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Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta deepens connections with Brazil for trade, academic exchange

by David Pendered

Signs of strengthening relations between Brazil and Atlanta continue to appear.

On Saturday, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is to lead a seven-day trade mission to Brazil. Last week, Georgia State University and an educational initiative started by Fulton County Chairman John Eaves hosted more than 125 college students from Brazil who are studying STEM fields at colleges in Georgia.

Georgia and Brazil have maintained direct relations for more than 20 years. The state opened a trade office in Brazil in 1994 and the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce opened in Atlanta in 1996. Brazil opened a new consulate in Atlanta in 2008.

Posted inDavid Pendered

GSU report blunt on economy: “Odds are against 2014 being breakout year”

by David Pendered

Everyone is looking for a breakout year for the economy. So much so that Georgia State University went ahead and said it probably won’t be so.

“Forecaster says odds are against 2014 being a breakout year for the economy,” is the headline that GSU put on its statement about the latest economic forecast by Rajeev Dhawan, of the school’s Economic Forecasting Center.

On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department revised downward its estimate of quarterly growth at the end of 2013. The growth rate was dropped by 25 percent from initial estimates, from 3.2 percent growth to 2.4 percent.

Posted inColumns, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

In Steve Walton’s lights, holidays on the edge

by Ben Smith

Steve Walton’s Christmas display around his Virginia Highland bungalow features a manger and baby Jesus without mom and dad, a monstrous snowman’s head and the effigy of an elderly woman who apparently got run over by a reindeer.

There are no flashing holiday lights, dime store decorations or blow up Santas. His displays are funny and edgy, sometimes quite dark and suggestive of a sense of longing for an artist who has experienced considerable loss in his life.

He moved on with his life by turning discarded stuff into elaborate, seasonal lawn displays. After the death of his partner in 1989, “I started to see the yard as a palette, not a chore,” said Walton, 59, last week.  “It was very therapeutic.”

Posted inColumns, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

At Beatles v. Stones, the anchoring power of music and memory

by Ben Smith

Living in uncertain times, we’re all looking for anchors. Nostalgia is a powerful one, as is music and lending a helping hand.

Friday night, more than 800 people showed up in Midtown to hear 13 bands who tried to recreate the time of peace, love and understanding known as the 1960s through the songs of two iconic bands: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

The music of these bands is now timeless, but in its day it was revolutionary, and the gray heads in the audience may have flashbacked like I did to a time when rock first moved us and when some of us sought to move others.

Beatles vs. Stones reminded me of my own altruistic early rocker roots in Staunton, Va. I played with a hastily assembled band called Ravenscroft in my first gig in a church basement.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey, Michelle Hiskey & Ben Smith

For African-American women, a hairstyle can be a tricky decision

by Michelle Hiskey

For African-American women, unemployment is 12.3 percent nationally, 13.1 percent in Georgia. That tough reality helped draw more than 100 black women to an event last week at Georgia State University focused on one decision that each of them faces:

What to do with my hair?

For them, preparing for a job interview or the first day of work isn’t as simple as deciding whether to go with the regimental blue-striped or the red power tie. Around the country, disputes over African American female hairstyles have led to accusations of wrongful firings and discrimination lawsuits.

Atlanta is where people notice, too; for example, TV news viewers spent decades obsessing over local anchor Monica Kaufman Pearson’s changing ‘dos.

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 2

Charlie Ackerman’s Moment was atop an Asian mountain near a mysterious isolated village

Avatar photo by adminmegan

By Chris Schroder

Real Estate Developer and Founder of Ackerman Security Systems, Charles Ackerman, had his Moment on a trip to a remote mountain range when he happened upon a third-world village.

While preparing to take a flight from London, Charlie came across a book on the Zanskar Range in India and became intrigued. In recorded history, only 100 people had been to the mysterious mountains. Upon asking others about the mountains, he found that it was even more elusive than he originally thought.

“We’ve asked people, ‘have you ever heard of Zanskar?’” Charlie said in our accompanying Moments video. “And they would say, ‘No, there isn’t such place.’ ”

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Investment in education vital for Atlanta’s pioneering Hall-Long family

by Michelle Hiskey

A thoughtful, private decision can change the course of a family forever.

For the Hall-Long family, known for breaking racial and social barriers in Atlanta, one major decision steered them irrevocably from agricultural roots in Rockdale County to the frontline of civil rights. Their field was education, and their specialty was pioneering.

Annette Lucille Hall, who desegregated Georgia State University, was the first-born of ten. Her closest sister, Rubye, married Ralph Abbott Long. At one point, the Longs and Halls counted 37 family members as teachers in Atlanta Public School System.

“Education is our family business,” said Susan Freeman, a granddaughter of Alonza and Fannie who is principal of McNair High School. “You could not go to a family gathering and not hear about it. You couldn’t escape it. It was innate.”

Posted inMoments, Moments Season 1

Evelyn Wynn-Dixon’s Moment was a vision others had for a life she’s living

Avatar photo by adminmegan

As I watch Dr. Evelyn Wynn-Dixon glide into her stride, telling her life story, I try to brush away a nagging premonition that we might soon see her firing up a Monday night crowd at a national political convention – but then again, other people’s premonitions is how she ended up in the mayor’s chair of Riverdale, Georgia.

Evelyn was driven to find a way out of her situation for both her and her children and serves now as an inspiration to her seven grandchildren and others who meet her.

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