One of the highlights of Tuesday's rally was the appearance of Deborah Watts, a cousin of Emmett Till.

Till's brutal 1955 murder served as a catalyst to the start of the modern civil rights movement.

"Don't ever forget, it is better to build bridges from the past to the present to the future forever," Watts said. "Young people, keep the faith."

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Atlanta civil rights leader and international human rights activist Joe Beasley, pictured in 2011, died Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at age 88. (Curtis Compton/AJC 2011 )

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

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A migrant farmworker harvests Vidalia onions at a farm in Collins, in 2011. A coalition of farmworkers, including one based in Georgia, filed suit last month in federal court arguing that cuts to H-2A wages will trigger a cut in the pay and standard of living of U.S. agricultural workers. (Bita Honarvar/AJC)

Credit: Bita Honarvar