Category Archives: civil rights

Former State Sen. Julian Bond, 1940-2015, !Presente!

Julian Bond

Photograph by Eduardo Montes-Bradley.   (APN) ATLANTA — Former State Sen. Horace Julian Bond (D-Atlanta), a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, has passed away, on Saturday, August 15, 2015, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced this morning, Sunday, August 16.   In 1965, Bond was one of eleven Black candidates elected to the Georgia House of Representatives after […]

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Thirteen Activists Arrested in Lenox Road Protest of Police Brutality

Photograph by Steve Eberhardt (APN) ATLANTA — On Saturday, December 20, 2014, five days before Christmas, thirteen activists blocked the intersection at Lenox Road and Peachtree Street during heavy holiday traffic going to Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza to shop.   They shut down shopping as usual for ninety minutes to bring media attention to the increasing number of black […]

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APD Denies Targeting Organizers of Police Brutality, Occupy Protests

With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale, News Editor (APN) ATLANTA — Progressive activists are concerned about what they see as Atlanta Police singling out and cracking down on social justice organizers, as protests against state-sanctioned, racist police violence sweep the nation.  They cite three incidents over the last week and a half, including two arrests of organizers Tim Franzen […]

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Atlantans Protest Ferguson Grand Jury; 26 Arrested

(APN) ATLANTA — Last week, some twenty-six Metro Atlantans, including two journalists, were arrested, during Atlanta protests in the wake of a grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. The decision was announced late Monday, November 24, 2014.  On Tuesday, November 25, thousands […]

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Atlanta Student Movement Historical Trail to be Unveiled with Interactive Markers

APN) ATLANTA — Fifteen historical interactive markers are currently being erected around the Atlanta University Center to memorialize the student movement that sparked the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta back in 1960. At unveiling is to take place on tomorrow, Saturday, November 01, 2014. On June 07, 2010, a Commission was created to identify locations where these historical actions took […]

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Voter Registration Case Likely Headed to Georgia Supreme Court (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA — The voter registration case brought by New Georgia Project (NGP) and other voter rights organizations against Secretary of State (SOS) Brian Kemp appears likely to head to the Supreme Court of Georgia, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. The attorneys for the Plaintiffs will be making a decision about whether to appeal “post haste,” Julie Houk, Senior Special […]

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Hearing Held on NGP’s “Missing” Voter Registration Forms, as DeKalb, Chatham Settle

(APN) ATLANTA — Fulton County Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher did not immediately issue a ruling, after a hearing yesterday, October 24, 2014, on the writ of mandamus sought by New Georgia Project (NGP) and other voter advocacy groups with respect to what they say are approximately 40,000 missing voter registration forms. A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary form […]

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Kemp Faces Lawsuit over Forty Thousand “Missing” Voter Registration Form

With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale, News Editor (APN) ATLANTA — The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national organization, has filed a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court against Secretary of State Brian Kemp and five Georgia counties, regarding more than 40,000 voter registration applications that they say remain unprocessed. They filed the suit on behalf […]

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Atlanta Police Arrest Fast Food Workers Fighting for a Living Wage

By Anna Simonton, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (APN) ATLANTA — Ten fast food workers were arrested on Thursday, September 04, 2014, after blocking one lane of traffic on Ponce de Leon Avenue, near Boulevard, in an act of civil disobedience.   The action was intended to pressure their employers to pay a living wage and allow workers to […]

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National Civil and Human Rights Museum Opens in Atlanta

(APN) ATLANTA — Earlier this week, Atlanta’s new National Civil and Human Rights Museum opened to the public.  The museum is located at 100 Ivan Allen Jr., Boulevard, between the World of Coca-Cola museum and the Georgia Aquarium.  The land was donated by Coca-Cola.  The museum cost 80 million dollars to build, relying to a great extent on corporate donors. […]

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Rally Held for Baby Injured by Police Grenade during No-knock Home Invasion

By Betty Couvertier and Matthew Charles Cardinale. (APN) HABERSHAM COUNTY — On today, Saturday, June 06, 2014, activists from across Georgia converged on Habersham County to rally for an end to the drug war, whose latest victim is a baby, Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh.   Baby Bou Bou was injured by a flash bang grenade, a military-grade weapon, that police […]

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Clark Atlanta Objects to Morris Brown College Land Sale (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA — Clark Atlanta University (CAU) is objecting to a proposed sale of a large portion of Morris Brown College’s campus–a proposed sale of all but three buildings–in bankruptcy proceedings, to the Atlanta Development Authority (nicknamed Invest Atlanta) and Friendship Baptist Church.     The University points to documents, obtained by Atlanta Progressive News, that show that when the […]

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Ninth Moral Monday Focused on Voting Rights Act

(APN) ATLANTA — On the ninth Moral Monday in Georgia, held on Monday, March 20, 2014, over three hundred people crowded in the rotunda of the State Capitol to hear leaders in the civil rights movement and others explain the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and why it is still important today.   The speakers included Dr. Francys Johnson, President, Georgia […]

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Evelyn Lowery, 1925-2013, !Presente! (UPDATE 2)

(APN) Mrs. Evelyn Gibson Lowery, a civil rights and women’s empowerment hero, died early Thursday morning, September 26, 2013 in her home after complications from a stroke.  She was 88.     Evelyn and her husband, the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, were active in the Civil Rights Movement from its inception.  The two participated in the march for voting […]

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(IPS) U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Voting Rights Act Provision

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/06/u-s-supreme-court-strikes-down-key-voting-rights-provision/ ATLANTA, Georgia, Jun 25 2013 (IPS) – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision, Section 4, of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 in a five to four ruling today, halting enforcement of Section 5 of the act.  One of the key achievements of the Civil Rights […]

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