Currently, the world's oldest "verified" living person is a lady named Besse Cooper who lives in Monroe, Georgia. She was born on August 26, 1896 and is 114 years old.
Mrs. Cooper is recognized as such because she's able to provide a birth certificate, among other required material, to qualify as the oldest living person in the world.
However, Mrs. Rebecca Lanier was born black in Mississippi 119 years ago, during a time when black people weren't provided birth certificates. Remember, 1892 is only 27 years after the end of the American Civil War. So laws and practices designed to oppress and control black people were very much in supply.
So here's what we have; a woman who has lived through three centuries and witnessed virtually every great event of the 1900s, but can't be officially recognized for her experience due to a political technicality that has been universally admonished by the global community.
Hey Guinness. Mitigating circumstances much?
Here's a text version of the story just to be thorough.
peace.
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