Millions of low-income Americans could lose food assistance as SNAP benefits halt November 1 amid a prolonged government shutdown, leaving families and food banks bracing for crisis.
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | October 27, 2025
As the federal shutdown stretches into its fourth week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that no Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be issued on November 1 — potentially cutting off aid to more than 42 million Americans who rely on the program to feed their families.
On Monday, the USDA posted a stark message on its website: “Bottom line, the well has run dry.” According to the agency, Senate gridlock over federal spending has left SNAP — once known as food stamps — without the funds to continue into the new month.
Photo by Milton Kirby
The USDA’s statement comes amid partisan tension in Congress. The agency said that Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times against proposed measures to fund SNAP, citing disagreements over other spending priorities. Without a resolution, the department warned, “there will be no benefits issued November 1.”
Millions at Risk
The impact of this funding lapse is enormous. SNAP currently provides monthly food assistance to roughly one in eight Americans — including working parents, seniors, and people with disabilities. The separate Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, serving more than 7 million low-income mothers and babies, is also poised to run out of money.
While EBT cards will still function for now, only unused balances from prior months will remain available after November 1. USDA has clarified that these balances will roll over, but no new November benefits will be issued.
Adding to the strain, the USDA has said it will not reimburse states that use their own funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing during the shutdown. That decision leaves governors and local agencies scrambling to fill the gap.
Food Banks Brace for Surge
Across the nation, food banks are preparing for a potential surge in demand. “Food banks are already squeezed by federal funding cuts,” said George Matysik, executive director of the Share Food Program in Philadelphia. “If SNAP goes dark, we’ll see lines wrap around the block.”
Photo by Milton Kirby
The New Disabled South, a Georgia-based advocacy group, has begun offering small emergency grants — $100 for individuals and $250 for families — to help SNAP recipients cover basic needs. But even that organization is warning participants that accepting cash could affect other benefits such as Medicaid or Social Security.
A Divided Washington
The USDA said in an internal memo earlier this month that it would not tap its $5 billion contingency fund, explaining that the reserve is reserved for natural disasters, not shutdowns. That decision — combined with congressional inaction — has deepened frustration across party lines.
“It’s abysmal that we live in such a moment,” said Dom Kelly, founder of New Disabled South. “A government shutdown should not mean that people have to choose between paying rent and feeding their families.”
The shutdown, which began October 1 after lawmakers failed to agree on a 2026 federal budget, is now among the longest in U.S. history, trailing only the 35-day standoff of 2018–2019.
What SNAP Recipients Can Do
SNAP and WIC recipients are urged to contact their state agencies immediately for local assistance and to verify whether their states are releasing temporary emergency benefits. In some states, officials are exploring emergency appropriations or public-private partnerships with community food banks. Others are directing residents to faith-based and nonprofit food programs.
The USDA emphasized that while its mission is to “increase food security and reduce hunger in partnership with cooperating organizations,” it cannot operate without congressional funding.
For now, the agency’s message is clear: without a deal, millions of American households could see their food budgets vanish overnight.
Please consider supporting open, independent journalism – no contribution is too small!
ATLANTA — On Saturday, October 18, hundreds of seniors filled the Wolf Creek Amphitheater for a joyful and determined attempt to set a new Guinness World Record. The goal: the largest senior health awareness fitness class ever organized.
Led by energetic fitness coach DaShaun Johnson, the crowd stretched, stepped, and moved in sync for nearly an hour. The effort came just 83 participants shy of setting a new global mark, but the day was far from a loss.
“What we did here today was bigger than any record,” Johnson said. “We moved together — as one community — and that’s what this is all about.”
The event, presented by the City of South Fulton in partnership with The Guru of Abs, drew seniors, caregivers, and family members from across metro Atlanta. Volunteers, sponsors, and local wellness organizations filled the amphitheater with energy, resources, and encouragement.
A Day of Movement and Motivation
The day began with warm ups and motivational music before Johnson led a full-body session designed to be inclusive for all mobility levels. From chair-based stretches to low-impact cardio, participants showed that age is no barrier to movement.
“While we did not break the Guinness record, to see all of these seniors here investing in their health is truly amazing,” said Leslie McGuffie, Chief Operating Officer of Axxess Benefit Consultants.
Many seniors said they came not for a record, but for connection.
