Annie lee cooper biography of barack

African-American civil rights activist

Annie Lee Wilkerson Cooper (born Annie Lee Wilkerson; June 2, 1910 – November 24, 2010) was an African-American civil rights activist.

She is best known for punching Dallas County, Alabama Sheriff Jim Clark in the face during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.^[1][2] Cooper's lasting legacy is recognized as her activism in the Selma voting rights marches and her role as a female leader in the civil rights movement.^[3][4]

Life and work

Annie Lee Wilkerson Cooper was born on June 2, 1910, as Annie Lee Wilkerson in Selma, Alabama as one of ten children of Lucy Jones and Charles Wilkerson Sr.

When Cooper was in the seventh grade, she dropped out of school and moved to Kentucky to live with one of her older sisters, but later obtained a high school diploma.^[5] At an early age, Cooper joined the local Baptist church.^[6]

In the 1940s, Cooper owned a resta