User:Environmentography/Annie Lee Cooper

= Draft = 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 a punching Dallas County, Alabama Sheriff Jim Clark in the face during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.

Life and work
Annie Lee Wilkerson Cooper was born 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 an high school diploma. At an early age, Cooper joined the local Baptist church.

In the 1940s, Cooper owned a restaurant. A white man who wanted to lease part of Cooper's building asked that she segregate her seating, but she refused.

In 1962, Cooper returned to Selma to care for her sick mother. She later attempted to vote in Selma, but was told she failed the literacy test. Upon being denied to register to vote in Alabama, Cooper began to participate in the civil rights movement. Her attempt to register to vote in 1963 resulted in her being fired from her job as a nurse at a rest home. She then worked as a clerk at the Torch Motel.

Incident with Jim Clark
On January 25, 1965, Cooper went to the former Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama to register to vote. While in line, Cooper was prodded by local sheriff Jim Clark with a baton. Cooper turned around and hit Clark in the face, knocking him to the ground. Cooper proceeded to jump on Clark until she was pulled away by other sheriffs.

Cooper was then arrested and charged with criminal provocation. She was held in jail for 11 hours before the sheriff’s deputies dropped the charges and released her. She spent the period of her incarceration singing church hymns and spirituals. Some in the sheriff's department wanted to charge her with attempted murder. Following this incident, Cooper became a registered voter in Alabama.

On June 2, 2010, Annie Lee Cooper became a centenarian. Reflecting on her longevity, she stated, "My mother lived to be 106, so maybe I can live that long, too." On November 24, 2010, she died in the Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma, Alabama.

In popular culture
In the 2014 film Selma, Cooper was played by Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey said that she took the role "because of the magnificence of Annie Lee Cooper and what her courage meant to an entire movement."

A street near Cooper's home was renamed in her honor.