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Keisha Lance Bottoms has a real problem. She’s the mayor of the most important Black city in America, #Atlanta.
she knows that she may actually side w/ the protesters, but can’t allow the city to completely erupt into riots and can’t come at it w/ force like other cities
she knows that she may actually side w/ the protesters, but can’t allow the city to completely erupt into riots and can’t come at it w/ force like other cities
The next 48 hours made define her entire legacy if this gets out of hand.
#Atlanta has almost 50 years of Black mayors and we’ve had some riots, but she can’t fuck this up and she knows it.
This means more to her legacy among black people and voters than anything else
#Atlanta has almost 50 years of Black mayors and we’ve had some riots, but she can’t fuck this up and she knows it.
This means more to her legacy among black people and voters than anything else
Those of you who don’t believe me. Atlanta has had riots.
Most significant was in #Summerhill near Turner Field the year the Braves opened in Atlanta.
That protest was over a police killing of a young Black male by a White policeman.
Most significant was in #Summerhill near Turner Field the year the Braves opened in Atlanta.
That protest was over a police killing of a young Black male by a White policeman.
It was called the #Summerhill riots and it happened at the end of the #Braves inaugural season in #Atlanta.
It involved SNCC, Stokely Carmichael, and the Black Power era in America.
http://allenarchive.iac.gatech.edu/exhibits/show/summerhill-riots
It involved SNCC, Stokely Carmichael, and the Black Power era in America.
http://allenarchive.iac.gatech.edu/exhibits/show/summerhill-riots
It happened one month before the creation of the Black Panthers, who also started because of a police killing in Oakland, California.
This reflect an overall agitation and generational divide. W/ younger generation and others in civil rights being more
This reflect an overall agitation and generational divide. W/ younger generation and others in civil rights being more
Out of touch and frustrated by younger generations who were growing tired of establish leaders.
There was also a general militancy that resulted as ppl were tired of seeing their elders be killed or brutalized and
The influence of Malcolm X had on the overall Black community.
There was also a general militancy that resulted as ppl were tired of seeing their elders be killed or brutalized and
The influence of Malcolm X had on the overall Black community.
Another thing to add. The creation of then #Atlanta – #Fulton county stadium,
purposely destroying working-class #Black and Jewish neighborhoods in Atlanta.
Neighborhoods that were already destroyed by the creation of I-75 & I-85 a few years earlier.
purposely destroying working-class #Black and Jewish neighborhoods in Atlanta.
Neighborhoods that were already destroyed by the creation of I-75 & I-85 a few years earlier.
#Pittsburgh, #Mechanicsville, #TheWestEnd, #Summerhill, #SouthAtlanta and other neighborhoods on the south side of #Atlanta were destroyed for that highway, I-75/85
and is the reason why The West End exists today.
A, my bad for destroying your neighborhood
and is the reason why The West End exists today.
A, my bad for destroying your neighborhood
And back to Atlanta – Fulton county stadium, many of those residents were upset because it also destroyed another neighborhood in order to build a parking lot.
That neighborhood was the Washington-Rawson neighborhood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%E2%80%93Rawson
That neighborhood was the Washington-Rawson neighborhood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%E2%80%93Rawson
Like many development and projects in #Atlanta, the highways in combination w/ the new baseball stadium the #Braves and the obscene amount of parking that destroyed the southside of town was touted as being positive economic development that never happened
What you gotta know about #Atlanta in the 1960s is this, White flight is happening as the city goes a majority white in 1960 majority black by 1970.
And because of the highway as many whites could leave the city for the first time and never come back.
And because of the highway as many whites could leave the city for the first time and never come back.
By the time the riot happens during the last week of playing for the Braves in September 1966, tensions between Black #Atlantans and the police are already high.
Combined w/ a rapidly deteriorating economic and segregated base on the south side of the city.
Combined w/ a rapidly deteriorating economic and segregated base on the south side of the city.
What’s wild is that black people were basically second class citizens and only occupied about a 20% The available residential lots in the entire city in the 1960s
Crowding is one of the reasons why so many Blacks left after the destruction of the neighborhoods, for the creation of the highways, then the stadium & parking lot.
But the people in #Atlanta’s relationship to the police didn’t really change and issues related to poverty also did not change
Also that’s a great book if you have a chance to read it called: The Separate City: Black Communities in the Urban South, 1940-1968 https://www.amazon.com/Separate-City-Black-Communities-1940-1968/dp/0813119111
So back to the right and Summerhill itself. It lasted from September 6 to September 10, 1966. It was one of the last major riots in Atlanta for a while.
As the city notably did not riot for the death of MLK two years later.
As the city notably did not riot for the death of MLK two years later.
