Two Atlanta City Council members’ protest over the lack of representation of Black women in leadership positions at City Hall — delivered via a paid ad in the daily newspaper — turned what’s normally a mundane process into a flashpoint about diversity.
Catch up quick: In the Jan. 1 edition of the AJC, Council members Marci Collier Overstreet and Andrea Boone placed an ad criticizing Council President Doug Shipman, who is white, for breaking four decades of tradition and not appointing any Black women to lead legislative committees in the predominantly Black city.
- The seven committees oversee transportation, public safety, the water and sewer system and other issues that affect the daily lives of Atlanta residents, workers and visitors.
The ad rippled through the city, with leaders of the Georgia NAACP branch and activists calling on Shipman to revisit his picks.
What’s happening: Tuesday, in what he called an effort to make the council more responsive to all residents,…
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