John Evans and Andy Phelan
Recorded
January 7, 2020
41:20 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
atl004229
Description
Andy Phelan (53) talks with his friend long time Civil and Human Rights Activist John Evans (86) about John's childhood, his education, and his career to include being Dekalb County's 1st African American Commissioner.Subject Log / Time Code
John Evans talks about relocating from Chicago, Illinois to Atlanta, Georgia in 1965, after a job offer to become the business manager for The Interdenominational Theological Center. He says he stayed in the position for 13 years.
John remembers being a student at Mississippi Valley State University when Emmett Till was killed. He says a sense of concern evolved in his mind of wanting to do everything you could to help.
John talks about becoming Dekalb County's 1st African American Commissioner in 1983. He says he was comfortable in the position after already having worked with the NAACP.
John continues talking about the changing climate of the Dekalb County Commission during the 1980's and working with Chairman Manuel Maloof. John says he was continuously under pressure for taking a stand to look after his own folks.
John refers to the strides blacks have made in the service industry as the modern version of good, clean looking sharecropping. He says there are exceptions to the rule, but it is not the rule. He says blacks are still dependent on the system.
John talks about growing up in Nashville, Tennessee. He says there were good standards in the community and that blacks had a great culture of their own. He says integration caused blacks to drop their culture in an attempt to mix in with the majority. He says too many blacks want to live in fiction.
John remembers his Mother, Margaret, who was an LPN at Vanderbilt University Hospital for over 30 years. He says she got tired of working in white people's kitchens and went to nursing school while John was a teenager.
John talks about his upcoming birthday and party. He says to just be thankful that you are alive for another year. He says his party will be from 6-8pm on January 25, 2020, at Piccadilly Restaurant in South Dekalb Mall; everyone is invited.
Participants
- John Evans
- Andy Phelan