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A special visit to If Emmett Till Lived at @mocpchi from Secretary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, and Dr. Chelsea Clinton.

What was more moving? Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton’s extraordinary response to If Emmett Till Lived, the fact that my dear friend Chelsea came to see it directly after running the Chicago marathon and stayed for 2 hours, or that they all could meet Rev Wheeler Parker Jr., Emmett Till’s cousin, best friend, and the last living eyewitness to his kidnapping? I don’t know, but it made for an extraordinary day. Rev Parker and I are so grateful.

May you all have friends who will literally run a marathon and then come check out your work because they truly care and it matters. (Love you, my friend!)

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“Part of the exhibit’s brilliance is its deliberate disinterest in defining Till’s path as any one person might imagine it,” writes Anya Sesay (@anyanic0lette) in the Milwaukee @journalsentinel. “Instead, each photograph compels us to make room for every version of who Till could’ve been. Not simply to honor his memory, but to reckon with the limits of our civic imagination today.”

Thank you Anya, for seeing the vision of this show so clearly. Anya is, as it turns out, one of my former Harvard students! Watching her go from strength to strength as a journalist is such a gift. She knew why I wanted to curate a show like this long before most as we developed ideas in the classroom. I’m so grateful for her care, and for making the drive to Chicago :)

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“If 13th asked who gets caged, then 14th asks who gets counted.”—@Ava DuVernay

I loved celebrating the world premiere of my friend Ava DuVernay and @array’s incredible new documentary 14th at @thenyff last week, out on @netflix December 4th. It is such an honor to be a part of this film, and bring it to the world alongside the powerhouse community of friends that made it all happen: @sherrilynifill, @staceyabrams, @paulgarnes, @tammygarnes, @paulfarber, @jelani1906, @profmmurray, Amy Goodman @democracynow, David Blight, and so many others.

#14th #avaduvernay

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The MoCP was honored to welcome Secretary Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, and Dr. Chelsea Clinton this week for a special visit to our current exhibition, If Emmett Till Lived. We are grateful for the opportunity to share this powerful and thought-provoking exhibition with them.

If you haven't visited us yet, If Emmett Till Lived is currently on view.

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Sarah Elizabeth Lewis has won a 2026 Rabkin Prize.⁠
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We sat down with Sarah for a conversation about her work and ideas, as we did with each of this year’s Rabkin Prize winners. To listen to Sarah’s full Rabkin Interview, go to the link in our bio.⁠
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Sarah Lewis is currently the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities and an associate professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and the founder of Vision & Justice. She has authored and edited over 60 publications including “The Unseen Truth: When Race Changed Sight in America” (Harvard University Press, 2024); “The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery” (Simon & Schuster, 2014); volumes “Carrie Mae Weems” (MIT Press, 2021) and “Vision & Justice” (Aperture, 2016); “Coreen Simpson: A Monograph” (Aperture, 2025) and “Race Stories: Essays on the Power of Images” (Aperture and The New York Times, 2024). Lewis was named to TIME’s 2026 “The Closers” list, for her work toward greater equality in the U.S. She has organized landmark convenings, founded a Vision & Justice book series, and curated exhibitions, including “If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground” (Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, September 2026). Her TED talk, “Embrace the Near Win,” has over 3 million views. Her writing has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Artforum, and The New York Review of Books, and her work has been featured in Vogue, The Boston Globe and The New York Times. Lewis is the recipient of honorary degrees from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, and Pratt Institute, along with the Walter Channing Cabot Fellowship at Harvard University, the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, the Arthur Danto/American Society for Aesthetics Prize from the American Philosophical Association, the Freedom Scholar Award from Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the Infinity Award for Critical Writing and Research from the International Center of Photography.⁠
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Portrait by Kevin J. Miyazaki⁠
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#rabkinprize #worthlistening

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BLACK CHILDREN ARE NOT THE OFFERINGS AT THE ALTAR OF JUSTICE 🕊️ {please swipe & read}

What if Emmett Till lived 🤍
Dr. @sarahelizabethlewis1 and Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr. (Emmett Till’s cousin, best friend, and the last surviving witness to his kidnapping) invited a group of us to imagine the life he was denied. I’m honored that my reflections are a part of this chorus of voices at @mocpchi

Inspired by @hankwillisthomas’s work “…And Don’t Let Them Catch You,”- his collage of both Play & Protest captures the two worlds Black Children occupy.

@visionandjustice @mocpchi

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J — JUSTICE

Erase the memory. Rewrite the history. Repeat the lie.

The asteroid is no threat.
You are.

YOU ARE IN DEBT.

IN LETTERS WE TRUST.

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The National Trust’s Associate Director of Content Priya Chhaya, shares insights, key themes, and reflections from last week’s National Preservation Summit.

For those gathered online and at the Washington National Cathedral, a place that has a long history of inclusion and connection, this question, “What is a nation without its history?” framed the panels that followed and became a call to action.

Swipe through to relive the Summit ➡️

Photo by David Keith Photography

#SavingPlaces

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There were many Tills.
There are many Tills today.

Emmett Till’s name and memory continues to shape struggles for racial justice, historical reckoning, and demand that America confront the violence of its past and present.

Watch the full video on the @visionandjustice YouTube channel (link in bio).

#IfEmmettTillLived

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I am so grateful to Brent Leggs (@brentleggsnthp), CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (@savingplaces), for his partnership on the opening of If Emmett Till Lived.

“Historic places stand as an opportunity for healing and reconciliation,” says Brent at the Opening Convening for “If Emmett Till Lived” at Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (@mocpchi). “Through this creative monument and the permanent work of historic preservation, Emmett Till and Mamie-Till Mobley’s life and memory will forever be remembered.”

Watch the full conversation with Mitch Landrieu (@mayorlandrieu), lawyer, politician, and former Mayor of New Orleans, and @paul_farber, director of @monument_lab, on the @visionandjustice YouTube channel (link in bio).

#IfEmmettTillLived

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Peace talks. Climate talks. Endless speeches. No action.

Honor the Code. Or is obedience your only language?

@nycmayor you said you’d arrest @b.netanyahu if he came to New York.
He came. You didn’t.

#WorldAlphabetDay

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We owe Lonnie Bunch a great debt for his service to this country, as the Secretary of the @smithsonian and founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (@nmaahc). His contributions to this project were also enormous, as he shares in his essay for the book:

“Yet his life also inspired me to be ready to fight, to confront century- old traditions and not to simply accept the racial status quo. Emmett Till’s death and his life cast a large shadow over Americaa shadow that forced the country to grapple with the darkness, the vioence, and the hatred that was as much a part of our national character as the quest for freedom and fairness.”

Watch the full video on the @visionandjustice YouTube channel (link in bio).

#IfEmmettTillLived #LonnieBunch

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