Riley Burruss was one of many celebrities to attend a watch party for Till last week. The young adult took to Instagram with pictures from the event.
“I had to check out @tillmovie and see my boy @jalynemilhall deliver an incredible performance as #emmetttill,” Riley told her social media fans on Sunday (Oct. 30). “It’s a must-see movie,” the young influencer exclaimed.
Till is the story of Emmett Till who, at the age of 13, was hunted down by white supremacists and brutally murdered in 1955. The youngster and his mom, Mamie Till, were visiting family in Jim Crow South when Emmett was falsely accused of whistling at a white woman named Carolyn Bryant. A mob of white men captured Emmett and lynched him after torturing the teen.
Carolyn recently admitted to falsely accusing Emmett but a grand jury refused to indict her for her part in the murder. The men who hunted and brutally murdered Emmett were also not brought to justice. Mamie Till died on January 6, 2003. Till seeks to honor her life as well as the life of her son.
“I saw a lot of myself in Emmett,” Jalyn Hall said of his starring role in the film. “The connection with his mother, the love for music and smiling and dancing and overall just being a kid,” Hall shared. “So all of that pure-hearted love for his mom and family was easy for me to give because I felt the same way.”
Whoopi Goldberg stars as Alma Carthan in Till. She recently recounted the effects of Emmett’s murder, which were felt in Black communities across the nation during the 1950s.
“When you hear Mamie tell Emmett, ‘When you’re down there, just be small,’ that’s what we hear,” Goldberg shared. “That’s what systemic racism does: It makes you tell your children to be seen and not heard.”
Till – starring Danielle Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jalyn Hall, and more – is available in theaters now!
Photo: Riley Burruss/Instagram
