING ON AN OPEN CASKET FOR HER MURDERED, AND MIGHT AIM, MAIMED AND MUTILATED

SON. 14 YEARS OLD. 14 YEARS OLD. SHE SAID, LET THE PEOPLE SEE WHAT I HAVE SEEN. LET THE PEOPLE SEE WHAT I HAVE SEEN. MY GOD. ALL OF

US WHO HAVE LOST CHILDREN IN OTHER WAYS, HOW HARD IT IS TO CLOSE THE CASKET OR KEEP IT OPEN OR WHAT A DEBATE IT IS. TO SEE THE CHILD THAT HAD BEEN MAIMED. IN A COUNTRY THAT THE WORLD SAW AND HIS MOTHER AS A STORY OF A FAMILY’S PROMISE AND LOSS IN THE NATION’S RECKONING WITH HATE. OVERWHELMING ABUSE OF POWER, BRUTALITY. IT’S HARD TO FATHOM. IT’S HARD TO

FATHOM FOR ME. TODAY ON WHAT WE HAVE BEEN HIS 82nd BIRTHDAY, WE ADD ANOTHER CHAPTER TO THE STORY OF HEALING. JUST AS WE JOIN TOGETHER WHEN I SIGNED THE LAW IN HIS NAME TO MAKE LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME, AND THINK HOW LONG THAT TOOK TO HAPPEN, WE SCREENED THE MOVIE “TILL” AT THE WHITE HOUSE. TODAY WE JOIN TOGETHER AS A SIGN A PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING EMMETT TILL NATIONAL MONUMENT IN BOTH ILLINOIS AND IN MISSISSIPPI. >> WE TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO DO THIS, BUT TO SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN OVERWHELMING. I THANK THEM FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP.

IN A TIME WHEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO SEEK TO BAN BOOKS, BURY HISTORY, WE’RE MAKING IT CLEAR, CRYSTAL CLEAR. WHILE DARKNESS AND DENIALISM CAN HIDE MUCH, THEY ERASE NOTHING. WE CAN’T JUST CHOOSE TO LEARN WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW. WE HAVE TO LEARN WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW. WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OUR COUNTRY. WE SHOULD KNOW EVERYTHING. THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE TRUTH. THAT’S WHAT GREAT NATIONS DO, AND WE ARE A GREAT NATION. THAT’S WHAT THEY DO. IS ONLY WITH TRUTH COMES HEALING AND ANOTHER STEP FORWARD TOWARDS FORMING A MORE PERFECT UNION. WE HAVE A HELL

OF A LONG WAY TO GO. THAT’S WHAT’S HAPPENING. S THAT’S WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. TO LEARN THE HISTORY OF EMMETT TIL TILL, THROUGH OUR NATIONAL MONUMENT. TELLING THE TRUTH IN THE FULL HISTORY OF OUR NATION IS IMPORTANT. IT’S IMPORTANT TO OUR CHILDREN, OUR GRANDCHILDREN, OUR GREAT GRANDCHILDREN, TO OUR NATION AS A WHOLE. YOU HAVE SAID IT BEFORE. IT’S A LESSON I LEARNED. I CAME OUT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AS A KID, I USED TO SAY TO PASS SOMETHING THAT’S GOOD, YOU MAKE HATE GO AWAY. HATE NEVER GOES AWAY. IT JUST HIDES. IT HIDES UNDER

THE ROCKS. GIVEN A LITTLE BIT OF OXYGEN, LIKE BAD PEOPLE, IT COMES ROARING OUT AGAIN. IT’S UP TO ALL OF US TO DEAL WITH THAT. IT’S UP TO ALL OF US TO STOP IT. THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT IS WITH THE TRUTH. I THINK IT APPLIES HERE. SILENCE IS COMPLICITY. I WILL NOT BE SILENT, NOR WILL YOU BE SILENT. WE HAVE REALLY CRITICAL WORK AHEAD. AND MY ADMINISTRATION IS COMMITTED TO LEADING THE PATH FORWARD. I KNOW THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HERE ARE EVEN MORE COMMITTED THAN THAT. I’M GOING TO CLOSE WITH THIS. THE REASON

THE WORLD SAW WHAT MRS. TILL SAW WAS BECAUSE ANOTHER HERO IN THIS STORY. THE BLACK PRESS. CHICAGO DEFENDER, OTHER NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO ANNOUNCERS WHO TOLD THE STORY FOR UNFLINCHING THE BRAVERY WITH WHICH THEY SAW THE STORY, MAKING SURE AMERICA SAW WHAT THEY SAW. IT WAS ONCE SAID, THE WAY TO RIGHT WRONGS IS TO TURN THE LIGHT OF TRUTH UPON THEM. THE WAY TO RIGHT WRONGS IS THE SHINE THE LIGHT OF TRUTH ON THEM. THAT’S OUR CHARGE TODAY. DID YOU EVER THINK WE’D BE TALKING ABOUT BANNING BOOKS IN AMERICA? BANNING HISTORY? I’M SERIOUS. THE TILL FAMILY,

TO ALL OF YOU HERE TODAY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COURAGE, FOR NEVER GIVING UP, NEVER GIVING UP. BEFORE I SAY WHAT ELSE IS ON MY MIND, I’M NOT GOING TO LEAVE THIS PODIUM. IT’S JUST BARBARIC. SERIOUSLY, ALL YOU MOMS OUT THERE. IMAGINE THE COURAGE IT TOOK TO SAY, LET THEM SEE. THE COURAGE. IT’S NOW MY HONOR TO SIGN THIS PROCLAMATION IN MEMORY OF EMMETT TILL, AND I THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. I AM — I KNOW I’M CONSIDERED TOO MUCH OF AN OPTIMIST, BUT I BELIEVE IF WE KEEP PUSHING, WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO

MAKE PROGRESS. WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS. IT’S ALREADY BEING MADE. THE IDEA THAT WHEN THAT 14-YEAR-OLD WAS BURIED, THIS MANY PEOPLE OF COLOR HOLDING POWERFUL OFFICE, CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF THE COUNT TRY. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION. AND WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED . >> PRESIDENT BIDEN IS NOW SIGNING A PROCLAMATION THAT OFFICIALLY MAKES THE EMMETT TILL NATIONAL MONUMENT. IT IS A MONUMENT THAT WILL BE IN THREE SEPARATE LOCATIONS. ONE WILL BE IN MISSISSIPPI NEAR WHERE HE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN MURDERED. THE OTHER WILL BE AT THE COURTHOUSE IN MISSISSIPPI, WHERE

AN ALL-WHITE JURY ACQUITTED TILL’S MURDERS. AND THEN ALSO BACK IN WHAT WAS HIS HOME STATE OF ILLINOIS, SPECIFICALLY IN CHICAGO AT THE ROBERTS TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD. THAT WAS THE CHURCH WHERE, AS PRESIDENT BIDEN JUST REFERRED TO, HIS MOTHER DEMANDED THAT THE FUNERAL SHE WAS HAVING FOR H