{"id":15225,"date":"2022-05-10T15:46:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T13:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=15225"},"modified":"2022-05-10T15:47:01","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T13:47:01","slug":"women-of-the-movement-series-why-the-story-of-emmett-tills-murder-matters-now-more-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2022\/05\/10\/women-of-the-movement-series-why-the-story-of-emmett-tills-murder-matters-now-more-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Women of the Movement Series – Why The Story Of Emmett Till\u2019s Murder Matters Now More Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of Rotten Tomatoes<\/em>\u2019 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2022, Women of the Movement <\/em>is now available to binge on Showmax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historical drama is based on the true story of Mamie Till-Mobley, who in 1955 risked her life to find justice after her 14-year-old son Emmett was brutally murdered in the Jim Crow South. Unwilling to let Emmett\u2019s murder disappear from the headlines, Mamie chose to bear her pain on the world\u2019s stage, emerging as an activist for justice and igniting the American civil rights movement as we know it today.
The six-part miniseries has a 91% critics\u2019 rating on Rotten Tomatoes<\/em>, with Los Angeles Times<\/em> calling it \u201cone of the most powerful \u2014 and potentially risky \u2014 projects revolving around race ever developed by a broadcast network.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Women Of The Movement<\/em> stars Tony Award winner Adrienne Warren as Mamie, while Emmett is played by Cedric Joe (from Space Jam: A New Legacy<\/em>), who, AV Club<\/em> says, \u201cis so charming and personable as Emmett, it breaks your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adrienne won a 2020 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of the iconic Tina Turner in Broadway\u2019s Tina<\/em>. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/em>, she compares Tina and Mamie, saying, \u201cThey are both fighters in their individual ways \u2014 because they had<\/em> to be, not necessarily because they wanted<\/em> to be, which I think is important, especially when you’re bringing light to stories, specifically, about Black women. Black women are often seen as, \u2018Oh, they’re warriors or fighters and they’re so resilient.\u2019 But there are many times where people don’t want<\/em> to be in those situations, but they have to rise to the occasion because of their circumstances.\u201d
\u201cThe image of a grieving Black mother put a powerful face to a type of crime that had gone unremarked upon for decades,\u201d says Variety. <\/em>\u201cAnd yet it\u2019s impossible to watch Women of the Movement<\/em> and not think of the Black mothers who continue to be in this position, over and over again to no avail, to this day and inevitably beyond.\u201d
\u201cLiterally, while I was writing the finale, it was the summer of George Floyd, so it’s still happening,\u201d Emmy-nominated creator Marissa Jo Cerar (The Handmaid\u2019s Tale, The Fosters, 13 Reasons Why<\/em>) told Forbes<\/em>. \u201cWe just told the story, and the audience will come to their own conclusions, but unfortunately, we are still experiencing the same injustice and trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen Of The Movement<\/em> soberly reminds us that far too many Black mothers today, including Sybrina Fulton, Geneva Reed-Veal, Wanda Cooper-Jones, and Rep. Lucy McBath, must still follow Mamie\u2019s path,\u201d <\/em>agrees AV Club<\/em>. \u201cSometimes justice is achieved but often it\u2019s still denied, and in every instance, a child is lost forever.\u201d\u00a0
For Marissa, it was important to begin the series with Emmett\u2019s birth rather than his death; she wanted to make Women of the Movement<\/em> a family drama that just happens to be about a true crime. \u201cWe all have a family,\u201d she explained at Deadline<\/em>\u2019s 2022 Contenders TV event. \u201cMamie met that little baby just like George Floyd\u2019s mother met him and Trayvon\u2019s mother met him. So we just want you to see yourselves. You see our humanity and we\u2019ll see yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her approach makes Women of the Movement <\/em>a powerful reminder that it shouldn\u2019t take the death of a child\u2026 and another child, and another, to show us that, as Mamie says in the series, \u201cWhatever happens to any of us had better be the business of all of us.\u201d\u00a0
Women Of The Movement <\/em>is directed by four pioneering Black women directors \u2013 Black Reel winners Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard, Love & Basketball<\/em>) and Tina Mabry (Pose<\/em>), and Black Reel nominees Kasi Lemmons (Harriet, Eve’s Bayou<\/em>) and Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust<\/em>) – with a star-studded cast that includes Tony winner Tonya Pinkins, Emmy winners Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom<\/em>, Fargo<\/em>) and Gil Bellows (American Gods<\/em>, The Shawshank Redemption<\/em>), Oscar winner Timothy Hutton (The Haunting of Hill House<\/em>), Critics Choice nominee Joshua Caleb Johnson (The Good Lord Bird<\/em>), and Zimbabwean actor Tongayi Chirisa (Antebellum<\/em>, Palm Springs<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there\u2019s no word as yet on Season 2, Women of the Movement<\/em> was developed as an anthology series, and Marissa hinted at Deadline\u2019s 2022<\/em> Contenders TV event that the bible for Season 2, focussing on a different mother\u2019s story, is already awaiting network approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n