At 13 years old, Marvin Arrington discovered racism was real. It was the same day the United States Supreme Court decided segregated schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. It was a decision that sparked the outrage of many whites who would seek to take out their anger on countless blacks – even a defenseless Southern boy. Young Arrington was riding his bike up Simpson Road with his friend, Melvin Rivers, when a 1940 Ford slowed down then stopped beside him. He looked at the driver—a white man, a stranger—who leaned out the window and spat in his face. The man drove off, leaving …

Eight years ago Thursday, former Cascade Heights resident Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr., the first African-American mayor of a major southern city, died at the age of 65. Jackson, who raised his family on Oakcrest Drive in the 1970s while serving as mayor, served two terms and then returned for a third in 1990. Known as a champion of social justice, Jackson led several major Atlanta growth and development projects, including the expansion of what was then Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. "My dad dedicated his life to the service of others," Maynard "Buzzy" Jackson III said of his …

It is the last day of Black History Month—and our series "Black History in Cascade"—but a first for my brother, Brian, and the other African-Americans who were among the 200 people who filled the White House East Room last Thursday evening for a Motown tribute. Though President Barack Obama was elected more than two years ago, the black guests were experiencing something that still seems fabled today: real networking and mingling with a black American president and his dignitaries.  For many whites in America, it may seem odd to make a big deal over networking. But, honestly, one crux of the …

Former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andrew Young received a Lifetime Emmy Award in New York City Friday evening to honor his work in documentary film. The civil rights icon—noted for helping to usher the city into its role as the leader of the New South—received the Trustees Award, the highest honor of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) for "Andrew Young Presents," a series of documentaries revealing little-known historical occurrences as well as social and political phenomena around the world. “This is so wonderful. They don't give it every year, so we're very …

What do you think of the new version of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn” that removes racial terms? The new book, released by Alabama-based publisher NewSouth, Inc. removes every instance of the n-word and replaces it with the term “slave.” The greater Cascade community has its own experience with racial characterizations in historic works of fiction. Joel Chandler Harris wrote many of the Brer Rabbit stories on the front porch of his home, Wren’s Nest, at 1050 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. The home’s executive director and the author's direct descendant said he won’…

Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, was among 15 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Tuesday. The medal is presented to individuals "who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." Other honorees Tuesday included former President George H.W. Bush, billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffet, world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma, poet and author Maya Angelou, basketball great Bill Russell, civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez, artist Jasper…

The news last month about the city council decision to table again a vote on renaming two downtown Atlanta streets has generated renewed interest in our city's street names. To that end, Cascade Patch decided to pull together a list of some of the streets our leaders have renamed -- in recent decades and eons ago. Not surprising is the fact that the now predominantly African-American Cascade and West End communities have lobbied over the years to rename streets once named for Confederate war heroes and even Ku Klux Klan leaders. Here's our (still working) summary of southwest Atlanta name …

Xernona Clayton-Brady, civil rights activist, Turner Broadcasting executive, Trumpet Awards co-founder, southwest Atlanta resident and the first black woman in the South to host her own talk show, came from wholesome family values and strong work ethic. On Monday, the Atlanta City Council voted unanimously to designate the intersections of Baker Street between Piedmont Avenue and Centennial Olympic Park Drive as the “Honorary Xernona Clayton Way.” The council also voted to name space in Hardy-Ivy Park as “Xernona Clayton Plaza,” in honor of the trailblazing broadcaster. Clayton, a twin, was …

The tweets from Cascade residents and others popped up the moment Pepsi Max's "Love Hurts" commercial ended: "My award 4 most offensive commercial goes 2 Pepsi. Naggin black woman & the black mans temptation: the white woman. Gotta love stereotypes." -- rykel85 "I just saw the Pepsi Max commercial where the black girl hit the white girl in the head, and I started cracking up!" — HushN_showme Should Sisters Be Concerned About the Super Bowl Pepsi Max Commercial with the Angry Black Woman? http://aol.it/h0vr9V" —DIGITALWISDOM and several others From my point of view, it seems African-American …

Darryl J. Tookes flipped through a stack of tattered immunization records recently and recalled how he used to look forward to visits from his first doctor, Dr. John Hall. "I remember he used to make house calls," said Dr. Tookes, a Niskey Lake resident and general surgeon for Kaiser Permanente who grew up in the working-class Dixie Hills neighborhood in southwest Atlanta. "I guess you could say he influenced my career path. He was the only doctor I ever had until I went to college." Tookes was among several dozen guests who gathered with Hall last November to celebrate the still-witty 90-…