Juanita Abernathy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juanita Abernathy (1965, 3rd from right)

Juanita Odessa Jones Abernathy (born December 1, 1931 in Uniontown , Perry County , Alabama , USA ; † September 12, 2019 in Atlanta , Georgia , USA) was an American civil rights activist , university teacher and businesswoman. As wife of Ralph Abernathy ( 1926-1990 ), a co-founder of the US civil rights movement and close friend of Martin Luther King . She was instrumental in building the civil rights movement and took part in all the major demonstrations for the equality of African Americans in American society on the front lines.

Life

Juanita Jones was the youngest of the eight children of Alex (other) Jones Jr. (1882-1955) and his second wife Ella (née Gilmore) (1888-1978). The parents were successful, wealthy dairy, cattle and cotton farmers, who in the 1930s were the most successful black farmers in the so-called "Black Belt" of Alabama (see Wiki: Black Belt (region of Alabama)) from Tuskegee University , Montgomery were awarded. From kindergarten to college, Juanita Jones attended a K-12 boarding school in Selma, where one of her older sisters was already studying at Selma University .

After her graduation she initially took a degree at the University of Selma, moving on to Tennessee State University , studied business education ( economics ) and graduated with a BS from. After that she taught at universities. At the age of 16, she met her future husband, Ralph Abernathy, who was serving in the US armed forces at the time. The two fell in love, married in Uniontown in August 1952, and moved to Montgomery , where Ralph Abernathy was pastor of the First Baptist Church .

In January 1957, while Ralph Abernathy traveled to Atlanta with Martin Luther King to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta, the Abernathys home in Montgomery was subjected to a bomb attack. At the time, Juanita Abernathy, who was pregnant with her youngest daughter Donzaleigh, and her 3-year-old daughter Juandalynn were in the house. Both miraculously survived the attack, because fire investigators discovered after the attack that the bomb - if it had only flown a little further - would have hit the main gas pipe. On the same day there was not only a bomb attack on Abernathy House, but also on the church where Ralph Abernathy preached, the First Baptist Church. It also hit Mount Olive Baptist Church, Bell Street Baptist Church, Hutchinson Street Baptist Church, and the home of Robert Graetz (wiki), a white pastor who supported the civil rights movement. Raymond C. Britt, Jr. was charged with bombing the First Baptist Church, and Henry Alexander and James D. York were responsible for the bombing of Abernathy's house. The City Prosecutor, D. Eugene Loe, eventually dropped the charges. (See also English Wiki: First Baptist Church (Montgomery, Alabama)) Juanita Abernathy was not deterred from her goal of enforcing equality for blacks even through such attacks.

Amid her civil rights work, Abernathy was an accomplished businesswoman with a twenty-year career as national sales manager at cosmetics company Mary Kay Inc.In addition, she served on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) for 16 years, as well as on the board of the Development Authority of Fulton County (DAFC) in Georgia.

Private

Juanita Jones married Ralph Abernathy on August 31, 1952. The couple had five children: Ralph David Abernathy Jr., Juandalynn Ralpheda Abernathy, Donzaleigh Abernathy , Ralph David Abernathy III (1959 - 2016) (see also Wiki) and Kwame Luthuli Abernathy. Their first child, Ralph David Abernathy Jr., died on August 18, 1953, just two days after his birth on August 16, 1953.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Highlight Hollywood September 14, 2019: Civil Rights Icon Juanita Odessa Jones Abernathy, Dead At 88
  2. ↑ New York Times September 13, 2019: Juanita Abernathy, a Force in the Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 88
  3. ↑ Magnolias & Peaches - Alex Jones Tomb
  4. ↑ Magnolias & Peaches - Ella Gilmore Jones burial site
  5. ^ The Jones Family Site: The Alex Jones Branch - Family Cemetery
  6. ^ A b The Jones Family Site: Family History
  7. ↑ a b Atlanta Tribune September 13, 2019: Juanita Abernathy, Montgomery Bus Boycott icon, dies at 89
  8. ↑ The Jones Family Site: The Alex Jones Branch Photos
  9. ↑ a b c Atlanta Journal Constitution September 13, 2019: Throughout the civil rights movement, Juanita Abernathy stood tall
  10. ^ Coretta Scott King: My Life, My Love, My Legacy. London 2018, p.
  11. ↑ Selma University - Home
  12. ^ Selma University - History and Heritage
  13. ↑ NPR September 13, 2019: Juanita Abernathy, 'Cornerstone' Of Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies At 87
  14. ↑ IYAI: Juanita Jones Abernathy
  15. ^ A b Evangelisches Gemeindeblatt für Württemberg: God knows what he's doing - Martin Luther King was like an uncle to me
  16. ↑ New Geogia Encyclopedia: Image of blown up by Ku Klux Klan House of Abernathy
  17. ↑ Donnie Williams / Wayne Greenshaw: Thunder of Angels: The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the People Who Broke the Back of Jim Crow. Chicago Review 2006, pp. 264f.
  18. ↑ KGOU September 14, 2019: Juanita Abernathy, 'Cornerstone' Of Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dies At 87
  19. ^ Development Authority of Fulton County - Home
  20. ↑ Juandalynn Ralpheda Abernathy - Homepage
  21. ↑ Our Campaigns: Abernathy III, Ralph D.
personal data
SURNAME Abernathy, Juanita
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abernathy, Juanita Odessa Jones (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American civil rights activist, university professor, and businesswoman
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Uniontown , Perry County , Alabama , USA
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 2019
Place of death Atlanta , Georgia , USA