ATLANTA — Members of the community had the chance Friday to pay their respects to the later-former state Sen. Vincent Fort.
Fort’s body was laid in state at Atlanta City Hall for people to say their final goodbyes.
“I was a freshman at Morehouse, he was one of the professors. He was always someone students could relate to give good counsel,” Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond said.
Bond said Fort brought raw courage into battles for human rights and civil rights.
“He had the tenacity of a dynamo juggernaut. He would be unwavering and unfailing until he achieved his goal,” Bond said.
Fort was elected state Senator in 1996 and served the people of his Atlanta district until 2017.
Supporters call him fearless.
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“He saved people’s homes. He spoke truth to power. He did not back down, had a backbone of steel and a heart of gold,” state Sen. Nan Orrock said.
Even after leaving office, Fort continued to fight giving a voice to the vulnerable.
Channel 2 Action News talked to his daughter Zoe Fort.
“First and foremost, my dad was a man of God and I think his work is a reflection of his faith,” Zoe Fort said. “I just couldn’t be more honored to be his daughter.”
Fort died from complications of cancer last week. He was 68.
“He died too soon but he did so much with the years he had on this earth,” Orrock said.
“It didn’t matter who he was facing whether it was some kind of corporate giant, battles under the Gold Dome, he was going to be the voice for the people and carry their concerns all the way to the finish line,” Bond said.
Fort’s celebration of life will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Lindsay Street Baptist Church, followed by his interment at South-View Cemetery.
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