“It feels good to know we’re part of something that celebrates us,” said participant Margaret Allen of East Point. “You’re never too old to take care of yourself.”
Why Senior Fitness Matters
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults aged 65 and older need at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week, along with muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week. Regular activity helps reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
The popular SilverSneakers program, which provides free gym access for many older adults through Medicare, reports that consistent exercise improves balance, boosts mood, and reduces falls — the leading cause of injury among seniors.
“Events like this do more than raise awareness,” said wellness coordinator Tasha Greene. “They remind our elders that they are seen, valued, and capable.”
Building a Culture of Wellness
Organizers say the near-record turnout has inspired plans for a larger attempt next year. The City of South Fulton plans to continue promoting senior wellness programs throughout 2026, including walking clubs, nutrition workshops, and free exercise classes.
“We may have missed the record this time,” Johnson said with a smile, “but next year, we’ll make sure the world knows Atlanta’s seniors are unstoppable.”
No matter your age, the fitness journey can continue. With proper guidance and a consistent regimen, movement at any stage of life can improve health outcomes and quality of living.
Senior Fitness by the Numbers
150 minutes of weekly activity recommended for adults 65+.
28% of adults over 65 are inactive, per CDC.
25% reduction in risk of early death for active seniors.
40% fewer falls reported among seniors who exercise regularly.
The Power of Community Wellness
Social engagement improves mental health and reduces isolation.
Group exercise increases consistency and motivation.
Community-based programs can improve local health outcomes by up to 20%, according to public health studies.
Atlanta’s explosive growth is slowing after decades of expansion, as families move to surrounding suburbs for space and affordability while the city grows denser and pricier.
By Krystal Nurse | General Assignment Reporter | October 20, 2025
Quinn Arnau was thoughtful in his decision to plant his roots in the Atlanta metro area 20 years ago. He sought a space with an up-and-coming airport, major corporations’ headquarters and room to breathe.
“I feel like Atlanta is a cool place to live,” Arnau, president of the Atlanta Realtors Association, told Straight Arrow News. “It’s seen as an alternative to some of the larger cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.”
He isn’t the only one who feels this way. Atlanta has grown steadily for the past two decades. But as that sought-after available space becomes harder to find, the boomtown’s growth is slowing.
Between 1990 and 2025, Atlanta’s population grew an average of 2.2% every five years, according to an SAN analysis of data from the Atlanta Regional Commission, a regional planning organization that tracks trends for the city and surrounding counties. The city’s most rapid growth occurred from 2015 to 2020, during which the number of residents increased by 15.5%, or 67,015 people. The city is no stranger to population losses, as its worst was by 4.84% from 2000 to 2005, when it lost 20,163 residents.
Ann Carpenter, head of research and analytics at the commission, told SAN her team reviews results of the decennial census and then uses information about new homes being built to calculate a weighted population change.
On an annual basis, the growth looks more incremental. Data from the Census Bureau’s annual population estimates showed that Atlanta’s growth slowed from 1.5% between 2021 and 2022 to 1.3% from 2023 to 2024.
John Floresta, chief strategy and accountability officer at the Cobb County School District, which serves 100,000-plus students in the Atlanta metro, told SAN that he believes the stalled national birth rate is the cause. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the national rate has been falling since 2007 with a small spike in 2021.
“Over the course of the last five years or so, we have seen a stable birth rate across the county,” he said.
Yet even as the birth rate has held steady, school enrollment has decreased in Cobb County. The number of incoming kindergarteners has dropped from 7,720 students six years ago to 6,803 as of March 6, according to Georgia Department of Education enrollment data.
Despite it, people have relocated from the city’s confines to the suburbs where they can access more land for as much, sometimes less, than what they pay in Atlanta. The movement hit cities across the nation for decades. This urban flight proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as places like Atlanta accepted more multifamily developments to accommodate a rising population, pushing single-family homes to the suburbs.
What’s led to the growth?
Lloyd Potter, professor of sociology and demography at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told SAN that cities often see more people move in when a transportation system is built. That happened in places like Knoxville, Tennessee, Dallas and Houston.
