This Labor Day, we’re lifting up the story of Loretta Green — a trailblazing worker, veteran, and Atlanta community leader whose persistence opened doors for others and whose voice still calls us toward justice today.
On Labor Day, we pause to honor the workers who’ve built this country, often under challenging conditions and against long odds. But the day is also about remembering the people whose courage on the job reshaped workplaces — and who, in their own way, carved out more space for justice and dignity.
One of those trailblazers is Loretta Green, a longtime Atlanta resident, community leader, and the first Black woman to work at Alabama Power and Southern Company. Her journey is one of persistence, resilience, and a refusal to let barriers define her — qualities that make her story a perfect fit for our Faces of Resilience series.
“I needed a job”
Loretta was born in Mobile, Alabama, and served three years in the U.S. Air Force before returning home in the mid-1960s. Like so many veterans, she found herself searching for steady employment in a world that didn’t always welcome people who looked like her.
“At that time, you know, they were not really hiring people of color in offices,” she recalled. “So I got on the phone and I started calling around saying, ‘Are you hiring a Black person in an administrative position?’”
Her persistence led her to an employment agency that matched her with Alabama Power — even though the company had already rejected the very same resume when she had applied directly. In 1965, she walked into the office as the company’s first Black female hire.
“When I walked in, everybody was looking at me strangely,” Loretta said. “But I went in with the mindset that I needed a job. I wasn’t there to make friends. I went in to get a job.”
Facing the haters — and the cheerleaders
Loretta started as a relief cashier, stepping in to handle customer payments. The reactions she faced told the story of the South in the 1960s: a mix of joy, suspicion, and outright hostility.
“All the Black people were happy to see me. They would come in and say, ‘Good for you, thank you,’” she remembered. “But then they had the haters. Some would call me names. Some would throw their money at me. Some would accuse me of giving the wrong change.”
For Loretta, the insults were painful, but the support of her community mattered more. She remembers a beautician who insisted she come in regularly to look good every day so that she could represent not just herself, but all the women and Black workers following in her footsteps.
Fighting for fair treatment
Discrimination didn’t just come from customers — it showed up inside the company as well. When Loretta asked to work overtime, she discovered that her white coworkers had been allowed extra hours, but not her.
“They said, ‘Can you type?’ and I said, ‘Did you read my resume?’” she laughed. She aced the typing test, but when management realized overtime came with a hot meal at the company cafeteria, they cut the hours back for everyone — just so they wouldn’t have to eat with her.
One night, she stood up in the office and said what was on her mind: “Y’all let this Black face stop you from getting a hot meal?” The next day, the overtime dinners were reinstated.
Loretta’s courage made space for others, but the glass ceiling was real. When she applied for a supervisor position, her manager told her to “go back to [her] desk and put a smile on [her] face.” Seeing little chance for advancement in an environment dominated by white men, Loretta eventually left for Honeywell, where she built a 15-year career.
Lessons for today
Loretta’s story reminds us that the fights we discuss today under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are not new. They’re part of a long continuum of workers demanding fair treatment.
“If a Black person is hired as DEI, they’re overqualified,” she said firmly. “You’re scrutinized in every way to be sure you can do the job. People now act like you’re only there because of your color — but I know what I went through. I was qualified.”
Her perspective carries weight because it comes from lived experience — not just in corporate America, but in community leadership. After moving to Atlanta in 1971, she quickly became active in her neighborhood planning unit, serving as land use chair and fighting to protect her community from neglect and exploitation. Even today, she stays involved, reporting code violations, speaking up for environmental protections, and advocating for fairness for seniors.
Resilience as a way of life
Loretta’s story is about more than breaking barriers in the workplace. It’s about the resilience required to keep showing up, keep working, and keep pushing — even when the world tries to push back.
She summed it up simply: “I was there because I needed a job. And I did what I had to do.”
That persistence — to demand opportunity, to speak truth in uncomfortable rooms, to keep working for her community decades later — is what makes Loretta Green a true face of resilience.
She recalls how her house near Greenbriar Mall in District 11 burned down over forty years ago. Her manager told her to go home, and the entire building was ablaze when she arrived. Searching through the ashes, she found only one item left – a metal keepsake box that she had forgotten about.
Opening the box, she found an old keepsake she had held onto: the receipt from her poll tax exemption during segregation. As a veteran, Loretta was exempt from the poll tax used to disenfranchise and lower turnout among Black voters, but she got a receipt anyways.
“I said, that’s God,” she told us as she showed us the piece of paper, now laminated. Its image adorns the front of a popular t-shirt she’s made with her now legally trademarked phrase, “This is Why I Vote.”
Why it matters for Georgia Conservation Voters
At Georgia Conservation Voters, we tell these stories because resilience is about more than surviving climate change. It’s about honoring the people who’ve shown us what persistence looks like — in the workplace, in neighborhoods, and in the fight for justice.
As we celebrate Labor Day, Loretta’s life reminds us that the path to equity is never given freely. It is paved by people who show up, stand tall, and demand better — not just for themselves, but for those who come after.
Loretta Green’s story is proof that resilience is not only about withstanding storms; it’s about building a future where dignity and justice are possible for everyone.
✅ Want to read more stories like Loretta’s? Explore our Faces of Resilience series and support Georgia Conservation Voters’ work amplifying the voices of community leaders who inspire change.