Juanita Odessa Jones Abernathy (December 1, 1931 – September 12, 2019) was an American civil rights activist, and the wife of

Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...

Life

Abernathy Children on front line leading the SELMA TO MONTGOMERY MARCH for the RIGHT TO VOTE

Juanita Odessa Jones was born in

Uniontown, Alabama Uniontown is a city in Perry County, Alabama, in west-central Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 2,107, up 18.7% over 2010. Of the 573 cities in Alabama, Uniontown is the 207th most populous. Uniontown has four sites l ...

. She studied at Selma University and after it attended

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

from which she later graduated as well. She worked as a teacher, and worked for Mary Kay Cosmetics. She also served on the board of trustees for the

Morehouse School of Religion The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest f ...

, and on the board of directors for the Atlanta Fulton County League of Women Voters and the

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA, ) is the principal public transport operator in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit ...

. She was a part of the team that organized the

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United States ...

of December 1955 - December 1956. In 1957, her home was bombed. In 1965 she walked in the Selma to Montgomery March. In 2013, she was honored by the

Atlanta City Council The Atlanta City Council is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It consists of 16 members primarily elected from 12 districts within the city. The Atlanta City Government is divided into three bo ...

with a proclamation.

Family

She married

on August 31, 1952. Together they had five children: Ralph David Abernathy Jr., Juandalynn Ralpheda, Donzaleigh Avis, Ralph David Abernathy III, and Kwame Luthuli Abernathy. Their first child, Ralph Abernathy Jr., died suddenly on August 18, 1953, less than 2 days after his birth on August 16, while their other children lived on to adulthood.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abernathy, Juanita 1931 births 2019 deaths African-American activists People from Uniontown, Alabama Selma University alumni Tennessee State University alumni 21st-century African-American people Members of the League of Women Voters Activists for African-American civil rights