Mae Jones

Mae Jones, known by her maiden name Mae Maxwell was born in Ackerman Mississippi. Her family moved to Detroit in the 30/40s. She graduated from Northwestern High in 1957, and would eighteen years later move to Africatown, Alabama with her husband Willard Jones. She has seen Africatown at its prime and as the community combats the social, political, and environmental impacts of local industries.

According to Mrs. Jones, 1975 the Africatown community was thriving. With an abundance of shops ranging from grocery to beauty to barber. The businesses were owned by Black community members. It was self-sufficient and you didn't have to leave the community, but now there is nothing. The industries that were here made the town a hazardous place to live. You would have to wash your clothes more than once because of the debris and soot. Now you can’t buy anything as the business closed and people moved away. The environment drove the people out. So many of the community were dying from different diseases. The owners were passing and there was no one else to take over the stores. The buildings where they where were torn down. She lost her husband last year, he lost his sister and his uncles.