Carolyn Long Banks, civil rights activist and first Black woman on Atlanta City Council dies

Carolyn Long Banks, the first Black woman to serve on Atlanta City Council, died Wednesday after a long illness. A trailblazing civil rights activist and Atlanta City councilmember from 1980 to 1997, Banks was 82.

A fourth-generation Atlantan, Banks was one of the founders of the Atlanta Student Movement, which helped energize Black college students here and across the nation to stage peaceful demonstrations aimed at ending legalized segregation in public facilities. She also worked with the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Committee on Appeals for Human Rights, a manifesto that outlined the Black community’s problems.

Banks is credited with providing a pathway for women of color serving in leadership roles within government in the City of Atlanta. In 1980, Banks was appointed to the Atlanta City Council to succeed Marvin Arrington Sr., after he assumed the role of council president. She was re-elected several times and served as president of the National League of Cities in 1994. She left office in 1997.

Banks graduated from Atlanta’s Henry McNeil Turner High School, Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University, and Georgia State University. 

While at Clark, she joined Delta Sigma Theta Inc. in 1959, and joined the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter in 1962, where she was an active member during her life. As a student activist, she helped integrate the Magnolia Room at Rich’s – a well-known establishment in one of the biggest department stores in the South. She later earned her spot as one of the first Black women to hold a management position there.

Councilman Michael Julian Bond said, “Throughout her life, she had an unwavering commitment toward social and economic justice.”

Mayor Andre Dickens hailed her for leading “with a natural fearlessness few possess.”

“Over the course of a distinguished, extensive career, Carolyn Long Banks was a woman of firsts, opening long-closed doors so that future generations could follow, Dickens said. “She dedicated her life to serving the city she loved and improving the lives of the people who call it home.”

Banks’ long list of achievements include serving on the Commission on the Status of Women at the request of then-Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter. As President of the National League of Cities, Banks testified before Congress, and met regularly with President Clinton and members of Congress. She was also president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials and Women in Municipal Government.