Atlanta followed a relatively steady growth after the 1990s, mimicking the expansion of major companies like Delta Air Lines, UPS, Coca-Cola Company and Equifax. The region became a great place to work: The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell region had an unemployment rate of 4.9% in 1990 and 3.4% in 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Since 1990, the region has added a net of 45,827 employees. The largest addition was in 2021 when 146,300 people joined the region’s workforce — a rebound after the area saw 142,000 people lose their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, the promise of good jobs helps keep the region humming. At Cobb County schools, Floresta said the district has worked with several businesses to embed staff at Career Innovation and Technology Academy, a magnet high school that focuses on providing students hands-on learning experiences and career opportunities. Through the academy, Floresta said students graduate trained in their industries and could be hired quicker than others.
“Employers are confident that they’re hiring a skilled employee when a graduate walks in their door,” he said.
He added families are noticing the options suburban school districts like Cobb County offer and are either moving to those counties or sending their kids to the districts.
Suburbs enjoy the constraints of Atlanta
Floresta, like Arnau, moved to the Atlanta area nearly 25 years ago. He chose a home in Cobb County, which was growing slowly, starting in the parts neighboring Atlanta.
Soon enough, that development extended up to the city of Marietta, then to the town of East Cobb, over to the city of Kennesaw and down the county’s western side.
That’s evident in the sprawl of building permits the Atlanta Regional Commission has tracked. Its map revealed that single-family housing building permits in 2024 clustered in Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall and Jackson counties.
Those new homes are likely being filled with younger families, Arnau said.
According to the commission’s yearly population report, the Atlanta Metro’s population grew by 26.3% from 1970 to 1980 and by 34.9% from 1980 to 1990. Gwinnett County experienced the largest jump, exploding from 72,349 residents in 1970 to just over 1 million as of this year.
The commission uses an 11-county region in the population estimates over the Census Bureau’s 29-county metro.
Arnau has noticed a trend of younger people moving out of the city of Atlanta to take advantage of the space a home in the suburbs can offer for their budgets.
“We have a lot of people looking for a large flat backyard,” Arnau said, “and I’m not sure how Atlanta is perceived from the outside, but once you get especially north of the city, there are creeks and rivers and hills and things everywhere.”
The lack of open space in Atlanta has, however, made way for multifamily buildings such as apartments, condominiums and townhomes. The city has approved nearly nine times more multifamily permits than it did for single-family homes in 2024, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.
It’s the only area in the region with such a large discrepancy between the housing types.
“Some of those rentals are coming at the expense of would-be development for single-family homes,” Arnau said.
Throughout the region, home sales aren’t closing as quickly as they once did, Arnau told SAN. As a result, Arnau deems the area part of a “neutral” real estate market, which means neither buyers nor sellers have an advantage. This has allowed homeowners to stay put for longer as their homes build equity.
And that, in turn, promotes smaller towns to build their own downtown or city center areas to entice people to stay, Arnau said. That’s happened in Alpharetta, where in 2015, leaders created a downtown master plan to address Fulton County’s 365,000-resident increase between 1970 and 2015.
Growth in Atlanta hasn’t stopped. It’s only slowed after years of explosive growth that has become the expectation: People are still moving in and calling it home.
“The future is bright,” Arnau said. “Atlanta will continue to keep growing and we’ll see people continue to want to live here.”
Tristan Peterson (Creative Director) and Devin Pavlou (Digital Producer) contributed to this report.
Please consider supporting open, independent journalism – no contribution is too small!
The Tau Pi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated hosts “The Power of Our Legacy” on October 25, featuring Jini Thornton’s practical roadmap for financial clarity, organization, and generational wealth transfer.
By Milton Kirby | Stone Mountain, GA | October 22, 2025
The Tau Pi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated is gearing up for a day-long workshop this Saturday designed to help families take control of their future through intentional planning and organization.
The program, “The Power of Our Legacy (Planning today for tomorrow’s success),” will feature nationally syndicated financial empowerment guru and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Jini Thornton, whose mission is to make legacy planning simple, approachable, and life changing.
Courtesy – Jini Thornton
“This workshop is about making legacy planning simple,” Thornton told The Truth Seekers Journal in an interview Tuesday. “People focus on wills and trusts, and that’s important. But so much of legacy work has nothing to do with documents. It’s the roadmap—what people need to know and where to find it.”
