Former Georgia Senator Vincent Fort was laid to rest in Atlanta on Jan. 4. Fort’s homegoing service took place at Lindsay Street Baptist Church and featured remarks from Mayor Andre Dickens and other prominent leaders.
Fort, who passed at the age of 68, was a key political leader in Georgia for several decades.
Fort, a member of the Democratic Party, came to the Atlanta area in the 1970s to attend Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University). He would remain a key fixture in Atlanta’s HBCU area by serving as a professor at Morehouse College and Morris Brown College.
In the ’90s, Fort would delve into politics by being elected to the State Senate from the 39th District, representing City of Atlanta, East Point, College Park, Union City and unincorporated areas of Fulton County.
By 2011, Fort became the No. 2 person in the Senate Democratic caucus while also serving on Judiciary-Civil, Judiciary-Criminal, Education and Youth, Reapportionment and Redistricting, Interstate Cooperation, Urban Affairs, Marta Oversight and the Senate committees of Appropriations.
One of his biggest legislative actions was to set laws against predatory lending practices that led to the housing market crash in the early 2000s.
In 2017, Fort stepped down from his position as Senator and became an Atlanta mayoral candidate.
Fort will be remembered for his fight to push for fairness in housing and education.
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