Banks, Carolyn Long
Carolyn Long Banks, 82, a trailblazing civil rights activist and Atlanta City councilmember from 1980 to 1997, died Wednesday, April 12. She was the first Black woman on the council.
A fourth-generation Atlantan, Banks was one of the founders of the Atlanta Student Movement, which helped energized Black college students here and across the nation to stage peaceful demonstrations aimed at ending legalized segregation in public facilities. She also worked with the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Committee on Appeals for Human Rights, a manifesto that outlined the Black community's problems.
In 1980, Banks was appointed to the Atlanta City Council to succeed Marvin Arrington Sr., after he assumed the role of council president. She was re-elected several times and served as president of the National League of Cities in 1994. She left office in 1997.
Read more about Carolyn Long Banks on ajc;com
