70 years ago Aaron integrated South Atlantic League

In mid-April seventy years ago, Hank Aaron integrated the South Atlantic League, one of baseball’s minor leagues, stretching from South Carolina to Alabama. Somehow, his heroic barrier-busting in the Jim Crow South as a just a teenager has gotten lost in the 755...

Like Dr. King advised, Henry Harris set aside individual concerns

On King Day 2022, it’s good to recall Martin Luther King Jr.’s impact on the small-town, rural South and particularly on Greene County, Alabama blackest county and sixth poorest in America. For young Blacks growing up there in the 1960s, Dr. King was not someone you...

First and Five: Monument Erected to UGA’s First Black Players

Five young men brave enough to sign on with the University of Georgia when it was one of the last three SEC teams to integrate have finally received permanent on-campus remembrance for changing the course of UGA football. A monument to them was unveiled Friday at Reed...

Harold Franklin: A History-Changing Life

When Harold Franklin was growing up in Talladega, Alabama, during the Depression and WWII, his parents always told him and his nine siblings, “When you do something in life, try to do something that will help others as well.” Saturday, Franklin will be returned to the...

50 Years Ago, Jackson and Mitchell Changed Alabama’s Future

On this date 50 years ago – Sept. 10, 1971 – Wilbur Jackson (far right) and John Mitchell became the first African Americans to suit up for an Alabama varsity football game – a 17-10 Friday night upset of Southern Cal in Los Angeles. The game was much more significant...