Ida Kinney, oldest African American in the San Fernando Valley, dies at 104 (integrated the union)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-kinney10-2009jan10,0,4081796.story



Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times
Ida B. Kinney worked on the campaigns of several presidents, lobbied to establish a Pacoima senior center and helped the NAACP push initiatives.

Kinney launched a successful campaign to integrate the Lockheed Corp. union during World War II and was a driving force for civil rights in the Valley.
By Valerie J. Nelson
January 10, 2009

Ida B. Kinney, a 104-year-old who was believed to be the oldest African American in the San Fernando Valley and who was a driving force for civil rights in the region, died Jan 1.

Affectionately nicknamed "Mother" Kinney, she died of complications related to old age at the Lake View Terrace home of her caregiver, Christel Flynn.

"She was living history," state Sen. Alex Padilla (D- Pacoima) told The Times. "She was a living reminder that not that long ago, our country was breaking civil-rights barriers."

In 1999, Padilla was campaigning for the Los Angeles City Council when he knocked on her Pacoima door. Stories started spilling out of Kinney, the granddaughter of slaves. A mesmerized Padilla stayed for four hours.

As one of the first African American "Rosie the Riveters" to work at Burbank's Lockheed Corp. during World War II, Kinney launched a successful drive to integrate the union.

She was working in a berry patch when she was hired in 1943 by the defense company. She was paid the same as her white colleagues -- but was prohibited from joining the union.

When a fellow worker learned that she took home more money, Kinney responded: "You pay union dues. But I don't because I was born black," she said in 2006 in the Daily News of Los Angeles.

That infuriated some of her co-workers, Padilla recalled, "and the next thing you know, the union was integrated."

Kinney was happy to pay dues because it meant she wasn't being treated differently because of her skin color.

FULL story at link.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Wow! Some genetics in that family! She is survived by her 107 y.o. cousin....

What a life that woman had...She could have written a history book just about what she lived through.