Category: Guest Column

For many women diagnosed with breast cancer, the day treatment ends is supposed to mark a turning point. The appointments become less frequent. The scans may become a little less daunting. Friends and family breathe a collective sigh of relief. But for the survivor, life may not feel “back to normal” at all. She can’t […]

Carl B. Trimble could be a thorn in the side of people who didn’t want to give Black architects a fair shot. His efforts, though, kicked open the doors for many minority architectural firms in metro Atlanta, including roles in the 1996 Olympic Games. The Olympics required new sports structures to be built across the […]

American nonprofit theater is in crisis. Audiences have not fully returned from the pandemic, costs have risen, philanthropy is stretched, and theaters around the country have cut programming, laid off staff, reduced seasons or closed altogether. Atlanta has not been immune. Atlanta Lyric Theatre closed in 2023 after more than four decades, and Georgia Ensemble […]

At 22, while his childhood friends were beginning the next chapter of their lives after graduation, Troy sat at home. Alone. Troy is an adult with intellectual disabilities, and for many people like him, the transition out of high school marks the end of their most consistent source of community. Opportunities for a meaningful life […]

Atlanta has always been a city where people come together to drive change. From the Civil Rights Movement to today, we’ve shown the power of collective action, courage and hope. Now it’s time to unite around another urgent challenge: trauma healing. While violence often makes headlines, it is frequently a symptom of deeper, longstanding challenges. […]

For most of my career, I have helped nonprofits move families from crisis to stability to success. More recently, for reasons beyond my control, I found myself doing what many nonprofits are doing now: finding another way to make the numbers work. I began driving for Uber from 5 to 9 a.m. What I expected […]

Like most of you, I am sick and tired of the toxic doses of anger and discord that seem to overwhelm and invade daily life. As a physician, who for almost fifty years has been privileged to heed the call for healing, I grieve at the secondary mental and physical health consequences that result. As […]

After four years of conducting nonpartisan statewide polls, we can no longer deny an alarming truth. Although Georgia brags about being the “best state for businesses,” Georgia is not the best state for working families.  This year, 9to5 Georgia supported the execution of the fourth annual Georgia Pre-Legislative Poll. The results are clear: affordability is the […]

Like anyone blessed with 98 years of life, most of what is written about Jim and these reflections are well-seasoned, none less than 20 years old. We were in the prime of our lives.   We can look at his life through five lenses: pastor, educator, business leader, diplomat, and Rotarian.  Jim Laney was one of […]

First, I want to acknowledge Ms. Patty Durand’s desire for clean, affordable energy expressed in last week’s column; it is an objective we all share. For more than a century, Southern Company has made remarkable achievements for the good of its customers, and that’s why I would like to give my perspective regarding the decision […]

When the YWCA of Greater Atlanta honored Joanna Adams as its 2014 Woman of the Year, she strode to the podium as our keynote speaker and spoke – as she always did – with confidence, authority, and a knowing that ran through every particle of her being. She addressed racism, sexism, poverty, war, hunger, inequalities, […]

My friend Bill Fowler made the world much brighter simply by the way he lived. He will be remembered for many things — his unmistakable smile, his contagious laugh and his quiet strength and kindness. Bill carried himself with grace, humility and so much courage. He was the kind of person who made others feel […]

Three years ago, on July 31, 2023, Plant Vogtle Unit 3 entered commercial service, the first new nuclear reactor completed in the United States in more than thirty years. Georgia Power, Governor Kemp, and Georgia Public Service Commissioners celebrated the moment as a triumph of American engineering and a milestone for the nation’s energy future. […]

In 1937, a misinformed Congress passed a law banning the production of one of the most important crops in U.S. history: hemp. Less than a decade later, during the height of World War II, Congress suspended the misguided decision due to a lack of the crop available for naval rigging after export bans from the […]

Metro Atlanta has spent decades trying to become a place where people from around the world can build stable lives. That success is visible in Gwinnett County, where Haitian families have formed churches, businesses and civic networks while working across health care, transportation, food service, construction, warehousing and other essential industries. A Haitian church complex […]

A few times a month, I frost cakes for kids I’ve never met.  Through volunteer work, I’ve signed up with Birthday Bundles, a nonprofit that facilitates the delivery of baked goods to children within underserved communities on their birthdays. It’s very rewarding. The kids love sweets, and the parents love their kids. But every single […]

In Georgia, many families now pay more for infant child care than they do for groceries or health insurance, even as the programs caring for their children struggle to keep their own doors open.  Across the state, the cost of everyday life is rising faster than many can keep up with.Even with more Georgians working […]

Every American should be concerned about the upcoming midterm elections due to the current administration’s actions and rhetoric. President Trump has repeatedly suggested that elections should be nationalized based in part on his false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Yet, the courts overwhelmingly found those claims to be baseless in more […]

At a recent Day at the Capitol event, a reporter asked whether I knew a renter who had experienced habitability problems. I answered, “What do you want to know?” The reporter asked again: “Do you know someone who has experienced or is currently  experiencing habitability problems?” I replied, “You are talking to the person. That […]