Unita Blackwell
| Unita Blackwell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
U.Z. March 18, 1933 Lula, Mississippi |
| Residence | Nursing home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | First female African-American mayor in Mississippi, civil rights activist |
Unita Blackwell (born March 18, 1933) is an American civil rights activist who was the first African-American woman, and the tenth African American, to be elected mayor in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Blackwell was a project director for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and helped organize voter drives for African Americans across Mississippi. She is also a founder of the US China Peoples Friendship Association, a group dedicated to promoting cultural exchange between the United States and China. Barefootin', Blackwell's autobiography, published in 2006, charts her activism.
Unita Blackwell was born on March 18, 1933, in Lula, Mississippi, to sharecroppers Virda Mae and Willie Brown. Blackwell's uncle gave her the name U.Z., which she kept until she was in the sixth grade when her teacher told her that she needed "a real name, not just initials". Blackwell and her teacher decided on Unita Zelma.
Blackwell and her parents lived in Lula, until 1936 when she was three years old; Blackwell's father left the plantation on which he worked, and fled to Memphis, Tennessee, fearing for his life after he confronted his boss about speaking to his wife. Soon afterwards, Blackwell and her mother left the plantation to live with him. Blackwell's family traveled frequently in search of work. On June 20, 1938, Blackwell's parents separated due to religious differences. Blackwell and her mother went to West Helena, Arkansas, to live with Blackwell's great aunt so that she had the opportunity to receive an education. A quality education in Mississippi was not an option for Blackwell because the schools there were centered on the cultivation of crops and the plantation system. While living in West Helena, Blackwell often visited her father in Memphis. During the summer months she would leave West Helena and live with her grandfather and grandmother in Lula, where she helped plant and harvest cotton. Blackwell spent a majority of her early years chopping cotton in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee and peeling tomatoes in Florida. She was 14 when she finished the eighth grade, the final year of school at Westside, a school in West Helena for black children. Blackwell had to quit school to earn for her family.
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