As we celebrate Black History Month, there is a tendency to limit Black history to the household names who have prominently emerged from key achievements or landmark developments. Too often unsung are the many people who played vital roles in those achievements and developments, and without whom that progress would not have happened.
This month, I think especially of Stoney and Shirley Cooks. Stoney died last August at the age of 80. Shirley died more recently at 79. Both played important roles in Atlanta, which should be remembered and celebrated, during the Civil Rights Movement and in the civic life of the city and nation.
Stoney and Shirley Cooks met in Atlanta in the mid-1960s when Stoney was working, as I was, for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Shirley was working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Both were organizing grassroots efforts for voter registration in the Southeast. They married in 1970 and were together for the rest of their lives.
What makes their example so important and meaningful to me was the varied ways in which they worked to serve Atlanta over decades. They didn’t do only one thing of significance, they did many. But that is not uncommon for people who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement and went on to define their lives further. Black History Month is a time to recognize that broadly.