The results of the latest Nation’s Report Card are in and the news isn’t good. Fourth-graders made no improvements in math or reading, while eighth-graders’ scores were flat in math and only slightly improved in reading, according to results released Tuesday on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Overall, only roughly a third of American […]
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Heritage Owner-Occupied Rehab applications available in Metro Atlanta
Heritage Owner-Occupied Rehab (OOR) is a new affordable housing initiative to help current lower-income City of Atlanta residents remain in their homes and avoid displacement. Heritage OOR includes three programs offering residents forgivable loans to make critical health and safety repairs on their homes. Senior households aged 55+, military veterans, disabled head of households, and those that have […]
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The Achieve Atlanta scholarship
Do you know Atlanta Public School (APS) students who want to go to college? The Achieve Atlanta scholarship is a need-based award designed to support APS students pursuing various post-secondary paths after high school. For more information on eligibility and how to apply, click here. Atlanta’s students have dreams: for their futures, their families, and their careers. We’re here to get […]
Posted inColumns/Op-Eds
Will the HUD Secretary Ben Carson enforce the Fair Housing Act?
The Fair Housing Act was passed a week after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. President Lyndon Johnson encouraged Congress to pass the legislation as a tribute to the slain civil rights leader, who, along with several civil rights organizations (including the NAACP), strongly supported the act. African American veterans organizations (including the American […]
Posted inSpiritually Speaking
Been There Bless That
I wish I could remember where I heard this. But it is worth repeating for those of you who know what real pain feels like. A televangelist, whose name I can’t remember, reminded me of the real powerful nature of words that sometimes strike at your very heart. He said, in order for someone to […]
Posted inColumns/Op-Eds
Lawd Have Mercy
“I don’t want to use up all my mercy cards ‘cause I don’t know how many I have left.” I’ll never forget this line from a poem I wrote so many, many, many years ago. The poem was about backsliding and how at times we will play a game of chance with God’s mercy and […]
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Benjamin Raymond uses dark past for motivation in ‘Playing the Game Without A Coach’
At first glance, one’s first impression of Benjamin Raymond might be that he is a man who has always had it all together, or that he was born into a long line of privilege and wealth. While Raymond has been very successful in business, as an author, and as a philanthropist, he would be the […]
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Are you prepared for life’s unexpectancies?
Emergency funds can help to alleviate stress when the unexpected arises. Anything can transpire at any time and most of us have experienced the “life happens” scenario. Are you longing to start your own small business and would like to pursue your dreams? Having an emergency fund can allow you to pursue those dreams, […]
Posted inVoices
A story of hope: How running transformed Michael Martinez’s life
“What’s your story?” I asked. It’s a big question, and Michael Martinez responds with: “Wow.” He spends a couple of minutes deciding where to start. We’re talking about his “running story.” Michael is “that guy” in Atlanta’s black running community. At all the runs – big or small – you’ll see his 6’5” frame towering […]
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Coach Nicole Roberts Jones wants to help women succeed at entrepreneurship
Are you ready to make six figures? Do people often call you to “pick your brain?” If you answered yes to either question, Nicole Robert Jones has a solution for you. The best-selling author and CEO of FIERCE Factor Lab have spent years coaching women into entrepreneurship. She recently hosted a “Find Your Fierce” workshop […]
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MAP18 was a success, a journey full of numerous lessons
MAP18 was the most difficult journey that I’ve ever undertaken. It was filled with struggles and challenges and changed the way I see race and poverty in America. Over the course of the month-long journey from downtown Atlanta to Memphis, I was threatened, almost hit by an angry motorist, had the police called on me […]
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Trump vs. Amazon: Let’s set the record straight
Enough. President Trump took aim at Amazon yet again. The president on Thursday tweeted three misleading statements: 1) Amazon pays “little or no taxes to state & local governments,” 2) Amazon’s relationship with the US Post Office causes “tremendous loss” to the United States and 3) Amazon is “putting many thousands of retailers out of […]
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Black students marched against gun violence in Florida, but you likely didn’t hear about it
Only a handful of national media outlets covered the protest. Hundreds of students from a predominantly black school in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood took to the streets earlier this week to protest gun violence ― and national media barely covered it. On Tuesday, teens from Miami Northwestern Senior High School marched from their school’s campus […]
Posted inSports
32-year-old G-Leaguer called up to Lakers aces his NBA debut
“The crowd, the lights — it was once in a lifetime,” Andre Ingram said after scoring 19 points. Score one for persistence. Andre Ingram, a graying 32-year-old with fading hopes from a decade in the minor leagues, made his NBA debut for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Houston Rockets in LA on Tuesday. He […]
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Video: Cops arrest two black men sitting in Starbucks for ‘Trespassing’
The Philadelphia DA’s Office said there was a “lack of evidence” that the men committed any crime. Philadelphia police are conducting an internal investigation into a viral video that shows officers handcuffing and removing two black men from the premises of a Starbucks store. “The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything,” tweeted […]