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Born March 18, 1933, in Lula, MS
Died May 13, 2019, in Biloxi, MS
Unita Blackwell was one of the key organizers of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged the seating of the all-white delegation from that state to the Democratic National Convention in 1964. In 1976, she became the first Black woman to be elected mayor in Mississippi. She acted as mayor of Mayersville until 2001, and served as chair of the Black Women’s Mayor Caucus and president of the National Conference of Black Mayors. Blackwell was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 1992 for her creative solutions to housing and infrastructure challenges in Mississippi. Her autobiography Barefootin’: Life Lessons from the Road to Freedom was published in 2006.