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Born April 10, 1926, in Scott, AR
Died November 22, 1995, in Los Angeles, CA
Johnnie Tillmon-Blackston was the founding chairperson and later the director of the National Welfare Rights Organization. Her firsthand experience as a welfare recipient combined with her talent for mobilizing people and resources helped bring attention to the inequities of the welfare system. Her landmark essay “Welfare Is a Woman’s Issue” (1972) helped align the welfare rights movement with the women’s rights movement. During her life, she traveled to more than 800 cities organizing people around social and political issues.