Amelia Boynton Robinson, the oldest of the surviving veterans of the 1965 Selma, Alabama Civil Rights Movement, will celebrate her 103rd birthday this coming August 18.
Still completely mentally alert and combative, BoyntonRobinson states that not only does she intend to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of the passage of the Voting Rights Act this coming March 7, 2015, but said, “I might be at the 100th anniversary celebration as well. That’s how committed I am to the vote”.
Boynton Robinson definitely holds the world record for number of consecutive years spent registering people to vote. She started with her mother, who took her in a horse and buggy through towns in Georgia to register people in 1920the year of the passage of the 19th Amendment that first gave women the right to vote. In 1964 she became the first woman to run for Congress in the state ofAlabama.
This December, the Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey produced film “SELMA”, directed by Ava DuVernay, will remind America of the central role BoyntonRobinson played in American History. Acclaimed actress Lorraine Toussaint (“ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK”), who portrays Boynton Robinson in the film, recently visited her in the hospital upon completion of the film.
In February 2015, a one night only reading of Boynton Robinson’s 1936 musical, “THROUGH THE YEARS”, will be produced in Los Angeles during OSCAR Week in honor of Black History Month and in support of the VILLAGE OF HOPE TUSKEGEE. The benefit will be produced by actorEddie R. Brown, events producer NuNu Deng, and Tony Award winning Broadway producer Ryan Hugh Mackey (2014 Best Musical”A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE & MURDER”).
Well wishes are encouraged to be sent via theVILLAGE OF HOPE TUSKEGEE Facebook page or on TWITTER, using#HAPPY103AMELIA .
Village of Hope Tuskegee (VOH), a registered 501c3 based on the vision of legendary civil rights leader Mrs. Amelia Platts BoyntonRobinson, who began a freedom struggle for herself and others at age 9 in Savannah, Georgia. www.villageofhopetuskegee.com
