Unita Blackwell

Unita Zelma Blackwell (18 ga Maris, 1933 - 13 ga Mayu, 2019) 'yar gwagwarmayar kare hakkin bil'adama ce ta Amurka wacce ita ce mace ta farko da aka zaba a matsayin magajin gari a jihar Mississippi ta Amurka. Blackwell ya kasance darektan aikin kwamitin kula da dalibai (SNCC) kuma ya taimaka wajen shirya tafiyar da 'yan Afirka na Afirka a fadin Mississippi. Ta kuma kasance jagora na Ƙungiyar Abokantaka ta Amurka da China, ƙungiyar da aka keɓe don inganta musayar al'adu tsakanin Amurka da China. Ta kuma yi aiki a matsayin mai ba da shawara ga Shugabannin Amurka guda shida: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, da Bill Clinton. 

Barefootin'', tarihin rayuwar Blackwell, wanda aka buga a shekara ta 2006, ya nuna aikinta.

 Rayuwa ta farko 
An haifi Blackwell a ranar 18 ga Maris, 1933, a Lula, Mississippi, ga masu aikin gona Virda Mae da Willie Brown.   Kakan Blackwell ya ba ta sunan "U. Z.", wanda ta ci gaba har sai da ta kasance a aji na shida, lokacin da malaminta ya gaya mata cewa tana bukatar "sunan gaskiya, ba kawai asali ba". Blackwell da malaminta sun yanke shawarar Unita Zelma .  

Blackwell da iyayenta sun zauna a Lula. Wani fararen shugaban gonar ne ya kashe kakanta. A shekara ta 1936, lokacin da take 'yar shekara uku, mahaifin Blackwell ya bar gonar da yake aiki kuma ya gudu zuwa Memphis, Tennessee, yana tsoron rayuwarsa bayan ya fuskanci shugabansa game da yin magana da matarsa. Blackwell da mahaifiyarta sun bar gonar don su zauna tare da shi ba da daɗewa ba. Iyalin Blackwell sun yi tafiya akai-akai don neman aiki. A ranar 20 ga Yuni, 1938, iyayen Blackwell sun rabu saboda bambancin addini. Blackwell da mahaifiyarta sun tafi West Helena, Arkansas, don zama tare da mahaifiyar Blackwell don ta sami damar samun ilimi mafi kyau. Ilimi mai inganci a Mississippi ba wani zaɓi ne ga Blackwell ba saboda makarantun da ke wurin sun kasance a kan noman amfanin gona da tsarin shuka. An ba wa yara baƙi damar halartar makaranta na watanni biyu kawai a lokaci guda, kafin a sa ran su koma gonakin auduga. Yayinda take zaune a Yammacin Helena, Blackwell sau da yawa tana ziyartar mahaifinta a Memphis. A lokacin watanni na rani za ta bar West Helena kuma ta zauna tare da kakanta da kakarta a Lula, inda ta taimaka wajen shuka da girbi auduga. Blackwell ta shafe mafi yawan shekarunta na farko tana yanka auduga na $ 3 a rana, a Mississippi, Arkansas, da Tennessee da kuma cire tumatir a Florida. Tana da shekaru 14 lokacin da ta gama aji na takwas, shekarar karshe ta makaranta a Westside, makarantar da ke West Helena don yara baƙi. Blackwell ta bar makaranta don samun kudin shiga ga iyalinta.

 Aure da motsi 
Tana da shekaru 25 lokacin da ta fara saduwa da Jeremiah Blackwell, mai dafa abinci na Sojojin Injiniyoyin Amurka. Bayan 'yan shekaru, sun yi tafiya zuwa Clarksdale, Mississippi, kuma wani mai shari'a na zaman lafiya ya yi aure.

A watan Janairun 1957, Blackwell ta yi rashin lafiya sosai kuma an kai ta asibiti a Yammacin Helena inda aka bayyana ta mutu. Daga baya aka gano ta da rai a dakin asibitin ta, kuma ta yi iƙirarin cewa tana da kwarewar kusan mutuwa. A ranar 2 ga Yuli, 1957, an haifi ɗa guda ɗaya na ma'auratan, Jeremiah Blackwell Jr. (Jerry). A shekara ta 1960, kakar Irmiya, "Miss Vashti", ta mutu. Bayan 'yan watanni, Blackwells sun koma cikin Gidan bindiga wanda kakarsa ta bar masa, a Mayersville, Mississippi, wani gari na kusan mutane ɗari biyar.   Iyalin Blackwell daga ƙarshe sun sami damar gina babban gidan tubali, amma tana so ta ci gaba da ƙaramin gidan da aka gada daga kakar Irmiya.

