Best Local Hero

Fabian Williams has a passion for art and expression. Last year, along with a few other local artists, he fought against city officials who attempted to exert control over murals being painted on private property. And he won. Williams is responsible for vibrant paintings like the fluorescent Hosea Williams mural he painted last year on on the parking deck at Studioplex, and, most recently, the one of Stacey Abrams on the corner of Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium - Come on in, Precious. But he likes to shake things up and tackle art of all mediums. “Atlanta should look how it feels,” he says. “Culture is reflected in the music, food, and now, the walls.” Whether it’s advocacy or creativity, Williams makes Atlanta a better place and for that, we?re thankful. less...

In a summer of Hollywood superheroes, the 2011 documentary Disabled But Able to Rock presents the most compelling story of an ordinary person with an extraordinary alter ego. Local director Blake Myers profiles Atlanta’s Betsy Goodrich, aka Danger Woman, a high-functioning autistic woman who likes to dress as a superhero and fight the forces of “homophobia, race-ophobia and disable-phobia,” largely through her ear-splitting karaoke performances. Disabled But Able to Rock presents the complexities of living with a mental disability as well as the joyous embrace of life that has given Goodrich a cult following. dangerwomanmovie.com. less...

This hasn’t been a great year for the Atlanta Police Department. Every badge in the department was tarnished by the narcotics detectives who botched the drug raid that left an innocent elderly woman dead. Morale stinks, officers are fleeing and crime rates are up. Which is why we salute THE COP ON THE CORNER. They risk their lives, get cursed at and get used as pawns in city politics, all to keep us safe. There’s not much a lowly lawman or lawwoman can do about the department’s leadership except show up for work and do his or her job. So, to all the rank-and-file police officers wading through the department’s current mess: You are, indeed, Atlanta’s finest. Thank you. less...

When Hurricane Katrina tore into the Gulf Coast, it created a perverse, but tempting, chance to make a point about global warming. Scientists had long figured a hotter atmosphere would agitate the storm cycle, creating more or bigger storms, or both. Was Katrina an example? Just after the storm hit, JUDITH CURRY, along with other atmospheric scientists at Georgia Tech, happened to co-publish a landmark study on hurricanes and global warming. They concluded the strongest hurricanes are getting even stronger as the Earth gets hotter. At a Washington briefing where Curry was asked to describe the research, a congressional aide with ties to the coal industry tried to portray her work as out-of-step with mainstream science. It didn’t work. Reporters at first concentrated on the aide’s trumped-up controversy. But the well-timed research eventually sunk into the public’s mind as yet more evidence of the costs of climate change. Curry has walked a difficult tightrope for scientists: While she’s been candid about the evidence for global warming, she’s steered clear of pontificating on issues outside her expertise. She and her Tech colleagues have kept their eyes on their own work, which is just what we need if we wish to understand what we’re doing to this planet. less...

SHIRLEY FRANKLIN was elected mayor in 2001. The city was in shambles. She faced a budget crisis and — even more — City Hall faced a crisis of confidence. Her predecessor, Bill Campbell, had mired the government in a series of scandals. Campbell (see “Best Morality Tale”) also pandered to racial division. A second bad mayor in a row would have been disastrous. “Shirley,” as nearly everyone calls her, has healed the wounds. She stabilized city finances, trimmed (some) overstaffing, hired a competent police chief, and led the way to fix the city’s ancient sewer system. In her second term, as Campbell prepared for his trial on influence peddling and tax evasion charges, Shirley managed something nobody could have imagined during the Campbell years: With the help of many others, she united the city behind one of the most dramatic civic improvement projects any American city has attempted in decades. Just ask yourself, would the Beltline ever have gotten as far as it has without Shirley? less...

It’s hard to stand in the shadow of a Nobel Peace Prize-winning former president. But ROSALYNN CARTER has been a leader in her own right since her days as first lady of Georgia. Rarely has she been fully credited for her work, particularly in the mental health field. Rosalynn co-founded the Carter Center and launched its mental health programs, which she still directs at age 74. She lobbies Congress for more mental health funding each year, and isn’t afraid to scold lawmakers for cutting funds for social programs. less...