Thornton said the goal is to help families move from overwhelmed to organized. “When someone gets sick or passes away, who cares if you have documents no one can find?” she said. “Organization is the game-changer.”
The message: organize your life so your love shows up on time
Thornton previewed the workshop’s agenda, which will walk participants through practical, no-cost actions:
Build a “legacy dream team.” Choose people who can carry out real responsibilities, not just relatives by default.
Name who’s in charge and clearly define the roles.
List key contacts. Accountant, realtor, insurance agent, benefits and HR at work, even the handyman.
Document workplace details families often overlook: manager’s name, close co-workers, and benefit elections.
When Thornton’s mother passed away, she said, the entire process ran smoothly because everything was already organized. “I knew who did her taxes. I knew the realtor she wanted to handle the sale of her home. I even knew her handyman,” she recalled. “That clarity gave me space to grieve instead of spending months searching.”
She also stressed that the workshop will empower attendees with simple, immediate steps: designating Payable-on-Death (POD) and Transfer-on-Death (TOD) beneficiaries on accounts, and updating life insurance and retirement plans. “You don’t need a lawyer or money to start doing this,” she said. “You just need intention.”
Normalizing the hard conversations
Thornton said part of the work is cultural. “For good historical reasons, we learned to hide things,” she said. “But we’ve taken hiding too far. Your loved ones don’t need to know your checking or savings account balances—they need to know where you bank.”
She wants families to bring these discussions into the open before a crisis. “Death is hard,” she said. “Don’t rob your family of the time to be present and grieve by forcing them to search for months.”
Legacy Life Organizer
The Legacy Life Organizer
Saturday’s workshop will also introduce participants to Thornton’s comprehensive workbook, the Legacy Life Organizer, a tool that provides prompts, checklists, and conversation starters for managing critical information. It’s meant for both individuals and those helping parents or grandparents get organized. A purchase link for the guide will be made available after the event.
Practice what you preach
Thornton’s own company, Envision Business Management Group, embodies the same discipline and organization she advocates. With a staff of 12, she leverages professional networks and trusted partners to maintain efficiency and confidentiality for her clients.
“Jini practices what she preaches.” Her firm relies heavily on reputable consultants and payroll companies to manage transactions and data securely. “Any of my clients who have employees,” Thornton said, “we ensure every person is paid on time, every time, by leveraging payroll services. It keeps operations smooth, protects client privacy, and makes sure employees are taken care of.”
Envision operates as a true fiduciary for its clients. “All of their revenue is collected by us,” Thornton explained. “We handle the payments, the bills, the reporting — everything. That way, clients can focus on what they do best while knowing their finances are protected.”
Trusted by the best
When asked if she could share the names of any clients, Thornton was cautious — but did mention one. “I’ve worked with Ludacris for many years,” she said. “We earned each other’s trust a long time ago, and he remains one of our thriving clients today.”
Thornton is quick to deflect credit for his financial success. “I don’t take credit for anyone’s accomplishments,” she said. “But I do know our firm provides road maps and feedback that have helped our clients make excellent financial decisions.”
Intentional wealth transfer in Black communities
For Thornton, legacy planning is deeply personal. Adopted by a single mother in 1969, she grew up in a home that valued independence and preparation. “My mom was committed to empowerment,” she said. “When she passed, everything was in order. I didn’t have to chase paperwork — she left me space to grieve.”
That experience drives her message today. “We work so hard,” she said. “We must be intentional about transferring what we have — no matter how much it is. You don’t have to be Oprah to have something to transfer.”
Sidebar: What Attendees Will Do This Saturday
Create a Legacy Dream Team with clear roles and backups
Compile a master contact list (tax preparer, realtor, insurance, HR, trusted trades)
Record workplace details (manager, HR contact, benefits)
Set POD/TOD designations on accounts
Update beneficiaries on life insurance and retirement plans
Centralize all key information in one secure place
Sidebar: Conversation Starters at Home
“If something happened, who should we call first at work?”
“Which bank and branch do you use?”
“Who handled the last insurance claim?”
“Who’s your tax preparer or Certified Public Accountant?”
October marks 40 years of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Know the signs, close the gaps, and act early. Every story is unique. Every journey matters. Get screened
By Milton Kirby | Decatur, GA | October 19, 2025
Why This Month Still Matters
This October marks 40 years of Breast Cancer Awareness Month — four decades of breakthroughs, bravery, and a global pink movement.
