YES WE CAN...Ann Nixon Cooper

Barack Obama highlighted the life of 106-year-old black voter Ann Nixon Cooper as capturing the spirit of his election triumph.
'She was born just a generation past slavery, a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky, when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin,' he said.
'And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope, the struggle and the progress, the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: "Yes we can."'
Mrs Cooper has seen 18 presidents come and go and outlived most of them, but, like all black Americans, she had to wait until 1965 to gain the right to vote - when she was 63.
Born Ann Louise Nixon on January 9 1902 in Shelbyville, Tennessee, she was one of six siblings. When her mother died the brothers and sisters were split up, and she was taken in by an aunt who worked as a servant for wealthy whites.
When she was 20 she married dentist Albert Cooper and the couple moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where they raised four children, of whom only a daughter of 83 survives.
As her husband built a successful practice, Mrs Cooper dedicated her energy to charity work for the black community and became a renowned activist and socialite hosting glittering parties for good causes - singer Nat King Cole even dropped by her house.



This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta.
She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose.
Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call.
This is our moment.