On Voting, Amanda Jones & What We Owe Our Ancestors

“polling station poster on clear glass door” by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash

A little over a decade ago, I received one of the best assignments of my newspaper journalism career: At 109, Amanda Jones was likely the oldest active voter in Central Texas.

The middle child of a black family of 13 kids, Jones had several children of her own and 33 grandchildren. She had been a housewife for 72 years. For well over ten years she worked as a maid for $20 a…