Mattie Jones turned 92 at the end of March. Friends, family, state senators and our U.S. congressman filled the First Congregational Methodist Church to celebrate her. I first met Mattie Jones a year ago when she spoke to a racial justice class designed for white allies. Jones is a civil rights icon in Louisville, Kentucky.

At the end of her talk, I introduced myself as she was about to schedule an Uber to get home. I asked if I could drive her instead. She said yes. For the next 30 minutes, I got to soak in more of her story. I will treasure that drive always. Now, as we remember Martin Luther King’s assassination on April 4, 1968, I want to share Jones’ story with you.

Jones came to Louisville, Kentucky, from Memphis, Tennessee, as a child in 1940. Schools and neighborhoods were segregated, so she said she didn’t encounter racism directly until she was older. Jones remembers going shopping for clothes with her mother as a teenager. When she went to try on a jacket she liked, the store clerk stopped Jones and said she was not permitted to try on any clothing before she bought it because she was Black. She dropped the coat and left the store with her mother.

In 1961, student protests changed the racist policies of many stores in Louisville. Federal protections wouldn’t come until the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Jones joined the fight after the University of Louisville denied her application for a work-study program because she was Black. Never mind that she could type 75 words per minute and she knew shorthand. It didn’t matter that the white man who interviewed her saw that she was competent and capable. Jones remembered he even complimented her penmanship. But then he pointed to the white ladies who worked in the office and said: “They won’t work with you. You can’t be out there.”

“That was when reality hit me real good,” Jones said. “I was burning up with anger.” Jones was so upset she didn’t even ride the streetcar home. She walked, fuming the whole way. At home, her mother sat her down. “This has been going on longer than I am old,” her mother told her. “It’s something that you will deal with as long as you’ve got a Black face.”

Jones’ mother told her to focus her anger because “You’re not gonna win this battle by yourself. … You’ve got to join in and ask for help.” Mattie Jones would spend the rest of her life joining in. She joined the Black Workers Coalition and handled employment complaints. She marched with Martin Luther King Jr. She protested in Louisville against segregation in public schools and for open housing. Jones is a founding member of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and she fought for the Justice Resource Center in Louisville, which is the leading provider of law-related and civic education for the school-age population.

Jones took her mother’s advice. She’s never thrown a rock or acted out during protests, and she credits Dr. King for the coaching she received. “Dr. King did not let us hit the streets unless we had some training,” she said. She went to the Highlander Folk School in Grundy County, Tennessee, like other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. “We were trained how to act and react, and not just when crisis hit us.”

Her story reminds me of this passage from King’s famous letter from Birmingham Jail: “We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”

Jones said that work is first and foremost an inside job. She said that work truly begins with setting yourself free. She explained that “you feel free after something deep within has happened.” For her, it was the day U of L denied her. It also takes strong, trusted leaders, who are accessible and available to those looking for guidance. Jones is adamant that you have to be able to talk to someone to help you deal with what is happening around you along with the emotions that bubble up as a result. You have to be able to express yourself and lean on those who have been in this fight before you.

Mattie Jones is one of those leaders. So much of what she and others fought for are at risk because of President Donald Trump’s administration goals and the legislature that supports them. We have to move past the shock and rage and into meaningful action. Calm, determined, persistent action.

Everyone’s path to inner freedom looks different, but Jones said one thing is for certain: “As long as you don’t free yourself, you’re afraid to speak out,” and if you don’t speak out about what is right, then you continue to uphold what is wrong.

Do you know anyone who’s doing cool things to make the world a better place? I want to know. Send me an email at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com. Check out Bonnie’s weekly YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/bonniejeanfeldkamp. To find out more about Bonnie Jean Feldkamp and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.