Fifty years ago this month, Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. became the city’s first Black mayor, ushering in a new era of political and business representation for Black Atlantans who had long been pushed to the side.
On Jan. 7, 1974, Jackson stood in front of thousands gathered at the Atlanta Civic Center to watch his inauguration and laid out his vision for Atlanta to move beyond just being a “city too busy to hate” to becoming a “city of love.”
“Our definition of love must be a definition of action. Love must be strong economic growth and prosperity for all,” Jackson said . “Love must be the absence of racism and sexism. Love must be a chance for everybody to be somebody.”
Through his three terms as mayor, first from 1974 to 1982 then again from 1990 to 1994, Jackson put forward economic integration policies to try to open opportunities for everybody to become that somebody. He mandated minimum percentages of city and airport contracts that had to go to minority firms. He advocated for the hiring and promotion of Black people.