That we’ve got radicals

We love the freaky activists of the world. People like Tim Franzen, a self-proclaimed community organizer (formerly of Occupy Atlanta) who has slept in public parks and outside people’s homes, and has been arrested five times in the last year while fighting to stop bank foreclosures and corporate layoffs. People like journalist/advocate/publisher Matthew Cardinale of Atlanta Progressive News, who not only tries to report the news but also sometimes becomes a part of the story: “Our business model is basically me being obsessed,” he says. Cardinale recently argued and won a state Supreme Court case against the city of Atlanta, forcing it to release details of a vote, which wasn’t recorded in the minutes, about limiting public comment at city council committee meetings. People like Bobbie Paul, who helped start the weekly protests at Colony Square against the Iraq war and continued it for more than 10 years. Paul is also executive director of peace-loving group Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND). In addition to crisscrossing the state to raise awareness about the dangers of nuclear power, WAND recently took a stand in front of the Fox Theatre to protest the construction of new nuclear reactors at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle.