Perhaps looking back might help us move forward. Below is a statement made by Maime Till-Mobley in the documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.

Together. What that entails should have changed since 1955; it should have evolved even as recently as last year ... but I'm not sure that it has. There's evidence that warrants optimism, an indication of forward movement. Yet, there's also an overwhelming amount of evidence that points to a stagnant mind frame, a hollow follow through on a triumphant new beginning.

Evidence marked by the violence and hatred exemplified in what took place last week when 16-year-old honor student Derrion Albert met his early end walking home from school. Perhaps we've become numb to the circumstance, another day, another child, and another violent act. We're conditioned to look to those who lead, forgetting that the movement we built last year encouraged responsibility and ownership over our own circumstances.

I understand that the circumstances are different. Till's life was ended by race-based violence, he was hunted down, kidnapped, and brutally murdered. Derrion was a bystander who only dared to walk the streets of his neighborhood. Those who look like him, at a moment where another man with a similar resemblance occupies the highest office, caused his death.

Emmett was the catalyst for a previous generation, perhaps Derrion can be the catalyst for ours. An American outcry that insists that unless we stand together, black, white, Latino and Asian, we'll all fall. We should draw on history to inspire our action, to help shape our courage and encourage a better response.