Juanita Abernathy
Juanita Abernathy was an activist in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. She married the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, who led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Juanita Abernathy rallied the black community in Montgomery for the boycott and survived numerous death threats.
In 1957 while Reverend Abernathy was away with Dr. King, Juanita and her infant daughter were in their home when white supremacists bombed it. Fortunately, they both survived and she continued fighting in the movement. In 1961, Abernathy moved to Atlanta and enrolled her children into white schools to protest segregation. She went to the March on Washington, and walked the frontlines of the march from Selma to Montgomery.
Today, Juanita Abernathy sits on the Board of Trustees for the Morehouse School of Religion. She is also on the board of directors for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and the Atlanta Fulton County League of Women Voters. On January 18, Juanita Abernathy will be one of Oprah’s honored pioneers in a special television event, Oprah Winfrey Presents: Legends Who Paved The Way.