Category: Guest Column

I recently shared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution why residents in English Avenue and Vine City are alarmed about Georgia Power’s plan to build a new substation in our community. But one guest column isn’t enough. The larger issue is that Atlanta lacks a just and transparent process for deciding where critical infrastructure like this should […]

The environmental benefits of renewable energy are well-established. Reducing hazardous pollutants gives us healthier water, land, and air. But the advantages of solar, wind, and geothermal resources also strengthen our energy security. The global geopolitical landscape dictates prices and availability of nonrenewable fuels, exposing the U.S.  economy to price shocks and uncertainties. Even when sourced […]

This year’s elections for the Public Service Commission (PSC), a little-known board of five people who regulate our utilities and railroads, are must-win races for the future of Georgia.  In a January AJC poll, voters ranked “Cost of Living” as our state’s most critical issue. Combined with “Jobs/Economy,” nearly half of all voters who make […]

Roughly one in eight Georgians rely on SNAP food assistance benefits to put food on the table. More than half of the roughly 1.3 million Georgia households who rely on SNAP to put food on the table have children. When a family is looking at providing healthy meals for their family on approximately $6 per […]

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Georgia, and the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be more than 66,200 new cases diagnosed and 19,000 deaths in our state due to cancer this year. In 2001, Georgia was among 46 states that began receiving millions of dollars per year from the tobacco […]

There is a growing talent shortage in accounting, and the state of Georgia has recently taken steps to expand access to a career in this field. The legislature passed a bill that creates additional pathways for people to earn a certified public accountant (CPA) license beyond the 150-hour rule, which will benefit individuals and businesses […]

You want to end HIV? Start with the front door. Because no pill, no clinic, no doctor’s order can stick if someone doesn’t have an address. At Status: Home, we’ve stopped pretending treatment begins in the pharmacy. It begins with a place to live. Because without housing, there is no healthcare. That truth is what […]

I became a member of the Atlanta Tree Conservation Commission (TCC) in 2019. The 2001 Atlanta Tree Protection Ordinance (TPO) created the TCC to hear appeals of City arborists’ decisions on tree removals. The TCC hears many appeals involving developers who clear-cut a lot and pay recompense. Recompense is the amount paid to Atlanta’s Tree Trust Fund […]

Why this work and the conversations it inspires matter now more than ever: For all that separates us, food connects us. The food we grow, share, eat and even what we throw away, is at the heart of every culture. At a time when food systems are increasingly at risk, strengthening those connections can inspire […]

In March 2024, the Governor’s Office, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) and the Criminal Case Data Exchange Board (CDX) launched Georgia’s first statewide automated victim notification (AVN) system, VINE Appriss.  The cutting-edge platform was designed to unify Georgia’s 159 counties judicial data for consistent and accurate jail notifications and empower victims. The CJCC was […]

The Marks Inn East Atlanta was built in the 1960s as the Interstate system connected Atlanta to new opportunities and the Civil Rights Movement spurred transformative social change. Flash forward to 2022 and while Atlanta was booming the now named Atlanta Motel had fallen on hard times. It had become the housing of last resort […]

Editor’s Note: This piece is written in response to a March 3 column by Maria Saporta titled Metro Atlanta is dead last when it comes to economic mobility. It was painful to read in your recent article that, according to the most recent study by Harvard economist Raj Chetty, metro Atlanta ranks 50th out of the […]

During the recession in 1988, I was 27 years old with $5,000 in the bank. I didn’t have a 401K retirement plan, own a home, or have a rock-solid game plan to acquire either. But I took a chance on myself and resigned my job at an Atlanta-based architectural firm and became a freelance graphic […]

It seems as if we might have to pay more attention to things that can’t be said in certain spaces. Again.  Because if you live in the American South or know anything about its history, you know we’ve been here before. We mucked through it then, though it cost us dearly in spilled blood, lost […]

March is Intellectual and Developmental Disability (I/DD) Awareness Month, a time dedicated to recognizing the millions of individuals in our communities who live with these disabilities. It is a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come and acknowledge the work that remains to ensure inclusion, accessibility, and support for all. According to the Georgia […]

President Trump made tariffs a centerpiece of his 2024 political campaign. During his first term, he significantly increased tariffs. Now, he is levying substantial tariffs on imports via executive orders with additional tariffs and increases widely expected. So, what does history tell us about tariffs? In his 1929 address to Congress, Congressman Hamilton Fish reminds […]

Since the hasty demise of the Peachtree Street shared space project in downtown Atlanta, in 2022, it has always seemed like a matter of time before this action would lead to a preventable death. On Feb. 11 it happened, when Pradeep Sood, 67, a merchant at nearby AmericasMart, was hit by a driver while crossing […]

It’s past time we recognize that the state of Georgia is violating the 2002 U.S. Supreme ruling that bars imposing the death penalty on intellectually disabled defendants. Our procedures for imposing capital punishment — unique among all the states — are failing on two specific procedural levels, leaving disabled people vulnerable to execution when they […]

Where do we get our values from? My philosophy professor would argue it depends on whom you ask. Some say values are discovered; others say that they are cultivated, inherited, or derived from experience. Yet, no matter their origin, values shape our character, our actions and ultimately, who we become. For me, those values were […]