Former Phoenix Vice Mayor, Civil Rights Icon Calvin Goode Passes Away

December 23, 2020 ADI Staff Reporter
Phoenix City Councilman Calvin C. Goode 1927 – 2020 [Photo courtesy City of Phoenix]

PHOENIX — Former Phoenix Vice Mayor, and an Arizona civil rights icon, Calvin C. Goode has passed away at 3:26 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2020, at Banner University Medical Center from a non-COVID-19 related illness.

Across the state, Councilman Goode is being remembered for his many contributions and accomplishments.

Councilman Goode served a total of twenty-two years (1972 to 1994), as a representative to the Phoenix, Arizona City Council. He was only the second African American elected to the Council. Born in rural Depew, Oklahoma in 1927, Goode’s family moved to Arizona when he was ten months old. His family settled in a homestead near Gila Bend, Arizona, where they worked in agricultural fields picking and chopping cotton. Goode graduated from Carver High School in 1945, the only school in Arizona built exclusively for African American students. He then obtained his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Arizona State University.

During his tenure, Councilman Goode developed a program to ensure that women-and minority-owned small businesses would receive a proportionate share of city business; advocated successfully for a district form of city government; and helped broker a compromise that led to a Phoenix ordinance that prohibited workplace discrimination against minorities and members of the LGBTQ community. He was instrumental in ensuring that the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday was officially observed in the City of Phoenix, paving the way for the holiday to be observed statewide.

To commemorate his years of service to the city, a Phoenix municipal building, located at 251 West Washington Street, was named in Goode’s honor. The building is inscribed with a fitting tribute to Councilman Goode: “Guided by a deeply held belief in God and in the equality of all people, his lifetime exemplified a powerful commitment to improving the quality of life in Phoenix, especially for young people.” Each year, the Calvin C. Goode Lifetime Achievement Award is presented during the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, for individuals who have promoted social and economic justice, defending civil rights and enhancing the dignity of all people.

Councilman Goode remained active in his community long after his retirement, serving on the Phoenix Elementary School Board for six years; he was active with the Booker T. Washington Child Development Center, the Eastlake Neighborhood Association and the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center; as well as other non-profit and governmental programs.

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