Virginia McLaurin, centenarian who danced with Obamas, dies

[iemanja]

Virginia McLaurin, a daughter of Black sharecroppers who, as a centenarian, became an internet celebrity with her exuberant dance upon meeting Barack and Michelle Obama in 2016, her moves the expression of boundless joy at seeing an African American family in the White House, died Nov. 14 at her son’s home in Olney, Md. She was believed to be 113. . .

Ms. McLaurin grew up in South Carolina during the Jim Crow era, received no formal schooling beyond the eighth grade and came to Washington in 1939. She worked as a nanny, a laundress, a seamstress and a house cleaner, never imagining, she said, that the racial order of American society would change.

When Obama, the first African American president, met with Ms. McLaurin on Feb. 18, 2016, during a White House commemoration of Black History Month, their encounter seemed to embody the arc of history.

In a scene captured in a video that was viewed tens of millions of times online, a presidential aide announced Ms. McLaurin as she entered the Blue Room of the White House. She raised her arms and cane skyward and shimmied as President Obama walked over to greet her, towering over her 4-foot-11 frame.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/15/virginia-mclaurin-obamas-white-house-centennarian-dead/

No firewall version: https://archive.ph/p1VHr

[lpbk2713]

1. The video is priceless.

Link: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/02/22/meet-106-year-old-who-got-dance-president-and-first-lady


I'm so glad Ms McLaurin had this moment.

The First Couple got as much out of it as she did.

[LAS14]

3. Thanks so much for that link!!! nt

[tblue37]

6. Actual video:

[iemanja]

4. How wonderful!

[Ohio Joe]

2. RIP

[tblue37]

5. Video:

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Awwww... what a loss.

But she got to see history and meet it, and I know that was probably the biggest thrill of her life.

R.I.P. Miss McLaurin and may the ancestors smile on you today.