Amelia Boynton Robinson

Amelia Boynton Robinson was, by all accounts, a force of nature. Born in Savannah, Georgia, to parents who were already advocating for racial equality and women's suffrage, she clearly inherited the activist gene. After graduating from Tuskegee Institute, she immediately threw herself into voter registration efforts in Dallas County, Alabama, a notoriously hostile environment for Black citizens seeking to exercise their constitutional rights.

Her home in Selma became a strategic hub for civil rights leaders, a safe house for planning and respite. She survived Bloody Sunday in 1965, beaten unconscious on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an image that galvanized the nation and propelled the Voting Rights Act forward. Even in her 90s, she continued to advocate for justice, attending the inauguration of Barack Obama and remaining an active voice for equality.

While her direct Jewish identity or origin remains conspicuously absent from the historical record, her unwavering commitment to justice, freedom, and human dignity certainly aligns with many kvell-worthy Jewish values. Her fight against systemic oppression, often at great personal risk, serves as a powerful reminder of what true courage looks like.

So, no, not a Jew by birth or practice, but a woman whose legacy of fighting for the oppressed undoubtedly earns her a top score in the "nachas" department. She might not have been at the seder table, but she certainly helped ensure others could sit at the table of democracy.