In 2002, former NBA Clippers owner Donald Sterling acquired the Ardmore Apartments in Los Angeles where 67-year-old Kandynce Jones, a Black woman who was legally blind, right side paralyzed due to a bad spinal fusion surgery, and suffered from Sickle Cell Anemia was living peacefully in her apartment. As the building management started to change due to the acquisition, overt cruelty towards African-American and Latino tenants began to be undeniable. News websites like ESPN.com, Huffingtonpost.com, and latimes.com, later shared that when Donald Sterling had first purchased the complex, he made a mention of an odor, stating that it was because all the blacks in the building; they smell, they’re not clean…and, it’s because of all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day After this, he said, So, we have to get them out of here. This is a true story written by Ebony M. Jones-Kuye who wanted the world to know about the courageous stand that her mother took against one of the richest and prominent men in the world. Ebony carried the torch to fight Donald Sterling when her mother died in 2005. These women fought poverty, physical challenges, racism and discrimination, tragic loss of a son and brother, and insurmountable circumstances in their lives. Kandynce and Ebony decided to fight Donald Sterling with no money or big time Attorneys on their side, they took a strong stand against the opposition that threatened to make them feel small and invisible. The Associated Press would later report, the settlement obtained by the plaintiffs against Donald Sterling was one of the largest of its kind and the public benefit terms were significant and wide-ranging. Ebony wrote this story as an example of how you can beat all odds even when they are stacked up against you, this story will give you that encouraging word to strengthen and empower you. This story will prove that it doesn’t really matter who you are or where you come from…Only that you continue to stand and fight against injustice, racism, and cruelty!
