Testing confirms Attorney General Keith Ellison’s mother died of COVID-19
In this Dec. 2, 2016, file photo, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., listens during a forum on the future of the Democratic Party, in Denver.[AP/David Zalubowski]
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s mother was confirmed to have died from COVID-19.
Minneapolis City Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison, the son of the attorney general, said in a New York Times editorial that Clida Cora Martinez Ellison died on March 26 at the age of 81. Testing has since confirmed that she died of COVID-19.
My brothers and I (Leonard, Brian, Tony and Eric) had a unbelievably cool mom, Clida Martinez Ellison. Smart, funny, tenacious, foodie, and so much more. Early this morning, she passed on. Prayers. Gratitude for her 81 years here with us; incredible person. pic.twitter.com/1wa4NyFf0i
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) March 26, 2020
"Last week, I learned that Nana had tested positive for the coronavirus, and knowing that makes me angrier — as though she didn’t truly pass but was snatched from us," Jeremiah Ellison said.
Martinez Ellison resided in Michigan and was working in the juvenile division of Michigan’s third circuit court.
Ellison’s editorial, "‘Woe Is You,’ White People Keep Telling Us: This virus is poised to rip through black neighborhoods like mine," describes the frustration that minority communities are dealing with in the face of a pandemic that he says is disproportionately affecting minorities.