Memorial celebrates Mamie and Emmett Till

Sculptor Sonja Henderson created the Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Memorial for Argo High School in Summit, Ill. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SONJA HENDERSON.
Sculptor Sonja Henderson created the Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Memorial for Argo High School in Summit, Ill. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SONJA HENDERSON.

 Memorial celebrates Mamie and Emmett Till

BY TIA CAROL JONES
Sculptor Sonja Henderson had a grand plan to sculpt common people who changed the world and elevate them in bronze. A memorial to Mamie
Till-Mobley and Emmett Till was part of that plan. A sculpture of Mamie Till-Mobley, created by Sonja, now sits at Argo Community High School in Summit, Ill. “Mamie Till-Mobley was an incredible visionary and human rights leader. I just feel like everything in my life has led to this point,” Sonja said.

Sonja began in painting and drawing at the Art Institute, where she transferred from Loyola University in New Orleans. Sonja’s painting was described as sculptural, thick and painterly. Sonja moved to the sculpture department at the School of the Art Institute, where she met Preston Jackson, a premier sculpture and figurative teacher. Sonja and Jackson ended up being contenders for the commission of the Mamie Till-Mobley sculpture. Each one of them graciously wanted the other person to do sculpture.

It took Sonja nine months to sculpt the podium, which has low relief themes of Emmett Till’s life. The front has a portrait tile of Till riding his bike and the scenes behind it has two fishing poles, a nod to the pastime that was a favorite of Mamie and Emmett. “There are little easter eggs everywhere, there are butterflies and rabbits and frogs and everything children and especially
Emmett Till loved playing with through their childhood,” Sonja said.

Facing the ride side of the podium is the barn where Emmett Till was lynched and on the left is the funerary scene. The scenes were agreed upon by Till’s family. Sonja brought the scenes to the Till family and introduced them in the charrettes. Sonja wanted to ensure the depictions were appropriate to tell the story, while not triggering people who have suffered from violence. To calm down the sculpture of the podium, while still continuing the narrative,
Sonja used the cotton plant, which symbolizes protection. “As you walk around the podium, the front scene has the cotton plant flowering because he was in the bloom of his life and the funerary scene, the cotton plant is kind of shriveled in seed, dormant,” Sonja said.

While making the Mamie Till part of the sculpture, every morning Sonja had a ritual of quieting herself, quieting her body, really meditating on the materials and the work that was done the day before. Sonja was working hard to channel Mamie and Emmett Till. Hours were spent in the space with the clay, sitting with all of the elements, then Sonja began sculpting.

“The subject matter is very triggering and very daunting. But, the wonderful
part about Mamie and Emmett Till is they’re incredibly physically beautiful
people. I just had this challenge of creating Mamie Till, not only as this human
rights and civil rights leader, a woman fighting for justice, but also as a mother
and as a beautiful woman,” Sonja said.

Sonja wants people to see Till-Mobley’s spirit and courage, as well as her
belief in reconciliation, love and unity. Sonja wants people to feel Till-Mobley’s
triumph and recognition through the Emmett Till Antilynching Bill passing.
Sonja wants people to feel the beauty and be very lifted by it. Sonja also created the MLK Living Memorial, located at 67th and Kedzie.

Sonja said memorial and restorative justice work chose her. Sonja has always
done community-based work, restorative justice work and social justice
work, which she described as her life’s work. Sonja loves the idea of memorializing someone or something through talking to a community and through storytelling.

“I think a big part of my artwork has this thorough line of storytelling and narrative and putting a lot of symbolic imagery together to tell these stories. Cultural ritual is a big part of my work, my drawings and my sculptures,” Sonja
said. “So I feel like this work has called upon me to tell these stories through site specificity, through ritual, through creating beautiful spaces where people can celebrate or be reflective, or use them for spoken word or drumming, or just relax.”

Sonja believes the spaces are necessary for relaxation, play, growing and being reflective, individually and as a community. Sonja created the Mothers Healing Circle in 2020 to help heal mothers in Lawndale from the traumatic and violent loss of their children. Sonja said those women gave her the love and support she needed while she sculpted the Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett
Till Memorial.

The Memorial has received Congressional recognition. Those who are interested in seeing the process of creating the memorial can visit www.mamietill.net. The memorial also is tied to a scholarship fund, which will provide a young person with money to attend school and become an educator, like Mobley-Till.

For more information about Sonja, visit Sonja-henderson. format.com.son.format.com.

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