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Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin Encourages Young Adults to Engage in Politics
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin Encourages Young Adults to Engage in Politics
ATLANTA, May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Noting the similarities between 1968, the
year Shirley Franklin graduated from college and today,Atlanta's first woman
mayor called on Agnes Scott College graduates to get involved in the political
process to effect social change.
Franklin earned her degree in sociology from Howard University in
Washington, D.C. in 1968. In that year and now, wars raged in distant places,
presidential candidates of markedly different political and demographic
stripes were vying for nomination, and young people seemed key to the nation's
political and social future, she said.
The mayor quoted anthropologist Margaret Mead to sharpen the focus of her
message to the graduating class of this liberal arts college for women
observing its 119th commencement: "Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only
thing that ever has."
"If there was ever a time in American history that epitomizes young people
leading our nation it was the 1960s," Franklin said. "History confirms that
students, young people, men and women, stood up and spoke up for women, for
African-Americans, for peace for freedom of speech."
She noted that this year a similar phenomenon is occurring. "More than
5.7 million voters younger than 30 have participated in the political primary
so far this season -- a 109 percent increase from the 2004 presidential
campaign," Franklin said.
Franklin was one of two women recognized by Agnes Scott today for their
public service and activism. Agnes Scott College President Elizabeth Kiss
awarded honorary doctorate of law degrees to Franklin, and to Elizabeth
Wilson, who 25 years ago became the first African-American elected to the
Decatur, Ga. city commission. And 10 years later she became the city's first
African American mayor.
By simply walking into theDecatur branch of the DeKalb County Public
Library in 1960s and asking for a public library card, Wilson initiated the
movement that would ultimately desegregate most public institutions in that
county. As the first woman mayor ofAtlanta, Franklin has built a record of
achievement in her two terms unrivaled by the men who preceded her, Kiss said.
"Mayor Franklin talked about how every generation faces the challenge of
leadership. Each of these women, both representing two different generations
of leadership, stood up for the challenge," Kiss said.
SOURCE Agnes Scott College
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Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze,
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