The 2025 theme, “Every Story Is Unique, Every Journey Matters,” is both a reflection and a rallying cry. Behind every pink ribbon is a story of survival, strength, and ongoing struggle.
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women in the United States. About 316,000 new invasive cases are expected this year. Earlier detection, modern therapies, and awareness campaigns have improved survival rates, saving over half a million lives since 1989.
Understanding Breast Cancer
Breast cancer begins when cells in the breast grow out of control. Most cases (70–80%) start in the milk ducts, while others begin in the lobules (10–15%).
When cancer spreads into nearby tissue, it becomes invasive breast cancer. If it reaches distant parts of the body — such as the lungs, liver, or bones — it becomes metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
Today, about 170,000 women in the U.S. live with MBC. Though not curable, it can be managed with targeted therapies and compassionate care. Organizations like Susan G. Komen, Breastcancer.org, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation offer trusted information and support networks for patients and caregivers.
When Breast Cancer Affects Men
Breast cancer in men is rare — less than 1% of all cases — but it does occur. The lifetime risk is about 1 in 1,000 for men, compared with 1 in 8 for women. Symptoms include a painless lump, nipple changes, or redness.
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) notes that men are often diagnosed later because they’re less likely to recognize the signs.
Black men have the highest incidence and mortality rates, a disparity that experts say demands greater awareness and screening equity.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Fast and Fierce
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) represents 1–5% of all diagnoses and is one of the most aggressive forms. It typically appears as redness or swelling rather than a lump. According to the NCI, IBC progresses rapidly and is more common among younger and African American women.
Treatment involves a multimodal approach — chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Foundations like the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation are leading targeted studies to better understand and treat this form of the disease.
The Power of Progress
Since 1989, U.S. breast-cancer deaths have declined 44%, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.
That progress reflects improved screenings, expanded research, and the courage of survivors who share their stories. Still, racial and economic disparities persist — Black women are 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. Closing that gap remains a central goal of the awareness movement.
Screenings Save Lives
Early detection changes everything. The American Cancer Society and Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) recommend individualized screening schedules based on age and risk.
Know the signs:
New lump or thickening in the breast or underarm
Change in breast shape or size
Dimpling, puckering, or redness
Nipple inversion or unusual discharge
Pain or swelling in the breast or chest
A Survivor’s Voice: “It’s Going to Be Alright”
For Beverly, a 24-year breast cancer survivor from North Carolina, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is far more than an annual observance — it’s a celebration of endurance, faith, and family.
She was first diagnosed in 2002 at just 48. “The mammogram caught it early,” she recalled. “I was afraid of everything — the diagnosis, the treatment, the unknown.” Before surgery, she remembers hearing her late grandmother’s voice say softly, “It’s going to be alright.”
“When I told my mother, who had also survived breast cancer, she said, ‘That’s nothing,’” Beverly laughed, remembering that first round of treatment. “My family has lived this — my mother, grandmother, my aunt, who’s now less than 30 days from 85 years strong, and even my great-grandfather. We’ve all faced it.”
Twelve years later, Beverly discovered a small lump under her arm. “I was just looking and feeling my armpits when I noticed it,” she said. “It had come back — same side, left side.” Her oncologist confirmed the cancer had returned in her lymph nodes.
This time, the treatment was more aggressive — chemotherapy, radiation, and years of medication. She credits her husband, Ted, as her constant support. He’s been my listener, my quiet presence, and my driver. When I didn’t need words, he just stayed close — and he’s become an expert tea brewer” she smiled.
One of her hardest moments came when she had to tell her then nine-year-old son. “He saw the calls and cards and said, ‘I hope you don’t have cancer.’ That opened the door for us to talk openly — to face it together.”
It has now been ten years since Beverly completed her second bout with breast cancer, including the aggressive treatment and follow-up medication regimen. This past August, her care team finally permitted her to discontinue the inhibitors.
Since that first diagnosis, Beverly has made gratitude and wellness her daily focus. “Every day, I try to live with intention and thankfulness,” she said. “Even on tough days, I remind myself: I’m still here — and that’s reason enough.”
The 10 Screenings Women Should Know
(Source: National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.)
