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Monday, September 8, 2008
A word from Shirley Franklin on the death of her ex-husband
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Franklin, former husband to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, died today.
Here is the AJC take on his life and death.
But this evening, Shirley Franklin sent out a more detailed obituary to her friends. Read it here in its entirety:
Atlanta native entrepreneur and entertainment attorney David McCoy Franklin died today of natural causes at age 65. His family has lived in Georgia since the early 1800s starting in Sparta. He was one of the greater-than-life Atlanta citizens whose lives defined the Civil Rights era, beginning as a youth member and organizer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. David made significant contributions in business and politics.
Attorney David Franklin
Highly successful during his lifetime, Franklin managed the careers of Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Peabo Bryson, Miles Davis, Cicely Tyson, Lonette McKee, Luther Vandross, Lou Gossett, and Richard Pryor.
He was also co-founder of the prestigious Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, which now has over 600 members.
Committed to education, he made significant contributions to Morehouse through his service on the Morehouse Research Institute Advisory Board. His love of art was reflected in his collection, which at times included artists such as Romare Bearden and Ernie Barnes.
It was through his financial support that the statue “Expelled Because of Their Color” can be found on the state Capitol grounds. A voracious reader, he enjoyed everything from L.A. Dodgers Fact Book and the daily Notre Dame Blue and Gold Report to everything James Baldwin wrote.
The outspoken and frequently controversial Franklin always had a love of politics and an interest in the Civil Rights movement. Although he never ran for office, he is often cited by political observers as being instrumental in Maynard Jackson’s political operations. In 1973 Jackson was elected Atlanta’s first black mayor and exploded on the national scene. In every subsequent municipal Atlanta election, the game plan and strategy was built on the Jackson model.
Franklin’s professional political career [began], when at age 29, he returned to his native Atlanta from Washington D.C. as a partner with the law firm of Jackson, Patterson and Parks. At that time, Maynard Jackson was vice mayor, with his sights set on making history as Atlanta’s first black mayor.
As one of Jackson’s chief strategists in 1973, Franklin utilized entertainment contacts to raise thousands of dollars for the race, including a fund-raiser at the Omni starring Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, and Gladys Knight. Franklin is credited with helping to run a shrewd campaign.
On Election Day he carefully choreographed the “get out the vote” campaign with hundreds of volunteers, transporting thousands of black voters to the polls throughout the city.
Reared in Atlanta by his mother, Jean McCoy Moore, and his grandmother, Kate Dickson McCoy, Franklin attended Turner High School. Franklin’s interest in current events and business were sparked by an extraordinary curiosity and the dynamism of the African-American business leadership of the time.
After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta, he moved to Washington D.C., where he took a position with the Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance. He attended American University law school at night and passed the Washington D.C. bar. It was during this period that he met and — some years later — married Shirley Franklin.
The Franklins have three children Kai, Cabral and Kali — all current residents of Atlanta.
Franklin’s entertainment career began in Washington DC where he met the then-unknown Donny Hathaway. Franklin’s keen negotiating skills on behalf of his artists soon brought him a reputation of gaining the best deals in the industry — attracting the many high-profiled artists.
Working with Ahmed Ertegun of Atlantic Records, he was the first black attorney to negotiate six figure contracts for his clients. He later worked on behalf of Richard Pryor, negotiating the first multi-performance contract for a black comedy artist on network television.
As Mayor Jackson’s law partner, coupled with the continued success of his high-profile entertainment clients, his skillful entrepreneurial and political talents became the basis of the development of the Atlanta’s minority joint venture and business enterprise program soon to become a national standard.
He worked as a strategic political advisor on the regional and national level. The numerous campaigns ranged from former Vice President Mondale and Senator Edward Kennedy to Ellis Arnall and Governor Roy Barnes.
One of Franklin’s successful business ventures was Franklin & Wilson Airport Concessions (FWAC). After initial negotiations with Ed Elson of Airport News, his became the first African-American retail concession in the history of the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Later he started a strategic partnership with worldwide airport news concessionaire, W.H. Smith in 1994, and Ronald W. Wilson, a long-term friend and business associate.
During his life, Franklin was known as a strong competitor with a razor sharp mind combined with extraordinary foresight and an amazing ability to make deals.
