Guest Columns
By Guest Columnist MELINDA SYLVESTER, president of the Greater Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce
Across the 50 states, there are 2.6 million Black-owned businesses that generate more than $138 billion in revenue annually. Georgia is among the nation’s leaders as Black entrepreneurs and Black enterprise flock to our state to launch new business to create jobs and wealth.
By Guest Columnist Dr. ANITA JOHNSON, National Breast Cancer Program director, Cancer Treatment Centers of America
Breast cancer is a disease most people recognize, and rightfully so. It is the second most common cancer diagnosed in American women, behind only skin cancer. That means one in eight U.S. women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. However, many people don’t understand the variations within the disease.
By Guest Columnist NATSU TAYLOR SAITO, a Regents’ professor and law professor at Georgia State University
In June 2020, in the wake of massive local, national, and worldwide demonstrations against racism and police violence, the Confederate monument in downtown Decatur came down.
By Guest Columnist BRENT PEASE, executive director, The Kyle Pease Foundation
Since 2011, The Kyle Pease Foundation has focused on generating awareness of inclusion and raising funds to promote success for persons with disabilities by providing assistance to meet their individual needs through sports.
By Guest Columnist MIKE DOBBINS, Georgia Tech professor of practice and former Atlanta planning commissioner
Stop, look and listen. Atlanta’s misguided densification planning and zoning strategy is barreling down the tracks. It has many negatives – it will exacerbate the housing affordability crisis, destabilize neighborhoods and gut the NPUs ability to shape their neighborhood’s future.
By Guest Columnist TAUHEEDAH BAKER-JONES, chief equity and social justice officer of Atlanta Public Schools
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March, the digital divide’s impact on public schooling became starkly clear. Now, as the surge in COVID cases forces some classrooms across the state to temporarily resume virtual learning, it’s more important than ever to ensure every student has the connectivity and digital tools they need to learn.
By Guest Columnist TIM ECHOLS, PSC commissioner and Dragon Con regular
To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new civilizations, to boldly go where no commissioner has gone before. For years now, I have attended Dragon Con to do just that. But this year, even Batman and Superman had to mask-up to do their good deeds.
By Guest Columnist HEATHER HUBBLE, ULI Atlanta Advisory Board
Shaping the Future of the Built Environment for Transformative Impact in Communities Worldwide. This is the mission of the Urban Land Institute, a global nonprofit education and research organization, founded in 1936, with a strong local chapter.
By Guest Columnist JOE HUDSON, trailblazing Black business advocate, mentor and coach
When the Honorable Maynard Jackson installed the City of Atlanta Equal Economic Opportunity Program, one of its main highlights was “Joint Venturing,” where minority businesses were coupled with larger white firms to bid on and execute Atlanta contracts.
By Guest Columnist KAREN CASHION, CEO of Tech Alpharetta
The tech sector is booming in the metro Atlanta region. The city of Alpharetta, with nearly 700 technology companies within city limits, is the reigning epicenter of innovation for the North Fulton area today.
By RENA ANN PECK, executive director, Georgia River Network
During the last 18 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic closed gyms and other indoor entertainment venues, collectively, we have turned to the outdoors for relief. In particular, interest in water recreation has exploded. Manufacturers of canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and other boats – and associated businesses – have experienced unprecedented demand. More people than ever before are hitting Georgia’s rivers, lakes and streams.
By Guest Columnist SALLY FLOCKS, Founder and former president, PEDS
Nothing encourages walking more than the presence of other people and having places worth walking to.
By Guest Columnist DERIN DICKERSON, outgoing chairperson of Dad’s Garage
Being a leader in the arts is not an easy job, and especially so over the last year dealing with COVID-19.
By Guest Columnist JASON MARSHALL, executive director at Wesley International Academy
When George Floyd was killed, it became the norm for brands and organizations alike to issue statements of solidarity. Well-intentioned and important, these statements have become part of our collective practice as headlines impact society.By Guest Columnist JASON MARSHALL, executive director at Wesley International Academy
When George Floyd was killed, it became the norm for brands and organizations alike to issue statements of solidarity. Well-intentioned and important, these statements have become part of our collective practice as headlines impact society.
By Guest Columnist TRACY RATHBONE STYF, executive director of the Town Center Community Improvement District
Connection. It is a word, feeling and experience that gained a new and perhaps more poignant sense of meaning for each of us over the past 18 months. Through the pandemic, it is clear that being connected to other people and experiences is a fundamental necessity for a meaningful life.
By Guest Columnist JOE COOK, Georgia River Network guidebook author and freelance journalist
Titanium. When a German scientist isolated the element in 1795, he named it to honor the fanciful tales of the Titans, the giants that once ruled the Earth in Greek mythology.
By Guest Columnist RICHARD ROSE, president, Atlanta Branch of the NAACP
America’s enduring human tragedy is racism that started with Columbus’ miscalculated arrival in the Caribbean. The failure to successfully enslave Indigenous people led to the importation by force of sub-Sahara Africans in 1619 that was justified by Christianity.
By Guest Columnist IVORY CLOUD, founder of Dreams of Lois, Inc.,
My name is Ivory Cloud and I am a wife, mother, educator and entrepreneur. I have been in education for nearly 20 years. I am a proud founder of the registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit Dreams of Lois, Inc. I started Dreams of Lois more than 10 years ago in honor of my mother, Lois, who died at a young age from cancer.
By Guest Columnist PATTY DURAND, president of Cool Planet Solutions
Georgia Power has the only nuclear plant under construction in the United States, which I call “Georgia’s Shame.” It is shameful that the timeline the utility provided to regulators, investors and the public – those of us paying for this plant – is now six years behind schedule. And it is shameful that the utility’s cost estimates for this plant were off by a shocking 100%: The original cost estimate for the two new units was $14 billion, and 2021 costs are near or at $30 billion.
By Guest Columnist DUANE ELLIOT REYNOLDS, founder/CEO of Just Health Collective
Georgia is one of 12 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. There are new incentives under the American Recovery Act for states to expand coverage and there is increasing evidence that Medicaid expansion is linked to improvements including in access, financial security, and some health status.
