Mother of Civil Rights: Activist Amelia Boynton Robinson dies at 104
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Mother of Civil Rights: Activist Amelia Boynton Robinson dies at 104
Amelia Boynton Robinson, a civil rights activist who helped lead the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” voting rights march and was the first black woman to run for Congress in Alabama, died Wednesday at age 104. Boynton Robinson, widely considered one of the mothers of the civil rights movement, was among those beaten during the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 1965 that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” State troopers teargassed and clubbed marchers as they tried crossing the bridge. A newspaper photo featuring an unconscious Boynton Robinson drew wide attention to the movement. Although the attack on marchers revealed ugly realities to some about how blacks were treated, Boynton Robinson had been an integral part of the civil rights movement long before the beating and iconic photo.
She was a loving person, very supportive — but civil rights was her life.
Bruce Boynton, son
In January, Boynton Robinson attended the State of the Union address as a special guest of Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., who calls Boynton Robinson a mentor and a friend. Boynton Robinson was the first black woman to run for Congress in the state and the first Alabama woman to run as a Democrat. Months after visiting Washington for the State of the Union address, Boynton Robinson returned to Selma and held hands with President Obama during the commemoration event.
To honor the legacy of an American hero like Amelia Boynton requires only that we follow her example — that all of us fight to protect everyone’s right to vote.
President Obama