Bayan ya zauna a Mayersville, Blackwell ya fara shiga cikin Yunkurin Kare Hakkin Bil'adama.

 Yunkurin kare hakkin bil'adama 

 Nuna bambanci na jefa kuri'a 
Blackwell ta fara shiga cikin Yunkurin Kare Hakkin Bil'adama a watan Yunin 1964, lokacin da 'yan gwagwarmaya biyu daga Kwamitin Gudanar da Dalibai suka zo Mayersville kuma, a cikin cocin da ta kasance, sun gudanar da tarurruka game da' yancin' yan Afirka na Amurka don jefa kuri'a . A mako mai zuwa ita da wasu bakwai sun tafi kotun don yin gwajin rajistar masu jefa kuri'a don su iya jefa kuri'u. Yayinda suke a waje da kotun suna jiran yin gwajin, wani rukuni na fararen manoma daga yankin sun ji abin da ke faruwa kuma sun yi ƙoƙari su tsoratar da su. Kungiyar ta ta zauna a can duk rana, amma biyu ne kawai suka iya yin gwajin. Nuna wariyar launin fata da suka fuskanta, in ji Blackwell, ya sanya wannan rana "maɓallin juyawa" na rayuwarta. Jeremiah da Unita sun rasa ayyukansu washegari bayan ma'aikatansu sun gano cewa sun kasance cikin ƙungiyar da ke neman yin rajista don jefa kuri'a. Bayan ta rasa aikinta, Blackwell ta ba da labarin yadda iyalinta ke rayuwa:

Blackwell ya yi ƙoƙari ya wuce gwajin rajistar masu jefa kuri'a sau uku a cikin 'yan watanni masu zuwa. A farkon fall ta dauki gwajin cikin nasara kuma ta zama mai jefa kuri'a.

Lokacin da Hukumar Kare Hakkin Bil'adama ta Amurka ta zo Mississippi a watan Janairun 1965, Blackwell ta ba da shaida a gaban su game da abubuwan da ta samu game da nuna bambanci ga masu jefa kuri'a: 

A sakamakon sa hannun Blackwell tare da kamfen ɗin rajistar masu jefa kuri'a, ita da sauran masu fafutuka sun jimre da tsangwama akai-akai.

 SNCC da sauran ƙungiyoyi 
Bayan saduwa da Fannie Lou Hamer a lokacin rani na 1964 da kuma jin abubuwan da ta samu a cikin Ƙungiyar 'Yancin Bil'adama, Blackwell ta yanke shawarar shiga SNCC. A matsayinta na darektan aikin SNCC, ta shirya rajistar masu jefa kuri'a a fadin Mississippi. Daga baya a wannan shekarar, ta zama memba a kwamitin zartarwa na Jam'iyyar Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), wanda ya samar da jam'iyya ga masu jefa kuri'a da SNCC ke yin rajista don jefa kuri'u. A ƙarshen watan Agusta ita da wasu wakilan MFDP 67 da aka zaba sun yi tafiya zuwa Yarjejeniyar Kasa ta Democrat ta 1964 a Atlantic City, New Jersey, da niyyar samun MFDP a zaune a matsayin "kawai wakilin da aka kafa ta hanyar dimokuradiyya daga Mississippi". Daga bisani an ba su manyan kujeru biyu amma sun ki amincewa da wannan sulhu; taron, musamman shaidar Hamer da aka nuna a talabijin a gaban kwamitin tabbatarwa, ya kawo jam'iyyar da ƙungiyar kare hakkin bil'adama ta Mississippi a cikin idon jama'a.

Blackwell ta shiga cikin gabatarwar Head Start ga yara baƙi a cikin 1965 a cikin Mississippi Delta, aikin da kungiyar Child Development Group of Mississippi ta jagoranta.

