The story tells a true story in the American civil rights movement. In 1955, Emmett Louis Till, who was only 14 years old, was kidnapped and brutally killed after being accused of having an improper relationship with a white woman. The two white suspects were found not guilty by an all-white jury. In order to seek justice for her son, Emmett's mother Mamie Till-Mobley (played by Danielle) decided to open the coffin at Emmett's funeral and let Jet magazine publish photos of her son's funeral. She wanted people around the world to know what happened to her son. Thousands of people then saw Emmett's photos, which made Emmett's case a symbol of judicial injustice against black people in the South. Whoopi plays Emmett's grandmother, Alma Kaltan.