By Guest Columnist ANTONIO MOLINA, chairman, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
As a U.S. Navy Veteran, a community leader here in the state of Georgia, and current chairman of the board for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I am incredibly proud of the progress that the Latino community has made across the nation and the Peach state.
By Guest Columnist RICHARD ROSE, president, Atlanta Branch of the NAACP
America’s enduring human tragedy is racism that started with Columbus’ miscalculated arrival in the Caribbean. The failure to successfully enslave Indigenous people led to the importation by force of sub-Sahara Africans in 1619 that was justified by Christianity.
There’s been a tension: Atlanta leaders do want police, but they want a “transformation” too.
By Guest Columnist FELICIA A. MOORE, president of the Atlanta City Council
Like many people excited to ring in the new year, I also referred to the year 2020 as the year of “perfect vision.” This year we would see clearly, with a perfect line of sight toward our expected outcomes. The elders of my generation often say, “Be careful what you wish for … you just might get it.”
Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore urged Wednesday for a reform of the Atlanta Police Department, not a dismantling of APD. Moore presented three specific recommendations that bring the Atlanta City Council squarely into the discussion about APD reform, along with the administration of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
If these protests “feel different,” it’s also true that change is liable to be slow.
“I refuse to be another hashtag.” The spirit of this message on a placard is driving efforts across the country to defund police departments or to reform police practices. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has set a June 18 deadline for recommendations to reform the city’s use-of-force policy, adopted in 2018.
At public appearances, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms regularly celebrates the city’s moves to close the city jail and get rid of cash bail, but one member of City Council is using the word “failure” for how bail waivers are being implemented.
The legislative effort to “revolutionize” the not-for-profit health care delivery system in Georgia is set to run head-on into entrenched hospital interests that have crowed victory in defending a law that dates to 1979 and protects the status quo.
The candidates who are running to replace outgoing Republican Gov. Nathan Deal are splitting on what’s probably the incumbent’s marquee policy: changes to the criminal justice system that have driven down the state’s prison population.
