Overcoming a difficult childhood is something Georgia Senate candidate Furquan Stafford and gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson have in common. The 54-year-old co-founder of Atlanta’s Stafford Boxing Club says he grew up in foster care like Jackson, who was raised in Atlanta’s Techwood Homes. That shared experience was one of the themes the candidates bonded over […]
Politics & Policy
Posted inCommunity, Economy, Politics & Policy
As SNAP Shrinks, Atlanta Food Banks Face Record Demand
High gas prices, rising grocery costs, and changes in government assistance programs have prompted local Atlanta food banks and nonprofits to sound an alarm as hundreds of thousands of families need food assistance this summer. In 2020, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the largest food bank in the metro area, served around 170,000 people per […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Six Years Later, the FBI Is Still Investigating Georgia’s 2020 Election
It doesn’t seem to matter to FBI Director Kash Patel that there’s no credible evidence of Fulton County elected officials, employees, or volunteer poll workers tampering with the 2020 election results. Last week, the embattled Trump appointee reassigned 260 intelligence analysts from FBI field offices across the country to assist with the agency’s ongoing investigation. […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson Are Betting on Voters Beyond Their Base
Nearly three weeks after a pivotal runoff election, gubernatorial candidates Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson are focusing on broadening their appeal to Georgia voters outside of their respective political tribes. It’s been nearly 30 years since a Democrat was elected to serve in the governor’s mansion, and the state has never chosen a Black […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Technology
DeKalb Rejects Data Center Regulations, Leaving Future Expansion Uncertain
After nearly a year of contention and outcry from residents, DeKalb County officials voted down legislation last month that sought to regulate data center development in the county. While some count it as a victory in the fight to stop data centers, others believe the county is now in a vulnerable position. At a June […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
For Atlanta Haitians, World Cup Pride Gives Way to Deportation Fears
When Haiti scored at the World Cup for the first time in more than 50 years, it was about so much more than goals in a soccer game. It was a chance for Haitian Americans to express their pride in a country that has been through hard times. Sergo Bellefleur drove 6½ hours from Orlando, […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics & Policy
Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Fire Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve Board
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday blocked President Trump’s bid to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, leaving her job secure for now. A distinguished economist, the Georgia native and Spelman College grad is the first Black woman to sit on the Fed’s board. She also held roles in the Clinton, […]
Posted inCommunity, Politics & Policy
The Black Seniors Who Remember Atlanta Before the Stadiums
This story first appeared on For the Record: A Black Oral History Archive. The archive is a collection of over 100 firsthand stories of Black life in America. Tillman Ward, 80, recalls his father building him and his siblings a home on Chestnut Place in Vine City in southwest Atlanta during the 1950s. He remembers watching […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Georgia Republicans Back Away From Redistricting Plan After Outcry
Efforts to begin redrawing Georgia’s voting district maps through a special session of the General Assembly have been canceled. The Republicans’ plan, which many feared would disenfranchise Black and brown voters, had already sparked multiple protests Wednesday at the Georgia State Capitol. “Changes to Georgia’s maps should take place only when members of the General […]
Posted inCommunity, Politics & Policy
Black Residents Say Moving the Olympic Cauldron Would Erase History
Whenever longtime Summerhill resident Mary Gay drives into her Atlanta neighborhood, the first thing she’s greeted with is the Olympic Cauldron — an artifact that once held the fiery torch for the 1996 Olympic Games. Seeing the historic structure puts a smile on her face because once she sees it, she knows she’s “home.” Last […]
