“When you’re down there and a white person approaches you, what do you do? You keep your whole head down if you have to…” – Mamie Till giving instructions to her 14-year-old son Emmett before he departs their home in Chicago for a summer trip to visit family in Mississippi, in “Women of the Movement.”

The new 2022 series Women of the Movement is slowly becoming one of the most-watched shows this year so far. The show tells the story of Mamie Till Mobley, who devoted her life to seeking justice for her son Emmett Till following his brutal murder in the Jim Crow South.

The setting for Women of the Movement swings back and forth between Mississippi and Chicago, with law enforcement searching for Emmett after he has been taken in the middle of the night from his uncle’s cabin. Mamie is surrounded by supportive friends and family back home as the local Black press covers the story and she begs the press for help, sending the news of his kidnapping flying across the country. When Emmett’s horribly mutilated body is fished from the Tallahatchie River, the local sheriff demands his body be buried in Mississippi; Mamie stands her ground and insists Emmett be returned home to Chicago. When she sees her son, she demands the press take photos and refuses to have a private funeral, insisting, “I want a public wake tonight, open casket.” Warren’s incredible performance creates heart-wrenching, compelling scenes.

Women of the Movement proves that television can produce excellent, well-written dramas with powerful performances. The tremendous acting by Adrienne Warren as Mamie Till Mobley and Cedric Joe as Emmett Till is reason enough to view this historic series. The rest of the cast provides compelling performances as well.