The Chicago Teacher’s Union sent out the tweet hoping others will follow Bea’s lead and inspire people to vote in the coming election.
A global pandemic won't stop 102-year-old Beatrice Lumpkin from voting, calling "this year's election the most important election of my lifetime."
The former Chicago teacher, who first voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940, said she's never missed a vote since, reported WBEN News Radio. On Thursday, Lumpkin, surrounded by fellow members of her union and wearing a stylish pink and white, full-service hazmat suit that she said her grandson made, went to the USPS box located across from her apartment building to drop in her mail-in ballot.
Lumpkin told the radio station that when she was born, women couldn't vote and said she is confident with the security of voting by way of the mail-in ballot process.
"The very future of our democracy is on the line," she said.
The Chicago Teacher’s Union sent out the tweet hoping others will follow Bea’s lead and inspire people to vote in the coming election.
“Good morning! This is 102-year-old CTU retiree Bea Lumpkin casting her vote-by-mail ballot,” the union wrote.
“If Bea can do it, anyone can do it. Vote!”
Clearly, Lumpkin leads by example.
In February of 2019, Lumpkin participated in a protest outside the Chicago International Charter School headquarters. A picture on the Chicago Teacher’s Union Facebook page features Lumpkin looking determined as her arms swing side to side holding a carry bag. Lumpkin, who was 101 at the time, looked like she was walking faster then most of the other protestors half her age.
“Bea is truly universally beloved in our union, where she remains an active and dedicated retiree who shows up at as many picket lines and union events as she can, and remains very active in our work, plus writes occasionally for our monthly member publication, Chicago Union Teacher, most recently on the desperate need to address climate change,” a spokesman for the CTU told Fox News.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people who are 65 and over are more likely to vote. Seventy-one percent of Americans who are 65 and over showed up to the polls in 2016, while only 46% of those 18 or over turned out to the polls.
The former math teacher is making an impact. As of Oct. 1, her tweet garnered 4.5 likes; 947 retweets and 100 quote tweets.
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