From City Hall to Magic City, Capital B Atlanta reporters covered breaking news, secured exclusive interviews with newsmakers, unearthed painful history, and published groundbreaking enterprise stories that resonated online and on social media. Here are our top 10 stories of the year. Georgia is quietly working on building the largest ICE facility in the country, […]
Black history
Posted inCapital B Atlanta, Everyday Heroes, History
MLK and Me: How a Young Freedom Fighter Helped Integrate Atlanta
As a freshman Spelmanite in 1960, Georgianne Thomas, then 18, was so committed to the Atlanta Student Movement that not even the burn of a klansman’s cigarette being pressed into her skin could make her lose her cool or deter her from protesting segregation. “We’re not supposed to stop the line. So you let the […]
Posted inCulture
Jimmy Carter’s Pivotal Role in Georgia’s Black Civil Rights Struggle
This story was originally published on February 25, 2023, and has been updated. Jimmy Carter wasn’t as outspoken about racial politics on the campaign trail during his second run for governor in 1970, but after winning the race, he made his then-controversial position on integration clear. “The time for racial discrimination is over,” Carter declared […]
Posted inCulture
What to Do About Stone Mountain? Black Residents Talk Park’s Racist Past.
N’neka Scruggs refuses to let Stone Mountain Park’s massive memorial carving of Confederate leaders bother her. “That was put there as an act of aggression towards Black people,” Scruggs said of the 51-year-old memorial site, where the Ku Klux Klan used to burn crosses. “I’d rather it not be there, but I don’t pay it […]
Posted inCulture
Oakland Cemetery’s First Black Director of Horticulture Talks Site’s Complicated Past
Somewhere between gardening and a good Black history book is where you’ll find Abra Lee. Lee, the first Black director of horticulture at Oakland Cemetery, is an ornamental horticulturist by trade. She’s also the author of the forthcoming book Conquer The Soil: Black America and the Untold Stories of Our Country’s Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers. […]
Posted inCulture
How Bunnie Jackson-Ransom Changed Atlanta
Mother. Businesswoman. Leader. Author These are the words used to remember and describe the legacy of Burnella “Bunnie” Jackson-Ransom. The former first lady of Atlanta’s first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson, died Feb. 2 at the age of 82. Originally from North Carolina, Jackson-Ransom moved to Atlanta in 1965, where she embarked on a nearly 60-year […]
Posted inCulture
Meet Ranger Marty, the Man Tasked With Preserving Martin Luther King’s Legacy
Just the mention of Coretta Scott King’s name is enough to bring a reflective smile to the face of park ranger Marty Smith, aka Ranger Marty, the man tasked with preserving part of her life’s work and the legacy of her husband, slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. “We wouldn’t be here today […]
Posted inCulture
Black Residents Talk Pride, Legacy, and Racial Tension on MLK Day
Each year — the third Monday in the month of January — marks the federal holiday recognizing the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his nonviolent campaign to end racial segregation in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. One of the most influential civil right leaders of our time, […]
Posted inCulture
First Person: Edward Pruett, One of Atlanta’s First Black Mall Santas
EDWARD PRUETT HAD WORKED as a skycap with Eastern Air Lines at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport for years. So when he was asked in 1989 to pilot St. Nick’s sleigh at the Mall West End, it wasn’t a big stretch. Of course, being one of the first Black Santas in an Atlanta mall required more […]
Posted inEducation, K-12
Will Georgia’s Book Ban Target Black Authors? Educators Have Concerns.
Cicely Lewis loves being a school librarian. Lewis has spent nearly two decades in education. For the past seven years, she’s worked as a librarian at Meadowcreek High School in Norcross. The job encompasses everything she’s drawn to, including the teaching component, and an opportunity to train other educators. Getting to buy books is just […]