The city of Ferguson, Missouri has elected Ella Jones as its first Black mayor. This comes six years after the violent protests broke out in Missouri City after a police officer shot and killed a Black teenager, Michael Brown.
What We Know:
- Ella Jones is a member of the Ferguson City Council and has shared her support in the protests against the death of George Floyd and police brutality.
- Jones took 54 percent of the vote against her opponent, Heather Robinett who took 46 percent of votes in the race against mayor in Ferguson. She succeeds James Knowles III whom was in office for nine years.
- Ferguson sparked national attention to police brutality against African Americans when Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer. This began the Black Lives Matter movement.
- After Jones won the election on Tuesday, she said in an interview, “I am going to do the best I can do with the council that I have that is willing to work with me. Being the first Black African-American, what does this mean? That means I’ve got work to do because when you’re an African-American woman, they require more of you than they require of my counterpart.”
- Jones previously ran for mayor in 2017 and lost and now she is the first Black mayor in 2020. Two years after losing, she became Ferguson’s first Black City Council member.
- Jones has made vows to continue to enact change after the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014 accoridng to the New York Times.
Ella Jones has been a resident of Ferguson for 40 years, according to her profile, and graduated from the University of Missouri at St. Louis with a B.A. Degree in Chemistry. Ella serves as a council representative on Human Rights, Traffic, Landmarks, Senior Citizens, Parks, and West Florissant Business Association.
