Ella Jones was elected as the first black mayor of Ferguson, Missouri, on Tuesday with the backdrop of new protests crying out against racial injustice and police brutality.
A Ferguson city council member, she secured the victory with 54% of the votes over her opponent, Heather Robinett.
“It’s just our time,” Jones told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “It’s just my time to do right by the people.”
Ferguson became the catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality and systemic racism after a white police officer fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, in 2014.
Protests and violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement lasted for days, and the Black Lives Matter movement grew more vocal after the deaths of black men in police custody.
Jones’s win comes shortly after a black Minneapolis man, George Floyd, died on Memorial Day once a white police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd’s death led to nationwide outrage and protests across the country.
Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd, was fired and later charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. The murder charge was upgraded to second-degree murder on Wednesday, and the other three police officers involved in Floyd’s detainment have also been fired and are being charged with aiding and abetting murder.
When asked what her victory means for Ferguson’s black residents, Jones responded, “One word: inclusion.”
Jones is also the first woman to serve as the mayor of Ferguson.
