Chamblee54

The neighborhood along Peachtree Road has always been a great place to be a freak. For a long time it didn’t have a name. It is north of downtown, between Piedmont Park and Georgia Tech. Sometime in the early eighties, people started to call it Midtown, and the name stuck.
In the time after the War Between the States, this area was a shantytown called “Tight Squeeze”. It evolved into a pleasant middle class area. In the sixties, hippies took over. The area was known as the strip, or tight squeeze. Many stories could be told.
After the flower children moved on, the area went into decline. Gays started to move in, with the battle cry “Give us our rights or we will remodel your house”. Developers, worshiping the triune G-d of location, location, location, began to smell money. The neighborhood became trendy, then expensive, then more expensive. The freaks with money remain. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.

A few years ago, a man started to twirl a baton around Atlanta. He wears eye catching outfits, traditionally intended for females. His handle is Baton Bob. Yesterday, BB went out to celebrate the Supreme Court decisions on DOMA, and Proposition 8. He went to Colony Square, where apparently his act is not appreciated. He was asked to leave, became verbally abusive, and was arrested. Here is the police report.
Baton Bob is African American. So is the arresting officer, and the two security guards. This matter might not be about race. Further, it seems as though BB has had problems with the management at Colony Square before. A security guard, on private property, has a right to tell a man not to come in to the food court and blow a whistle.
Baton Bob does not appreciate those who don’t enjoy his act. He does not have a problem with cussing out those who get in his way. Apparently, this was a problem when he was in St. Louis. Could it be that Baton Bob has gotten too big for his Tutu?
Historic pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. The mug shot is from Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. This is a double repost.