Sunday, November 2, 2008

109-Year-Old Daughter Of Slaves Votes For Obama


An uplifting story from the Austin (TX) American-Statesman:

Amanda Jones, 109, the daughter of a man born into slavery, has lived a life long enough to touch three centuries. And after voting consistently as a Democrat for 70 years, she has voted early for the country's first black presidential nominee, voting by mail.

The middle child of 13, Jones, who is African American, is part of a family that has lived in Bastrop County (TX) for five generations. The family has remained a fixture in Cedar Creek and other parts of the county, even when its members had to eat at segregated barbecue dives and walk through the back door while white customers walked through the front, said Amanda Jones' 68-year-old daughter, Joyce Jones...

Amanda Jones says she cast her first presidential vote for Franklin Roosevelt, but she doesn't recall which of his four terms that was. When she did vote, she paid a poll tax, her daughters said. That she is able, for the first time, to vote for a black presidential nominee for free fills her with joy, Jones said.


Read the entire article HERE.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

She had a baby at 41. Neat story.
- Eggsontoast

Angel said...

I saw her on tv yesterday morning...how wonderful is she???!

really makes you think, doesn't it?

the dogs' mother said...

Warms your heart, that does. :-)

Joy said...

Imagine what this must mean to her! As much as it means to others of us who are thrilled to see this kind of progress finally take place, it has to mean so much on many levels to those who lived under Jim Crow laws. What an inspiring story!

Mark in DE said...

That's great!

Mark :-)

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