Aunt Juanita Walker Ross Turns 95 on September 11, 2025

 

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By Gloria Zuurveen

The Southern Truth is here today to express my love and admiration for my Aunt Juanita, who helped raised me from a child. In my eyes, she was the richest aunt in the South. Why? Because Aunt Juanita had the brick house with the indoor bathrooms, and she always had the strength to stand tall against the naysayers when it came to doing her own thang.

That’s why the song “It’s Your Thing” by Johnny Taylor will forever remind me of her. It was at Aunt Juanita’s house where I learned how to do the “Bump,” because that’s where the happening was—day and night. Relatives would come down from Chicago, gathering around her table to play Pitty Pat or Gin Rummy, two of the most popular card games of the time. And one thing was for sure: at Aunt Juanita’s house, everybody had a good time.

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Long before women were widely recognized as entrepreneurs, Aunt Juanita was already setting the example. At just 27 years old, she owned her own café—The Blue Flame—where the musicians played and the people came alive. From Aretha Franklin to maybe even Ike Turner, it was at the Blue Flame where we danced to Rufus Thomas’ “Do the Dog.” It was the place where the cotton field workers left their pain at the door and threw down with joy on the dance floor.

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Thanks to Aunt Juanita, the flame is still burning. Even now at 95, she’s still got the fire. She makes her daily trips to Walmart, driving herself, picking out the best-selling items that she knows will fly off the shelf at her in-home “Candy Lady” store —because people, young and old, still want what Aunt Juanita has to offer. She is proof that life and youth are all in the mind. At 95, she remains active, effective, and inspiring. I’m so glad I was born and bred from her branch. She encourages me to know that, like her, I too will be just fine.

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And let me not forget—Aunt Juanita is a fighter. When I was a child and got kicked out of school during those tumultuous times of integration away from segregation, it was Aunt Juanita who took me back, stood her ground, and addressed the matter with her strong Southern roots. To me, that showed that a Black woman standing up for justice and righteousness was always the right way, especially when we, as Black people, had to face the power and prejudice of white folks in Mississippi. As a matter of fact, she once told me about how back in the days when the Freedom Riders came through Senatobia and needed housing—because, as history reminds us, Blacks couldn’t just lodge anywhere—when others would make room for them to sleep outside on pallets, she insisted on bringing them inside and making them comfortable. That was a dangerous move in the Jim Crow days, but my Aunt Juanita was never one to back down from anybody.

These are but a few incredible stories Aunt Juanita has shared over the years. But it’s her birthday, and I don’t want to weigh it down with too much history and chatter. Because to reach the age of 95 is a blessing! And Aunt Juanita is one to constantly say, “I pray for everybody.” Today, we see the evidence of her prayers in tangible ways—she is still with us, vibrant and strong, to celebrate her big and beautiful blessed day. She taught me not to be afraid, but to speak up and speak out.

So today, I lift my voice with joy and say: Happy 95th Birthday, Aunt Juanita!

The Southern Truth salutes you today and makes this tribute one to remember.