Health Screening
Who Needs It
Why You Need It
Well-Woman Exam
Women 18+
Preventive check-up for overall and reproductive health.
Breast Cancer Screening
Women 40+*
Mammograms detect breast cancer early, when treatment is most effective.
Cervical Cancer Screening
Women 21+*
Detects abnormal cervical cells before they become cancerous.
Colorectal Cancer Screening
Women 45+*
Identifies and removes precancerous polyps to prevent colorectal cancer.
Lung Cancer Screening
Women 50+* at high risk
Detects lung cancer early, when it’s most treatable.
Skin Cancer Screening
Women at high risk*
Detects early skin cancers for prompt treatment.
Cholesterol Screening
Women 40+* (can start in 20s)
Detects high cholesterol linked to heart disease and stroke.
Blood Pressure Screening
Women 18+*
Identifies hypertension, a leading risk for heart attack and stroke.
Diabetes Screening
Women with risk factors*
Detects diabetes or prediabetes before symptoms appear.
Bone Density Screening
Women 60+*
Measures bone strength to prevent fractures and osteoporosis.
Certain factors such as family history, prior cancer, gene mutations, or other risks may require earlier or more frequent screenings. Always consult your healthcare provider for personalized recommendations.
Beyond Medicine: The Human Side of Healing
A breast-cancer diagnosis tests both body and spirit. Emotional and financial support are vital. CancerCare offers free counseling and grants. Living Beyond Breast Cancer connects survivors through education and peer support. Clinical partners like Medpace Oncology continue advancing therapies to improve quality of life worldwide.
Research and Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are shaping the future of breast cancer care. The National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Database lists open studies nationwide. Participation helps move science forward — for patients today and those yet to be diagnosed.
Every Story Matters
From lab breakthroughs to late-night conversations in waiting rooms, every act of awareness is an act of care.
This October, honor the survivors, remember the lost, and encourage someone you love to schedule their screening. Because after 40 years, the message still holds true: every story is unique, every journey matters.
Thousands marched from Atlanta’s Civic Center to the State Capitol in the nationwide “No Kings” protests opposing Trump-era policies and calling for renewed democratic accountability
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | October 18, 2025
Thousands of demonstrators filled downtown Atlanta on Saturday for the city’s third “No Kings” protest of the year — part of a nationwide wave of rallies opposing what organizers describe as authoritarian overreach by the Donald Trump administration.
The march began at the Atlanta Civic Center, where an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people gathered before marching roughly 1.2 miles to the Georgia State Capitol. Participants carried handmade signs, waved flags, and chanted slogans like “We the People Will Rule.” The phrase — central to the “No Kings” movement — represents a rejection of monarchical power and a demand for democratic accountability.
Photo by Milton Kirby – Atlanta Civic Center
A Peaceful, Powerful Day
City officials confirmed permits had been issued for the event and described the protest as a peaceful and safe gathering. Atlanta police reported no arrests or major incidents. The atmosphere, witnesses said, felt part rally, part block party, providing a sense of security to the participants and the public.
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) addressed the crowd, urging attendees to “stand firm for democracy” and condemning recent remarks by President Trump to military leaders. Other speakers focused on a wide range of issues, from immigration and voting rights to local housing concerns, providing a comprehensive understanding of the societal challenges being addressed.
Part of a National Movement
Saturday’s demonstration was one of more than 2,700 “No Kings” events held across the United States — and even abroad — with organizers estimating nearly seven million total participants. In Georgia alone, at least 35 affiliated protests were reported in cities including Athens, Marietta, Gainesville, Rome, and Tucker.
The Tucker rally drew roughly 8,000 people, beginning at the Lavista Festival Shopping Center and looping across the I-285 overpass. Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4) addressed that crowd, telling participants, “This is what democracy looks like — people standing up together, not bowing down to power.”
Protest Against Policies and Shutdown
The “No Kings” movement, which has its roots in protests that began earlier this year, is primarily focused on opposing Trump-era policies related to immigration, education, and health care, as well as environmental rollbacks and ICE raids. The latest wave of demonstrations came amid a prolonged federal government shutdown, with Congress deadlocked over funding and the administration facing growing criticism over governance paralysis.
Despite partisan tensions — with some Republican officials labeling the events “Hate America rallies” — major cities reported largely peaceful gatherings and no widespread disruptions.
