The marker, which was originally placed near the Tallahatchie River, has been defaced by a stunning 317 bullet holes. This was not a single act of vandalism. Rather, over 13 years, signs commemorating Till were repeatedly shot, defaced with acid and thrown in the river. The continued assaults terrorized the Black community and signaled that even 50 years after Till’s murder, Black history would not be tolerated.

“Reckoning with Remembrance” exposes both what we choose to remember and what some try violently to make us forget. It unpacks the ways Black history is contested and explores how these tensions are connected to anti-Black violence today. Co-curated with leaders of Tallahatchie County, Miss., and Till’s family, the message is clear: Being included in history is a fundamental right. In fact, exclusion from history costs lives.