Source: "Film of Atlanta Gas Light by Fred Neeley, 1965." Atlanta Gas Light collection, 1957-1989. Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Collection. The University of Georgia Libraries. Click here for source material.
The Linnentown Resolution for Recognition and Redress
Linnentown deserves justice.
Justice requires redress.
On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, after two years of research and political lobbying by the Linnentown Project, the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County, Georgia unanimously adopted the The Linnentown Resolution for Recognition and Redress. The Linnentown Project worked closely with Linnentown residents and County Commissioner Mariah Parker to draft the resolution and to set in motion the path to redress.
It is the first official call for reparations in Georgia. And it is only the beginning. The real work is implementing it. And that's happening now.
See the full resolution below!
The resolution makes seven specific demands:
(1) An official acknowledgement from the Athens-Clarke County government formally recognizing the existence of Linnentown and accepting responsibility for the injustices committed by the City of Athens and the University of Georgia
(2) A large onsite physical memorial called a “Wall of Recognition”
(3) Formal participatory budgeting powers enabling the Linnentown Justice and Memory Committee to make recommendations for allocations in the city budget for economic development and infrastructural support of local impoverished communities
(4) A local Center on Slavery, Race, and Racial Justice co-funded by the University System of Georgia
(5) Historic designation of remaining Linnentown structures
(6) New policies to regulate property acquisition by large public institutions like the University System of Georgia.
(7) Formal recommendations to the Georgia General Assembly to create an Authority on Recognition and Redress to determine the appropriate forms of reparations for Black communities harmed by slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and urban renewal across the State of Georgia.
Even though the physical neighborhood has been destroyed, the Linnentown community is alive and ready for action. In the words of Linnentown resident Geneva Johnson Blasingame, “We’re not gone. We’re still here.”
They deserve justice. It is the only moral thing to do.
So, Linnentown needs your help. It’s time for us to RESPOND to the needs of Athens' Black communities like Linnentown.