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What’s happened to the middle class?

The 1970’s were difficult times economically and socially. Rampant inflation, an oil embargo and the Iranian hostage Crisis. Maybe it’s Watergate, the Viet Nam War or perhaps the only presidential resignation that seem to make it a memorable decade. All those events set the stage for the Reagan presidency of the 80’s. Partisans ignore the Iran-Contra Scandal, that the national debt, unemployment (10.8% in 1983) and the largest percentage drop in the stock market since …

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The Edmund Pettus Bridge

The Edmund Pettus Bridge, the scene of Bloody Sunday. If your driving from Atlanta toward Selma, Alabama, you probably will take highway 80 (US-80) when you head west from Montgomery. It’s a pretty long drive. As I remember, its nearly 50 miles. If you’re doing a civil rights trail pilgrimage, you will think about the marchers that made the trip in the opposite direction, east from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. On my first …

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Maynard H. Jackson, Jr.

Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003). I first met the Honorable Mayor Jackson in the fall of 1976. He was already the mayor of Atlanta, I was a young transplant from New York City. The last time I spoke with “hizzoner” was in Memphis, TN in the late 90′s. Impressive is an understatement. In a class all his own. Driven by his own rules and traveling his own course. His …

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