Franklin will be fondly remembered by many for his political acumen, business savvy, and assured confidence. An ardent supporter of black and progressive candidates for public office, Franklin was also a proud father who instilled in his children the importance of education, entrepreneurship and self confidence.
In addition to his three children, Kai, Cabral (Candice) and Kali, he is survived by three grandchildren, Kaci, Kori and Keson; two sisters, Michaele Jean Franklin Jackson, Valerie (Ronald) Knight and four nephews, Ronald Jr., David, Michael and Jules.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 11 at Radcliffe Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Morehouse College Scholarship Fund in honor of David Franklin.
Photo credit: Rich Addicks/AJC
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An ‘uppity’ second look at the word
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So over the weekend, there was much discussion over the word “uppity” — and whether its segregation-era connotation still lingers when applied to African-Americans.
Last Thursday, in a conversation with reporters, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland applied the term to Barack and Michelle Obama. The Coweta County congressman later explained that, in the Southern mill village where he grew up, the word was racially neutral.
And as it turns out, Westmoreland may be a victim of selective persecution.
For that very morning, hours before Westmoreland made his gaffe in Washington, 8th District congressional candidate Rick Goddard of Houston County, the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, used the same phraseology over the radio. Just not about Obama.
It was on the “Kenny B. and Charles E. Show” down in Macon, a strange hybrid of a morning news show that was only on its third broadcast. The program can be found on the Macon Telegraph web site, on 100.9 FM, and — for an hour each morning — on WPGA-TV. All at the same time.
Goddard was just back from the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
This is the sound clip sent to us by the Telegraph. Here’s what Goddard said:
“I’ll tell you one thing, I think we’re going to have a very, very strong, capable president in John McCain. Last night, Newt Gingrich disarmed a very uppity newscaster who tried to question him on the capabilities and leadership of Governor Palin. There’s simply no comparison between a governor and a community organizer….”
Now, you could say that Goddard was referring to media elitism, a topic that was all the rage up in St. Paul last week. Then again, you could also say that Ron Allen, the MSNBC reporter in question, is African-American. See the clip in question below.
Tim Baker, spokesman for the Goddard campaign, had this:
“A member of the media dropped all pretense of objectivity during an interview with Newt Gingrich to arrogantly launch an attack on Gov. Sarah Palin’s experience, to which Rick came to her defense and simply evoked a word — that by definition — described the reporter’s demeanor as being superior, arrogant and presumptuous.
“To try and smear Rick’s character by suggesting that he meant anything other than the definition is ludicrous.”
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Perhaps the newest headquarters for “Go Fish Georgia”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue knows exactly how many houses he owns. He just forgot to tell the right people about the newest one.
Creative Loafing, this city’s alternative publication, just posted this:
According to the Butts County Tax Assessor, Perdue and his wife purchased two lots on [Jackson] lake in Sept. 2007. There’s one problem: He never claimed it on his annual financial disclosure, which would be a no-no according to the State Ethics Commission.
The Jackson Progress-Argus, the county’s local newspaper and legal organ, reported Perdue’s wife requested water and sewer service at the lake house on Sept. 28. Neighbors interviewed by the paper said the couple moved into the home in November. Since then, it’s apparently been a vacation spot for Perdue and his family.
On their personal blogs, the couple’s grown children refer to the home and posted photos of family gatherings there….
After being contacted by CL on Monday in regards to the property, Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley checked with his boss. He said it was a “complete oversight” and that the governor’s office would file an amended report today.
My AJC colleague Ben Smith tapped some computer keys and came up with a purchase price of $550,000 for the new slice of Perdue real estate, based on the transaction documents available on-line.
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There’s the myth, and then there are the statistics
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over at InsiderAdvantage this morning, Dick Pettys explores a declaration that Secretary of State Karen Handel made last week in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention.
The topic was the alleged surge of new, Barack Obama-driven voters in Georgia. “It’s a myth, y’all,” Handel said.
Writes Pettys:
Statistics on her web site show that between January and August of this year, black voter registration rose by 149,840 (from 1,226,426 to 1,376,266 - an increase of 12.2%).
During the same time period, white voter registration increased by 159,650 (from 2,967,199 to 3,126,840 - an increase of 5.38%).
That’s 309,490 newly-registered voters during the time period, 51.5 percent of them white and 48.4 percent of them black.
Whatever it is - or is not - it’s different from what was happening four years ago.
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