Just saw a nice Q&A on ajc.com with Jack Mallard, who has just published his account of the Wayne Williams trial. Wayne Williams was convicted of the main murders, but Mallard, who was the prosecutor who sent Williams to prison, says he considers some of the cases "open."
I went to Amazon.com and checked out as much of the book as I could, which was the isbn page, the table of contents (sigh), and Mr. Mallard's intro. The two customer reviews praise his trial narrative; too bad I didn't get to sample it. I for one am always thrilled to see a participant record his or her memories of an historic event and really look forward to reading the book.
I will say that in reading the ajc "conversation" and the book's introduction I did not learn anything I didn't already know from Bernard Headley's exhaustive "The Atlanta Child Murders and the Politics of Race" , published in 1999, eleven years ago, by Southern Illinois University Press. As you know, I've featured this book, which I stumbled upon in the old Panama City downtown library (BCPL) several years ago, on this blog on the right side of the page- feel free to click and order. If you have any interest in Atlanta in the '70s and '80s it is definitely worth your while.
Why were some of the other kids picked up? Did the ACMs teach us anything about our kids? Were some of the kids picked up for the purpose of making them into prostitutes? The Headley book brings up some of these questions. I mentioned in a recent post Moving in the Spirit, a non-profit that provides dance training to kids after school,, in hopes of helping them see their own worth, and keeping them out of harms way.
In the same post, I was highlighting Jim Garroway's Political Insider blog in the ajc.com mentioning Renee Unterman's curious opposition: her former peers in the Republican aisles. Unterman does not want children picked up in child prostitution cases arrested and handcuffed; she sees them as victims who need treatment and help. The column says that the Georgia Baptist Convention is siding with her opposition. In the "Comments" on the ajc.com column, a commenter states the belief that GBC has reexamined the bill and rescinded its support. I wrote the GPC and got a VERY prompt- especially for a late Friday afternoon- reply from the AA, and Rev. H. Ray Newman, Sr., Specialist- yes, that's his job title, in the Convention's Ethics and Public Affairs department. The administrative assistant (read woman who does everything and knows how those grey boxes with wires and typewriters on the front work) and Pastor Newman both informed me of a ministry that I'm thrilled to know exists,
Wellspring Living. This group is reaching out to and assisting victims of the sex trade, and was started by a handful of SOUTHSIDE women! Oh yeah!
I'm still waiting to find out whether the GBC is supporting the bill or not, but I will tell you I really appreciated Newman's graciousness in getting back so quickly, and in spite of my fairly accurate remark about secretaries -I mean Administrative Assistants- doing all the work- I believe Pastor Newman wrote his letter himself.
Please check out Wellspring Living, and let me know about any other groups you'd like to know more about. Do something for these women and kids- and the deluded men as well who are being chained up like a beat down pit bull by this selfish mess.
And check out the new Mallard book- but by all means - get Bernard Hadley's book, as well.
