Women of the Movement


Women of the Movement is an American historical drama miniseries that premiered on ABC on January 6, 2022. Created by Marissa Jo Cerar, the series centers on Mamie Till-Mobley, played by Adrienne Warren, who devoted her life to seeking justice for her murdered son Emmett, played by Cedric Joe. Tonya Pinkins also co-stars as Alma Carthan, Emmett's grandmother.
The series is based on the book Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement by Devery S. Anderson. In August 2021 during post-production, the book Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America by Mamie Till-Mobley and Christopher Benson, was also added to the project.
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Background

In 1955, Mamie Till-Mobley's son Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi during the Jim Crow era. Her fight to get justice for him and to make sure he would not be forgotten would ultimately help to spawn the civil rights movement.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Production

Development

Jay-Z, Will Smith and Aaron Kaplan of Roc Nation, Overbrook Entertainment and Kapital Entertainment first tried to produce an untitled miniseries based on the life of Emmett Till at HBO in 2016. While at HBO, the group merged with Rosanna Grace and Nicole Tabs of Serendipity Group Inc, John P. Middleton and Alex Foster of The Middleton Media Group, and David Clark of Mazo Partners. When the project left HBO it was reconceived to focus on women during the civil rights movement. The series, now titled Women of the Movement, began development in April 2020.
On August 28, 2020, on the 65th anniversary of Emmett Till's murder, ABC gave the official green light to the series, with Marissa Jo Cerar coming on board as the writer and Gina Prince-Bythewood confirmed to direct the first episode of the series.

Casting

On October 16, 2020, Adrienne Warren was cast in a leading role of Mamie Till-Mobley. On November 13, 2020, Niecy Nash joined the series as Alma Carthan, Emmett Till's grandmother. On December 3, 2020, Cedric Joe joined the series as Emmett Till. On December 9, 2020, Glynn Turman joined the series as Mose Wright, Emmett Till's great uncle. On December 17, 2020, Ray Fisher joined the series as Gene Mobley, Mamie's husband. On January 6, 2021, it was announced that Tonya Pinkins had replaced Nash in the role of Alma Carthan. On January 11, 2021, Chris Coy, Julia McDermott and Carter Jenkins joined the series as J. W. Milam, Carolyn Bryant and Roy Bryant, respectively. On March 10, 2021, Joshua Caleb Johnson was cast in a recurring role. On April 13, 2021, Leslie Silva, Chris Butler, Alex Désert, Miles Fowler, Tongayi Chirisa, Jason Turner, and Daniel Abeles joined the cast in recurring roles. In June 2021, Gary Basaraba joined the cast. In August 2021, Timothy Hutton was cast in a recurring role.

Release

On October 21, 2021, ABC released a teaser trailer for the miniseries. The first two episodes premiered on January 6, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 89% approval rating with an average rating of 6.8/10, based on 19 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Women of the Movement enlivens the tragedy of Emmett Till with solid storytelling and a deeply moving pair of performances by Adrienne Warren and Cedric Joe." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipientResult
Golden Trailer AwardsOctober 6, 2022Best BTS/EPK for a TV/Streaming Series ABC for “Mobley Tribute”
Black Reel AwardsFebruary 28, 2022Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie/Limited SeriesGlynn TurmanWon
Black Reel AwardsFebruary 28, 2022Outstanding Directing, TV Movie/Limited SeriesGina Prince-BythewoodNomitated
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic SpecialWomen of the Movement
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023Outstanding Directing in a Drama SeriesKasi Lemmons for "The Last Word"
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023Outstanding Directing in a Drama SeriesGina Prince-Bythewood for "Mother and Son"
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic SeriesMarissa Jo Cerar for "Mother and Son"Won
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic SpecialGlynn Turman
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023---
NAACP Image AwardsFebruary 25, 2023---