Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre Commemorates 115th Anniversary of Historic Tragedy
Coalition will launch a week of events examining the massacre beginning September 17
Atlanta, Ga. (September 10, 2021) A collaboration of Atlanta based organizations, the Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre (The Coalition), will mark the 115th anniversary of the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre, with 10 days of programming from Friday, September 17 to Sunday, September 26, 2021. The commemoration, called the “1906 Atlanta Race Massacre – Days of Remembrance” will recognize the four days of violence (9/22-25) perpetrated by white mobs who killed at least 25 Black men and women.
The Coalition previously commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Atlanta Race Massacre, formerly known as the Atlanta Race Riot. The group honored victims and surviving family members, and successfully petitioned the Georgia Board of Education to add the Atlanta Race Riots to its eighth grade standards. The new coalition, along with local social justice, human rights, and education organizations, aims to continue its efforts.
“Acknowledging the City of Atlanta’s historic tragedies can help build a climate of transformation while drawing important connections to current events,” said event organizers.
The Massacre
Leading up to September 22, 1906, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Journal, Atlanta Evening News, and Atlanta Georgian ran sensationalized and unproven articles about Black men assaulting white women. Over the next four days, more than five thousand white men attacked Black men, women and children, destroyed property, and murdered at least 25 Black men and women. Days after the massacre, a headline in The Atlanta Journal minimized the tragedy: “Atlanta is Herself Again; Business Activity Restored and the Riot is Forgotten.” None of the killers were convicted.
Calendar of Events
A summary of events, notable speakers, media contacts and Coalition Partners follows below. Full program and speakers are listed on The Coalition website 1906ATLRaceMassacre.org.
Friday, September 17 – Sunday, September 19
- City-Wide Remembrance by all Faiths. All Faith Leaders across the city are invited in their own places of Worship & Meditation to prayerfully Remember the Massacre and the present need for the healing of Reconciliation and Restoration.
Sunday, September 19
- 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Equitable Dinners: Lift Every Voice, in partnership with Fulton County Remembrance Coalition: Anti-Racism and Local History with King Williams, Writer. Podcast Host.
Wednesday, September 22
- 11:30 am – 1:00 pm. Fulton County Remembrance Coalition: “Honoring Resilience + Remembering Brownsville: A Silent Walk,”
- 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Panel Discussion – Remembrance: History of the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre (live streamed). There will be a VIP Reception from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm and live art performances.
Thursday, September 23
- 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Panel Discussion – Reconciliation: Healing and Restorative Justice (live streamed). There will be a VIP Reception from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm and live art performances.
Friday, September 24
- 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Film Screening & Panel Discussion – Restoration: Rebuilding Black Main Street (live streamed). There will be Live Arts and a VIP Reception from 5 pm to 6 pm
- 8:00 pm – 11:59 pm. Networking Night with Conscious DJ
Saturday, September 25
- 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm. Emory Arts and the NEA present Praise House Project: Remembrance as Resistance by Artist Charmaine Minniefield
Sunday, September 26
- 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm. Emory Arts and the NEA present Praise House Project: Remembrance as Resistance by Artist Charmaine Minniefield
Key speakers include: Dr. Mark Bauerlein (Negrophobia: the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot), Dr. Rodney Cohen (Black Colleges of Atlanta), Horace Henry (Gammon Theological Seminary), Thomas “TJ” Loftin (Monetizing Gentrification: Building Black Ownership), Charmaine Minniefield (New Freedom Project), Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado (Atlanta and the Civil Rights Movement: 1944-1968), André Thompson (Art by André), and Noah Washington (Playwright, Meadow Lark Productions).
The Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre
Primary
Shatima Tankson
404-809-6350
Secondary
Ann Hill-Bond
678-938-8683
Culture Centers International, Inc.
Shatima Tankson
404-809-6350
https://CultureCentersInternational.org
Southern Truth and Reconciliation
Veronica Hart, Ph.D.
678-508-0880
Fulton County Remembrance Coalition
Ann Hill-Bond
678-938-8683
Equitable Dinners
Adria Kitchens
404-966-7708
https://www.outofhandtheater.com/equitable-dinners
About The Coalition to Remember the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre
Culture Centers International (CCI), was joined by Southern Truth and Reconciliation (STAR), and the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition (FCRC) to become The Coalition’s Convening Organizations. They were joined by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH); Emory Arts, Emory Art & Social Justice, and Emory Ethics and the Arts Program; Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival; Chattahoochee Brick Company Descendants; Equitable Dinners, Emory University Civil Rights Cold Cases Project, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
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