In response to the riot on racial lines when exactly how you would think it would:
http://allenarchive.iac.gatech.edu/exhibits/show/summerhill-riots/responses-to-summerhill
http://allenarchive.iac.gatech.edu/exhibits/show/summerhill-riots/responses-to-summerhill
And Atlanta doesn’t really have any type of riot again until 1992 after The Rodney King verdict. https://www.ajc.com/news/from-1992-atlanta-rodney-king-riots/cqNImOgyvgWN6NnhOmpn7M/
And here’s the other thing. Outside of Freaknik 95 when Greenbriar got raided.
#Atlanta does not have these type of events again for 20 years until the rise of the #BlackLivesMatter
movement in the mid-2010s
#Atlanta does not have these type of events again for 20 years until the rise of the #BlackLivesMatter
movement in the mid-2010s
Sidebar: we need a documentary on Freaknik and especially Freaknik 95’ in Greenbriar Mall.
This is true #Atlanta history for anyone who grew up/lived in the 90s or even heard about it as a kid.
Check out @emarvelous article on it
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/90s/freaknik-the-rise-and-fall-of-atlantas-most-infamous-street-party/
This is true #Atlanta history for anyone who grew up/lived in the 90s or even heard about it as a kid.
Check out @emarvelous article on it
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/90s/freaknik-the-rise-and-fall-of-atlantas-most-infamous-street-party/
And when you look up Atlanta’s history regarding riots, very few are ever rarely mentioned of and I find that very interesting...
That was because of the fall out to the 1906 race riot in #Atlanta.
Which fundamentally changed race relations and the demographics of the city.
That was because of the fall out to the 1906 race riot in #Atlanta.
Which fundamentally changed race relations and the demographics of the city.
I wrote about this late last year for the @SaportaReport
The 1906 race riot might be one of the five most fundamental moments regarding race in Atlanta’s history https://saportareport.com/remembering-the-1906-race-riot-in-atlanta/
The 1906 race riot might be one of the five most fundamental moments regarding race in Atlanta’s history https://saportareport.com/remembering-the-1906-race-riot-in-atlanta/
To put in perspective. Imagine what’s happening in Minnesota but happen throughout Atlanta from current day Georgia State, Underground Atlanta, Decatur St and all the way down to Turner Field and the West End https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/reasons-celebrate-black-history-month-the-1906-atlanta-riot/kbBasrl5ynpbBjsrNwPixM/
And when you realize the result of this is a strategic cooperation between Black and White biz elites.
This ‘Atlanta way of doing things’, To put on the forward facing social ethos that puts reputation and business growth above all else
This ‘Atlanta way of doing things’, To put on the forward facing social ethos that puts reputation and business growth above all else
This help separate Atlanta from other southern cities such as Birmingham. Which in 1950 was about the same size Atlanta.
But by 1970 Atlanta we have the airport, Delta Airlines and three professional sports teams, as well as a growing in migration from other places in the south
But by 1970 Atlanta we have the airport, Delta Airlines and three professional sports teams, as well as a growing in migration from other places in the south
This Atlanta way of doing things has positives and negatives.
And it’s also a documentary I’m working on of the same name called @theatlantaway
it’s why Atlanta’s Black mayors have a very special relationship with the business community.
And it’s also a documentary I’m working on of the same name called @theatlantaway
it’s why Atlanta’s Black mayors have a very special relationship with the business community.
This Atlanta way of doing things, is why I focus my documentary on Atlanta’s relationship to #gentrification, class and housing.
But also like @bomani_jones mentioned to me earlier, Atlanta’s mayors follow whatever the biz community wants
But also like @bomani_jones mentioned to me earlier, Atlanta’s mayors follow whatever the biz community wants
Despite having Black political power in the city, #Atlanta still has no Black political power in the state house and no strong Black business community to counter on decision making.
In some ways we have a pyrrhic victory but I don’t know if you want to talk about that today
In some ways we have a pyrrhic victory but I don’t know if you want to talk about that today
KLB, like many of the other Black mayors before her have to make sure that the business community in Atlanta is mostly appeased on things.
We do not have Black billionaires or multi billion dollar firms to give her the base of support that she would need.
We do not have Black billionaires or multi billion dollar firms to give her the base of support that she would need.
We do have voting power but even that is waning. You see that in 2 of the the last three mayoral races.
There are less Black voters in the city of #Atlanta, but they also may not just vote for the Black candidate.
You have to be the mayor of the two Atlanta’s
There are less Black voters in the city of #Atlanta, but they also may not just vote for the Black candidate.
You have to be the mayor of the two Atlanta’s
But we’re going to see more of these type of tough scenarios for the rest of the year.
We still have coronavirus out here, the election in November, an affordable housing problem, a budget shortfall and what ever general crazy shit happens between now and the end of the year.
We still have coronavirus out here, the election in November, an affordable housing problem, a budget shortfall and what ever general crazy shit happens between now and the end of the year.
OK I got to go get back to writing, but tomorrow I’m writing about the history of policing in #America and I’m doing it in my own newsletter that I hope you guys sign up for.
If you enjoy this thread please sign up for the newsletter below https://iamkingwilliams.substack.com
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