Blackity Black History Month: ATL Icon Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
“We are a multi-faceted city, continuously evolving. Atlanta influences everything! There is a synergy between our corporate, philanthropic, government, and arts and culture community that is unparalleled."
— Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Keisha Lance Bottoms in the 60th mayor of Atlanta, and just the second Black woman to hold the position. The first was former Mayor Shirley Franklin. Bottoms was born and raised in Atlanta. Before becoming mayor, she was a member of the Atlanta City Council, representing District 11 in Southwest Atlanta — SWATS.
In her time as mayor, she has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump and his supporters, including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. In early July 2020, as COVID-19 cases escalated in Atlanta, Bottoms issued an executive order requiring everyone to wear a mask within city limits. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp then issued an order suspending all local mask mandates and filed a lawsuit against Bottoms in Superior Court, seeking to invalidate her order and prevent her from talking about it. He later dropped the lawsuit.
Bottoms had been considered for President Joe Biden's vice presidential nominee, and she later turned down an offer of a role in President Biden's cabinet.
ABOUT BLACKITY BLACK HISTORY MONTH @ 85 NORTH
Each day this month, we'll be sharing wise words from Black Atlanta icons — some who are household names and some who you may not know. Atlanta history IS Black history, and this is our way of sharing it.