Jay-Z and Will Smith partner with ABC News for Emmett Till docuseries, ‘Let the World See’

Jay-Z and Will Smith are among the producers of a new ABC news docuseries about the murder of Emmett Till.

Let the World See will tell the story of Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley‘s quest for justice after her 14-year-old son Emmett was lynched and fatally shot in Mississippi on August 28, 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman named Carolyn Bryant in her family’s grocery story.

Bryant’s husband and his half brother were acquitted of Till’s murder. The following year, they admitted in a magazine interview that they were guilty. Till’s death became a catalyst for the civil-rights movement.

Following Till-Mobley’s death in 2003, the Till family has continued her legacy, remaining active in the movement as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others sparked protests around the country.

Let the World See premieres Thursday, January 6, 2022, at 10:01 p.m. ET on ABC, and will air for three consecutive Thursday nights following each new episode of ABC’s upcoming limited series Women of the Movement.

In other news, Tessa Thompson appears on the December/January cover of Ebony. The 38-year-old actress stars with Ruth Negga in the Netflix film Passing as two mixed-raced Black women who can “pass” as white in 1920s Harlem.

When asked about “light-skinned privilege in Hollywood,” Thompson says, “I’ve been able to play a lot of very different characters I’m not sure women who came before me — who I stand on the shoulders of — would have been able to. I’ve had the opportunity to really understand and unpack my own measure of privilege inside of the industry, and as someone who hopes to be a changemaker, [I’ve asked myself,] How do I contend with that? What do I do?”