After spending 20 years in the Georgia prison system, Melodie Rosser said she’s lucky to have made it out alive. The community organizer nearly died while incarcerated when she developed an infection from a procedure meant to detect if she had breast cancer. Over time, she said, her breast began to turn black. At age […]
Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice, HBCUs, Policing
AUC Students Say Flock Surveillance Cameras Threaten Their Privacy and Safety
Clark Atlanta University doctoral student Ladavious McNair was arrested after police used data from Flock Safety cameras to identify him as the suspect in a road rage shooting near the Atlanta University Center. After being held in Fulton County jail for 30 days, the Army veteran was released. Police had arrested the wrong man. McNair […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, HBCUs
Morehouse College Assault Allegations Spark Spelman Student Protest
This story discusses sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs support, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-4673, or access online support at online.rainn.org. Accusations of sexual misconduct by a prominent Morehouse College fraternity member are roiling the Atlanta University Center, and now Spelman College students are speaking out. Earlier this […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
$68 Million ACDC Sale Approved Despite Calls for Other Reforms
Atlanta City Council cleared the way Monday for Fulton County to purchase the Atlanta City Detention Center for $68 million. Debate on the benefits and harm of the sale of the city’s detention center carried the council well into the evening before it eventually passed, 8 to 7. District 11 council member Wayne Martin, co-sponsor […]
Posted inNews, Public Safety
Investigation Continues After Beloved Father Dies on Six Flags Roller Coaster
The tragic death of an Atlanta-area educator after falling from a Six Flags Over Georgia roller coaster has generated an outpouring of support for the grieving family. Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem “was ejected” from the Goliath coaster at the Austell amusement park and “struck other patrons before falling beneath the attraction,” a preliminary investigation report […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Five Charged in Fatal Stabbing of Former Clark Atlanta Student at Troubled Jail
Five suspects have been arrested in the Sept. 23 fatal stabbing attack on former Clark Atlanta University student David Addo Wright inside the DeKalb County Jail. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a press release Thursday that Jayden King, 22, of Stockbridge, Treonte Brintley, 24, of Lithonia, Amir Andrews, 19, of Milledgeville, Dajuhn Bryant, […]
Posted inCulture, Public Safety
Black Women Are Joining Gun Groups in Atlanta Amid Political Tensions
The sporadic “pop!” of gunfire pierced the cool autumn air for hours at the South River Gun Club in Covington on Sept. 26 as Shante Stewart and her classmates took aim. Gold bullet casings decorated the gravel beneath their feet as the students lined up their shots. The targets were fluorescent orange sporting clays set […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, HBCUs
Solidarity With Nolan Wells Inspires AUC Students to March
Shouts of “Justice for Nolan Wells” and “Black boys deserve to grow old” echoed across the Atlanta University Center campus Thursday evening as hundreds of students marched to show their solidarity with Wells and his family. The march was organized by the Spelman and Clark Atlanta chapters of the NAACP after a grand jury in […]
Posted inCapital B Atlanta, Incarceration
Criminal Records Keep People from Work in Atlanta. A Formerly Incarcerated Woman Is Lobbying to Change That.
A few months after her release from federal prison in 2017, Charlotte Garnes finally found a job that renewed her sense of purpose and allowed her to rebuild her life. But when her employer found out about her conviction, she was fired immediately. For 11 months, Garnes had been working with job centers that provide […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, History
The 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre Stole Black Lives Where Downtown Condos Now Stand
I hold your stories. I am Georgia’s red clay and black land. The silence that speaks beneath the roar of trains and traffic. I am a record. You call me soil, but I am memory. I remember how Black life rose after slavery’s end. How men and women carved businesses into my streets, lifted schools […]
