Civil Rights Icon Juanita Abernathy Dies
She smiled plenty, and showed everyone in the room that she still had a lot of get up and go. It was on February 16, 2019, that I sat down with Mrs. Juanita Abernathy, and learned of a moment in her life as she recalled it to me. Later her son Kwame would tell me, "Mom doesn't do interviews, but she did one with you." I was so honored.
This week, Mrs. Abernathy died at an Atlanta hospital, reportedly from complications following a stroke. She was surrounded by her family. She was age 88 or 89, depending on various news reports of her passing. The "speculation" about her age is understandable, as her son once told me "Mom never tells her age".
Initially, her escort, son Kwame Abernathy, announces that his mother will not be able to walk to the podium, yet he is quickly proven wrong. Mrs. Abernathy, with the use of a cane, makes her way to the stage inside Morrow Center, in this Atlanta surburb, and with glistening eyes, shares a bit of history with, the now, standing-room only crowd.
The honor presented was the Inaugural Amanda Davis "And Still I Rise" Award. It's named for the long-time Atlanta News Anchor who died in December 2017, at age 62. "I am very honored to receive it", says Abernathy, "because women stood tall during the Civil Rights Movement." The award is named for the well-known Atlanta broadcast journalist who died in 2017.
Clayton County NAACP Chapter member Nia Sade' Akinyemi serenaded Abernathy with the Billie Holiday classic "God Bless The Child". Akinyemi said "It felt amazing." The young singer said that her father was a student at the Atlanta University Center and sang for Mrs. Abernathy's late husband. "It was an honor to follow in my father's footsteps and to sing to the Mother of the Movement."
