Welcome to the “United States of Atlanta.”
From the capitol dome to the Georgia Dome, our city’s ascendance as a pop cultural and political powerhouse was on full display over the weekend. For very different reasons, and in markedly different ways, a diverse cross-section of citizens living in the U.S. of Atlanta were inspired to “Rise Up.”
In this column, members of Georgia Humanities and their colleagues take turns discussing Georgia’s history and culture, and other topics that matter. Through different voices, we hear different stories.
This week, BOB BAHR, of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, reveals the films that will entertain, educate, and challenge viewers in 2017.
When an influential group of Jewish community leaders first came together to begin planning an ambitious new film festival nearly two decades ago, they weren’t quite sure what to call it. Eventually they settled on a simple, straightforward title that seemed to best describe their project: the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.
Only 1,900 tickets were sold in 2000, the first year, but in the intervening years their new project grew to become one of the largest events of its kind in the world.
This year organizers hope to sell around 40,000 tickets from January 24 to February 15 and hope to settle in as the world’s largest Jewish film festival. It’s an extraordinary event that lists 75 films with 202 screenings at seven Atlanta-area theaters.
Atlanta is a city known for peaceful protests and a commitment to civil and human rights.
As evidence of Atlanta’s legacy, Saturday’s March for Social Justice and Women attracted more than 63,000 people to walk from the Center for Civil and Human Rights to the State Capitol.
The peaceful spirit for a more inclusive society was in full force – until the marchers arrived at the State Capitol.
I remember very well when I first met Hank Huckaby. I was a new arrival in the state of Georgia, and the year was 1997. After almost twenty years in D.C. as an advocate for culture, history, and public policy, I returned to the place of my beginnings.
Pedestrians and bicyclists heading to and from the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail near Ponce City Market are to have their pathway illuminated by a lighting project the Atlanta City Council is slated to approve Tuesday.
Solar panels that can withstand the weight of vehicles were installed last week on the surface of the roadway at the Georgia Visitor Information Center in West Point. The energy will help power the information center.
Westside Atlanta represents the rise and fall and the impending revival of a community.
The historic core of the community is the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of historically-black colleges and universities. The consortium of the black colleges began in 1929.
“We were in the business of aspirations and dreams,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College.
Most present for me this season is the sense that we may be forgetting the very folks we see every day. They become invisible. We may not even know they are struggling to take care of themselves and their families.
The Task Force for Global Health, now on a side street in downtown Decatur, has bought a signature building on W. Ponce de Leon Avenue from DeKalb County for $12 million..
The purchase of the building in downtown Decatyre, which closed Thursday, was made possible by a recent $10 million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation and a $2 million gift from the Conrad Hilton Foundation.
By Guest Columnist CARL HOLT, an avid promoter of bicycling who volunteered as project manager for the installation of Atlanta’s first bike corral, in the Kirkwood neighborhood
While attending the Nov. 17, ReNew Atlanta Bond public meeting on the DeKalb Avenue Complete Streets plan, I could not but help notice the same issues arose at this meeting that came up during the Peachtree Road safety improvement plan, which was presented by the Georgia Department of Transportation. The issue of cars vs. bikes reared its ugly head from many attendees who live on the along the corridor that connects Decatur and Downtown Atlanta.
By Guest Columnist DAVID E. FULLER, president of the SunTrust Foundation
I’ve always believed that to whom much is given, much is required. Throughout my business career, I’ve held fast to this principle, so when I was offered the chance to head the SunTrust Foundation, it was the perfect opportunity to turn my passion for giving into a full-time career.
And so it begins.
After quitting my good government job four months ago, I’ve been on a journey without a road map or any guarantee that I’ll reach the final destination in one piece. I confess this adventure seems a little bit nuts. Scary too.
But, throwing caution (and what’s left of my 401K) to the wind, I’m planning a regular feature on SaportaReport called “I-420 Georgia.” The goal is simple: to create a rolling travelogue highlighting the people, places and businesses being impacted by Georgia’s existing marijuana laws.
Atlanta is fortunate to have a concentration of colleges and universities along with thousands of students who come to our city for school and never leave.
Among those schools there is one of the largest clusters of Historically Black Colleges and University, including Spelman College, the top-ranked HBCU, and Morehouse College, ranked No. 4 among HBCUs.
For local voters suffering from PESD – Post-Election Stress Disorder – DeKalb County CEO-elect Michael Thurmond provided just what the doctor ordered.
Flush from an election night victory, Thurmond delivered a thoughtful and inspiring speech last Thursday that hinted at his “new vision” for repairing the county long beset by racial divisiveness, bureaucratic mismanagement and political scandal.
“Philanthropy” is a familiar word in the English language. It has roots in ancient Greek and means “love of mankind.”
Philanthropy is not quite the same thing as the more traditional “charity,” which is a commandment of all the world’s great religions to care for the poor and disadvantaged.
Philanthropy, as the ancient Greeks understood it, was “love of humanity.” It was not a duty to the less fortunate as charity is. It was for the benefit of the public as a whole — all the people.
By Maria Saporta
As published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle on Nov. 4, 2016
It has been a jaw-dropping season for philanthropic giving in Atlanta.
On Nov. 2, the Woodruff Arts Center announced it has raised $110 million for its Transformation Campaign — $10 million more than its goal.
The $110 million includes $25 million to endow 11 chairs for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians, a goal that was reached two years ahead of schedule.
Twenty years ago, actress and activist Jane Fonda and feminist Gloria Steinem kicked off the first annual Numbers Too Big to Ignore – a major fundraiser for the Atlanta Women’s Foundation.
On Thursday, they returned for the 20th anniversary – held only two days after the Presidential election.
We Americans like to think we’re unique, and that our politics is unique, and to a certain extent that’s true. Look who we just elected. But a lot of the contest and reality shows we watch in the States originate in Europe, and so, sometimes, do our politics.
This week, GARY HAUK, university historian and senior adviser to the president at Emory University, reflects on the Atlanta Music Festival and its tradition of building unity through the arts.
By Gary Hauk
It’s a little-known secret that while Atlanta may have been “the city too busy to hate,” it has also been, for more than a century, a city too cultured to divide. The people have come together for art and music, theater and dance, just as much as for any baseball game or gridiron rivalry. The arts have brought together Atlantans from every neighborhood who otherwise might have little occasion to gather.
By Guest Columnist HARVEY NEWMAN, co-author of “Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta”
Six years ago, I was asked to work on a project with Ambassador Andrew Young and his daughter, Andrea Young. We began the process by sitting down with Andrew Young, with a tape recorder going, and listening to him tell stories about the decisions that shaped Atlanta’s growth from a small, segregated Southern city into a metropolis capable of hosting an international, multi-cultural event such as the Olympic Games.
This was a remarkable transformation in just a few decades.
The result of this project is a new book about our city, Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta, which was published by Mercer University Press.
