![]() He was an elite amongst us,” Joe Beasley, Southeastern Regional Organizer for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, told Atlanta Progressive News.Īlso, after returning from military service, James met Donzella, to whom he would be married for 44 years. He was a trailblazer in the air traffic control – it was one of those of jobs where one tip of one percent of African Americans could be an air traffic controller. “At that time there was a segregationist thing, there were very few Black air traffic controllers. He scored 99 percent on the ATC test, a score that was almost unheard of. He moved to begin working as an air traffic controller (ATC) at the regional center in Hampton, Georgia. James scored perfect on the army intelligence test, and was sent to Germany.Īfter his service, he returned to Atlanta in 1967, attending Morehouse, and then graduating from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. While off for a semester, he got drafted into the military. James got a full football and academic scholarship to Morehouse College, where he attended until he took a semester off to help his mother in 1965. “Able” Mable Thomas (D-Atlanta) told APN. “That’s like a paradise funeral,” State Rep. ![]() Donnie Peoples and Jean Carn, friends of Sen. Knight was not the only singer at the funeral. She sang her song, “Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me,” and dedicated it to James. He attended the same elementary and high school as the famous singer Gladys Knight, who sang at his funeral. He grew up on Northside Drive and attended Antioch Baptist Church. James was born on July 14, 1943, at Grady Hospital, a second generation Atlantan. It was standing room only at the wake, as friends, family members, and dignitaries, including current and former elected officials, gathered to say goodbye to a quiet man whose influence in Atlanta, south Fulton County, and beyond, was quite extensive. Donzella James (D-Atlanta), passed away on April 14, 2014, from complications from double pneumonia and renal failure. (APN) ATLANTA - Elmo James, Jr., a labor organizer, businessman, and husband of State Sen.
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