When a memorial to Emmett Till was vandalized, these high school students stepped up

The group of 24 high school students had traveled the country for three weeks learning about civil rights, social justice and some of the darkest chapters in American history. They’d met with notable figures such as Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Rev. Al Sharpton.

So when they came across a vandalized memorial to Emmett Till, the African American boy whose murder in 1955 helped galvanize the Civil Rights movement, they knew exactly what to do. ...

The group debated about what action to take before settling on repairing the sign with handwritten notes and drawings that both memorialized Till but also did what the sign no longer could do: educate others about what had transpired at that place.