A ƙarshen shekarun 1960 Blackwell ta yi aiki a matsayin ƙwararren ƙwararren ci gaban al'umma tare da Majalisar Mata Negro ta Kasa. A cikin shekarun 1970s, ta hanyar Majalisar Mata ta Negro ta Kasa, ta yi aiki a kan shirin ci gaba don gidaje masu karamin karfi kuma ta karfafa mutane a duk faɗin ƙasar "don gina gidajensu". A lokacin da ta shiga cikin Yunkurin Kare Hakkin Bil'adama, an daure ta fiye da sau 70 saboda rawar da ta taka a zanga-zangar kare hakkin bil'adama da sauran ayyukan adawa da zalunci.

 Blackwell v. Hukumar Ilimi ta Issaquena County 
Blackwells sun shigar da kara, Blackwell v. Issaquena County Board of Education, a kan Issaquena District Board of Education a ranar 1 ga Afrilu, 1965, bayan shugaban ya dakatar da yara baƙi sama da 300 - gami da Jerry, ɗan Blackwells - don sanya fil wanda ke nuna hannun baƙar fata da farin hannu da aka ɗaure da kalmar "SNCC" a ƙasa da su. Kotu ta rufe batutuwa da yawa ciki har da amfani da dalibai na "tsarin 'yanci", kuma ta nemi Gundumar Makarantar Issaquena County ta raba makarantun su bisa ga hukuncin Kotun Koli a Brown v. Hukumar Ilimi. Kotun Gundumar Amurka ta Kudancin Gundumar Mississippi ta yanke shawarar cewa ɗalibai suna rushewa da amfani da fil ɗin 'yanci, amma ta ba da umarnin cewa gundumar makaranta dole ne ta kawar da makarantun su don bin dokar tarayya, a farkon shekara ta 1965. An kai karar Kotun daukaka kara ta Amurka a watan Yulin 1966, inda Kotun Gundumar ta amince da shawarar da ta gabata. Saboda shari'ar da ta haifar da shirin kawar da wariyar launin fata, Blackwell ya kira shi "ɗaya daga cikin shari'o'in kawar da wariya launin fata na farko a Mississippi".

Dan Blackwell da kimanin wasu yara 50 sun kaurace wa makarantar, saboda shawarar da ta yanke na kada ta bar yara su sa fil din 'yanci na SNCC. A sakamakon haka, Blackwell da wasu masu gwagwarmaya a cikin al'umma sun yanke shawarar cewa yana da mahimmanci a ilimantar da waɗannan yara. Ta taimaka wajen bude Makarantun 'Yanci a cikin Gundumar Issaquena don warware matsalar. Makarantu sun zama sanannun kuma sun ci gaba da koyar da azuzuwan kowane bazara har zuwa 1970, lokacin da makarantun yankin suka rabu da su.

 Ayyukan siyasa da rayuwarsu ta baya 
Farawa a 1973, Blackwell ta shiga cikin tafiye-tafiye 16 na diflomasiyya zuwa China, gami da tafiya tare da 'yar wasan kwaikwayo Shirley MacLaine a 1973 don yin fim din The Other Half of the Sky .   A matsayin wani ɓangare na jajircewarta ga ingantaccen dangantaka tsakanin Amurka da China, Blackwell ta yi aiki na shekaru shida a matsayin shugabar Ƙungiyar Abokantaka ta Amurka da China.  A shekara ta 1979 an nada Blackwell a Hukumar Kasa ta Amurka kan Shekarar Yara ta Duniya. 

An zabe ta a matsayin magajin gari na Mayersville, Mississippi, a 1976 kuma ta rike wannan mukamin har zuwa shekara ta 2001, wanda ya sa ta zama mace ta farko ta Afirka a Mississippi. A matsayinta na magajin gari, ta kula da gina gidaje da yawa na jama'a, karo na farko da aka gina gidajen tarayya a cikin Gundumar Issaquena. Blackwell ya sami kuɗin tallafin tarayya wanda ya ba Mayersville 'yan sanda da kariya ta wuta, tsarin ruwa na jama'a, tituna masu kyau, gidaje ga tsofaffi da nakasassu, da sauran ababen more rayuwa. Ta sami kulawa ta ƙasa ta hanyar tafiya a fadin ƙasar don inganta gina gidaje masu karamin karfi.

