Following up on a promise he made several weeks ago as first reported by 11Alive, Mayor Kasim Reed has named a confederate monuments advisory committee.
The committee will review street names and city-owned monuments linked to the confederacy, will evaluate each street name and marker and recommend how the community can be involved in their handling.
Reed first said he was forming the committee back in August after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned violent.
“The tragic events in Charlottesville brought renewed attention to Confederate markers and street names around the country, with many elected officials, clergy and members of the public calling for their removal," Reed said Friday. "To ensure that we approach this in a thoughtful manner, and that we include community input in the process, my administration and the Atlanta City Council worked to assemble a group of advisors to consider each marker.
Here is a list of committee members:
- Sheffield Hale, president and CEO, Atlanta History Center;
- Derreck Kayongo, CEO, Center for Civil and Human Rights;
- Sonji Jacobs Dade, senior director of corporate affairs, Cox Enterprises;
- Dan Moore, founder, APEX Museum;
- Shelley Rose, senior associate director, southeast region, Anti-Defamation League;
- Larry Gallerstedt, CEO, Cousins Properties; trustee, Robert Woodruff Foundation;
- Douglas Blackmon, senior fellow and director of public programs, University of Virginia’s Miller Center; Pulitzer Prize-winning author;
- Nina Gentry, owner, Gentry Planning Services;
- Regina Brewer, preservation consultant;
- Martha Porter Hall, community advocate;
- Brenda Muhammad, executive director, Atlanta Victim Assistance.
The first committee meeting is scheduled for Oct. 18 at Atlanta City Hall.
