(APN) ATLANTA — The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s “America’s Journey for Justice” mass meeting garnered nearly two hundred attendees on Friday, August 14, 2015 at the King Center. Atlanta marked mile 234 of a planned 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to Washington, D.C. The catchphrase “Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, and Our Schools […]
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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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(APN) ATLANTA — The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless is once again under attack by the City of Atlanta. On Tuesday, August 11, 2015, Mayor Kasim Reed announced his intentions to take over the shelter, known colloquially at “Peachtree-Pine,” through eminent domain. The Mayor said he would demolish the building and construct a new shelter to house […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Republicans no longer have a supermajority in Georgia’s State House of Representatives. On Tuesday, August 11, 2015, Democratic candidate Taylor Bennett–an attorney and former football player–won a runoff election for House District 80, defeating J. Max Davis, a Republican. The district includes parts of Sandy Springs in Fulton County and Brookhaven in DeKalb County. […]
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Photograph courtesy of Joyce Dorsey. (APN) ATLANTA — August 06, 2015 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the day the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. However, as Atlanta advocates gathered at Wheat Street Baptist Church to commemorate, it was not solely a celebratory occasion, given that the Supreme Court of […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, August 10, 2015, the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education (APS BOE) voted to hire Gov. Nathan Deal’s soon-to-depart policy advisor, Erin Hames, as a consultant to help prevent a state takeover of schools in the district, a likelihood presented by the legislation of which Hames herself was an architect. In crafting legislation that […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On Wednesday, August 05, 2015, over two hundred people gathered at Liberty Plaza, across from the Georgia State Capitol, to celebrate and support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final Clean Power Plan (CPP). The group was diverse with representatives from the faith community, business community, environmental organizations, elected officials, as well as just plain folks. […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has endorsed Taylor Bennett in the House District 80 Special Election Run-off taking place on Tuesday, July 11, 2015. Bennett is in a Run-off with former Mayor of Brookhaven J. Max Davis. APN endorsed Catherine Bernard in the General Election. Many Democrats are rallying behind Mr. Bennett, […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Two groups involved in a recent pro-Confederate flag rally appear to have threateningly targeted counter-demonstrators online. The counter protesters included Aurielle Marie Lucier, Tommy DiMassimo, Ariella Riapos, and Lucas Javier Valderranna. Their activities were recorded by photographer Steve Eberhardt. The groups had posted on their Facebook pages the names, background information, and contact information of […]
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With additional reporting by Barbara Payne (APN) ATLANTA — Edmund Park, a community in a portion of the Morningside neighborhood located in unincorporated DeKalb County, has submitted a petition to the City of Atlanta, seeking to join the City, pursuant to the sixty percent annexation method under Georgia law. The City of Atlanta Municipal Clerk’s Office is still […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On July 20, 2015, the City Council of Atlanta approved and adopted 15-R-3870, a resolution by Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1 At-Large), calling for Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to approve and implement a study group to determine what additions, if any, could be added Georgia’s well-known icon, Stone Mountain. The carving there depicts three figures […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Following three months of senior-led activism and a court order, the air conditioning is finally repaired and working at Friendship Towers, a senior high-rise subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Atlanta Progressive News previously reported that fed-up tenants took their complaints to HUD after the building manager, Glass Ratner, and the […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On July 02 and 03, 2015, police officers, prosecutors, elected officials, community leaders and healthcare professionals from more than thirty U.S. cities gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. As previously, exclusively reported by Atlanta Progressive News, Atlanta Councilman Kwanza Hall (District 2); Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard; Atlanta […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — After DeKalb police officer Robert Olsen killed Anthony Hill, a young Black man suffering a mental health crisis, Atlanta Progressive News traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to report on a program that has changed how police deal with mentally ill people in that city. http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2015/03/23/feature-in-san-antonio-anthony-hill-wouldve-been-helped-not-shot/ In this follow-up, we look at how the criminal justice, […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — While there is no end in sight to the Beltline-Atlanta Public Schools (APS) dispute, the Atlanta City Council has set aside four million dollars for a possible eventual settlement. The Council could have made an outright good faith payment, but decided to put it in a contingency fund, pending a settlement agreement. The problem is, […]
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