USA's oldest voter

Source: Element5 Digital en Unsplash

Obama hails the 106-year-old black woman who symbolises the spirit of his triumph

Barack Obama highlighted the life of 106-year-old black voter Ann Nixon Cooper as capturing the spirit of his election triumph.

'She was born just a generation past slavery, a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky, when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin,' he said.

'And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope, the struggle and the progress, the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: "Yes we can."'

Mrs Cooper has seen 18 presidents come and go and outlived most of them, but, like all black Americans, she had to wait until 1965 to gain the right to vote - when she was 63.

Born Ann Louise Nixon on January 9 1902 in Shelbyville, Tennessee, she was one of six siblings. When her mother died the brothers and sisters were split up, and she was taken in by an aunt who worked as a servant for wealthy whites.

When she was 20 she married dentist Albert Cooper and the couple moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where they raised four children, of whom only a daughter of 83 survives.

As her husband built a successful practice, Mrs Cooper dedicated her energy to charity work for the black community and became a renowned activist and socialite hosting glittering parties for good causes - singer Nat King Cole even dropped by her house.

She served 50 years on a nursery school board, founded a club for African-American girls and saw her lifetime of charity work recognised with a prestigious national award in 2002.

But for more than half her life her colour made her a second-class citizen.

'She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome,' said Mr Obama.

So she was not going to miss this historic election and the chance to do something she never believed possible.

Casting her ballot in a wheelchair as an early voter last month, she reached out to the voting machine’s 21st-century touch screen to choose Mr Obama.

'The first black president - isn’t that something, at 106 years old,’ she said.

The inspirational woman from humble roots who didn’t give up dancing until three years ago when heart attacks slowed her down, tells young people: ‘Keep smiling.’

She - and the new President-Elect - were certainly doing that yesterday.

Source: Daily Mail 

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