Ferguson, Mo., made history Tuesday upon electing Ella Jones as the city’s first black mayor. City Councilwoman Jones will also become the first woman to serve as mayor of the St. Louis suburb.
The election comes on the heels of citizens standing up against racism and police brutality.
Ms. Jones, 65, and her opponent, Heather Robinett, 49, had both vowed to continue changes enacted after the 2014 shooting of Mr. Brown, including a federal consent decree, a legally binding agreement requiring reforms to a police department, New York Times reports.
She beat out fellow Councilwoman Heather Robinett by a thin 138 votes to succeed term-limited Mayor James Knowles III. “People from the seniors to the young people understand that my goal is for us to be one — for us to work together,” Jones said, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
When asked what her historic victory means to her, she responded bluntly: “That means I got work to do.” “My election gives people hope,” Ms. Jones said in an interview Wednesday. “Everybody is looking for a change, everybody wants to have a better way of life. You don’t want to go four blocks and worry about getting shot, nobody wants that. It is starting to get better. We are making changes.” “I have been living in injustice all my life,” she added. “I didn’t just get exposed to it because I became a City Council member.” #blackhistory#blacklove#politics#blackmagic#blackexcellence#girlpower#ellajones#news#woman#blackwoman
