Annie Lee Cooper (1910 - 2010)
Born in 1910 to an extremely segregated Selma, Cooper grew up barely even knowing black Americans could vote. Selma fought against civil rights to the point it almost looked like slavery. It was when she moved to Kentucky at 14 to be with her sick sister that Cooper saw black Americans exercising this right. She moved back to Selma in the 1960s to care for her sick mother, coming face to face with harsh discrimination once more. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee came to Selma around the same time and started urging black citizens to fight for their voting right. Cooper participated in grueling demonstrations, even losing her job for it, and is known for punching Jim Clark after he poked her neck with his baton. Jim Clark was notorious for aggressively, sometimes violently, resisting civil rights movements. Cooper remained active and was a key role in the passing of the Civil Rights Act. In June 2010, she celebrated her 100th birthday and died later on that year.
No comments:
Post a Comment