Blackwell ya kuma yi aiki a kwamitin kasa na Democrat kuma a matsayin co-shugaban Jam'iyyar Democrat ta Mississippi .  Jam'iyyar Freedom Democratic Party ta Mississippi ta aika da Blackwell da wasu wakilai 67 zuwa Yarjejeniyar Kasa ta Democrat ta 1964 a New Jersey. Muryoyin su a taron sun taimaka wajen ba da gudummawa ga aiwatar da Dokar 'Yancin Bil'adama ta 1964 da Dokar' Yancin Zabe ta 1965. A ƙarshen 1982, Blackwell ya tafi Jami'ar Massachusetts-Amherst kuma ya sami Jagora na Shirye-shiryen Yankin .  Kodayake Blackwell ba ta halarci makarantar sakandare ba, Shirin Fellows na Ƙauyuka na Kasa ya taimaka mata ta sami shiga Jami'ar Massachusetts ta hanyar ba ta tallafin karatu da kuma ba da lambar yabo bisa ga gwagwarmayarta da kwarewar rayuwa.

A matsayin wani ɓangare na kokarin ci gaban al'umma, ta taimaka wajen gano Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE), ƙungiyar ci gaban al-umma a Greenville, Mississippi .  Daga 1990 zuwa 1992, Blackwell ya kasance shugaban taron Black Mayors na kasa. A shekara ta 1991, ta kafa taron Black Women Mayors a matsayin mai ba da gudummawa ga taron National Conference of Black Mayors kuma ta yi aiki a matsayin shugabanta na farko.

Blackwell ta zama murya ga gidaje da ci gaba a yankunan karkara kuma, a 1979, Shugaba Jimmy Carter ya gayyace ta zuwa taron koli na makamashi a Camp David . Blackwell kuma an ba ta kyautar kyautar kyautar MacArthur Fellowship ta $ 350,000 a shekarar 1992, saboda rawar da ta taka wajen kirkirar ci gaban gidaje na Deer River tsakanin sauran hanyoyin samar da gidaje da matsalolin ababen more rayuwa a jiharta. Blackwell ta yi takarar Majalisa a 1993, amma Bennie Thompson ta ci ta a zaben fidda gwani.

Blackwell, tare da taimakon JoAnne Prichard Morris, ta rubuta tarihin rayuwa, Barefootin': Life Lessons from the Road to Freedom, wanda ya rufe rayuwarta, aikin sharecropper da ita da iyayenta suka samu, an zabe ta a matsayin magajin gari na Mayersville, wanda ya haifar da tashi daga "Talauci zuwa iko", da ayyukanta a cikin Civil Rights Movement. An buga shi a shekara ta 2006.

 Lafiya da mutuwa 
A watan Janairun 2008, Blackwell ta ɓace daga otal dinta a Atlanta yayin halartar bukukuwan tunawa da Martin Luther King Jr. Daga baya, an same ta a Filin jirgin saman Hartsfield-Jackson.  Daga baya aka ruwaito cewa ta kasance a farkon matakan Rashin hankali. A cikin 2014, an ruwaito cewa Blackwell yana zaune a gidan tsofaffi a kan Tekun Gulf na Mississippi . 

Blackwell ta mutu a wani asibiti a Ocean Springs, Mississippi a ranar 13 ga Mayu, 2019,  daga cututtukan zuciya da huhu da kuma rikitarwa na rashin hankali, kamar yadda ɗanta Jeremiah Blackwell Jr ya ruwaito.  Wadanda suka tsira sun hada da ɗanta, Irmiya Jr., jikoki biyu, jikoki biyu na matakai, da jikoki takwas.

 Rayuwa ta mutum 
Blackwell ta yi aure sau biyu, na farko ga Jeremiah Blackwell, wanda daga baya aka sake ta. Aure na biyu, ga Willie Wright, shi ma ya ƙare da kisan aure. Tana da ɗa ɗaya.

 Manazarta 

Rukuni:Mutuwan 2019
Rukuni:Haifaffun 1933
Rukuni:Shafuka masu fassarorin da ba'a duba ba