judge. 296 He attributes having to learn self-defense to growing up in Buttermilk. He said he had “a stick in one hand and a brick in the other.” By the age of 12 years old, he was in jail. He turned his life around after his friend Butterbean was wounded. He described his early life as impoverished. He never had a bedroom, lived in rooming houses, moved constantly, and slept on a cot on a dirt floor. He said he was “poor, poor White trash.” His father was a mechanic and bootlegger, and his mother died from alcoholism. He was in the Air Force and began his career as a criminal defense attorney in Tampa Bay. NORMAN FRED “GERONIMO” LUMPKIN Norman Fred “Geronimo” Lumpkin was born in the Buttermilk Bottom section of the Forth Ward on January 15, 1919. 297 He was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues for 11 years, from 1938 to 1949. 298 As a youngster in school, Geronimo Lumpkin could be found in games in empty lots in the neighborhood. 299 During World War II, Lumpkin played on both industrial and commercial semi-professional teams and was added to the roster of the Atlanta Black Crackers. 300 On September 17, 2014, he was honored by the Atlanta City Councilperson, Michael Julian Bond. 301 REV. RAYNELL M. PARKINS, ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH By the time Rev. Parkins arrived to lead St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, he was well accomplished as an academic, educator, and social worker. He began building community-based programs and services, and had led several congregations. 302 Serving as the Associate Rector and Interim Rector at St. Luke’s from 1980 to 1989, Rev. Parkins was of Panamanian descent and was the first Black priest to head a “mainline” Episcopal Church in Atlanta. 303 Rev. Parkins helped establish efforts to support unhoused residents in gaining employment and weatherizing homes owned by people in need. 304 He helped to establish the Economic Development Corp. (SLEDCO)/ Atlanta Economic Corp. or the former and formed a joint effort with Georgia Power for the latter. 305 While working as a consultant on affordable housing with the federal 296 Bill Varian, “A Buttermilk Story, A Life from the Bottom,” Tampa Bay Times, July 18, 2004, updated June 20, 2006, https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/07/18/a-buttermilk-story-a-life-from-the-bottom/ 297 Roz Edwards, "Baseball Legends Honored at Atlanta City Hall," Atlanta Daily World , September 17, 2014. 298 Roz, "Baseball”. 299 Roz, "Baseball”. 300 Roz, "Baseball”. 301 Roz, "Baseball”. 302 "Obituary Rev. Reynell M. Parkins, Worked to Heal." The Atlanta Journal- Constitution , August 5, 1997.
303 "Rev. Parkins.” 304 "Rev. Parkins.” 305 "Rev. Parkins.”
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