A Growing Coalition
The Atlanta rally was organized by a coalition of grassroots organizations, including Indivisible Georgia, the ACLU of Georgia, and the 50501 Movement. These groups, along with many others, have come together to express their deep concern about democratic backsliding and civic erosion.
“We need to use the rights we still have to bring our voices together,” one demonstrator told The Truth Seekers Journal. “We can’t let fear or fatigue silence us.”
Reggie Jackson’s three homers in 1977 sealed his “Mr. October” legend. From Oakland to New York, and now STEM philanthropy, his story blends power, pressure, and purpose.
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | October 18, 2025
A night that named a legend
On Oct. 18, 1977, Reggie Jackson stepped into Yankee Stadium history. He saw three first-pitch strikes. He launched all three into the seats. The third flew to deep center, off the black batter’s eye. The Yankees clinched the World Series. The crowd roared “Reg-GIE!” and a nickname stuck forever: Mr. October.
That moment didn’t come easy. Jackson had joined New York after a stormy year in Baltimore. The Yankees clubhouse ran hot: big egos, bigger expectations. Manager Billy Martin benched him in the ALCS, then called his number late. Jackson answered with a key RBI single. He carried that momentum into the World Series—five home runs in the final three games, eight RBI, and a record 25 total bases. He owned October.
Built for big stages
Reginald “Reggie” Martinez Jackson played 21 MLB seasons. He starred for the Kansas City/Oakland A’s, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and California Angels. He was a 14-time All-Star, the 1973 AL MVP, a five-time World Series champion, and a two-time World Series MVP. He finished with 563 home runs and a reputation for rising when it mattered most.
Reggie Jackson Jersey – Courtesy Wikipedia
He also led the league in strikeouts—proof that taking big swings cuts both ways. But teams got better around him. Across two decades, Jackson’s clubs finished first 11 times and endured only two losing seasons. The A’s won three straight titles from 1972–74. The Yankees won back-to-back in 1977–78. The Angels won division crowns in 1982 and 1986. New York retired his No. 44 in 1993; Oakland retired his No. 9 in 2004. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1993.
The early fight: talent, tests, and grit
Jackson grew up in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, the son of Martinez Jackson, a former Negro Leagues infielder. At Cheltenham High, Reggie starred in four sports. Football nearly ended his athletic career—neck fractures, weeks in the hospital, a bleak prognosis. He came back anyway.
Major programs recruited him for football. He chose Arizona State, aiming to play both football and baseball. The pros soon called. In the 1966 draft, the A’s took him second overall. He signed, climbed quickly, and debuted in 1967. Two years later he clubbed 47 homers and chased Ruth and Maris for a summer.
Oakland greatness, Oakland grit
With the A’s, Jackson helped build a dynasty. From 1971–74, Oakland stacked division titles and won three straight World Series. He hit, he ran, he argued, he won. He blasted a transformer with a thunderous 1971 All-Star homer in Detroit. He stole home to help clinch the 1972 AL pennant—tearing his hamstring in the process and missing the Series the A’s still won.
Oakland was talent and turbulence. Owner Charlie Finley staged a “Mustache Day.” Teammates brawled. Arbitration battles made headlines. Through it all, Jackson produced—254 homers in nine A’s seasons—and forced the sport to deal with a star who wouldn’t shrink.
The Making of Mr. October
New York magnified everything. The media glare was constant. Quotes cut both ways. A June 1977 dugout confrontation with Billy Martin played out on national TV. Yet when the stakes rose, Jackson delivered. He crushed a walk-off-style dagger against Boston in a tense September race. Then came that three-homer masterpiece in Game 6. In 1978, he did it again—homers when needed most, a second straight title, and a legend cemented.
Legacy: power, pressure, contradictions
Jackson’s career tells a full American sports story. He won big. He failed big. He spoke his mind. He shouldered heat others couldn’t. He made teammates and cities better. He was the first to hit 100 home runs for three different franchises. He stacked rings and records while carrying the burdens of fame, race, and expectation in a volatile era.
Giving back: the Mr. October Foundation
After baseball, Jackson advised the Yankees for years, then joined the Astros as a special advisor in 2021. Off the field, he leaned into service. The Mr. October Foundation focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM education and career pathways for underserved youth. The mission is practical and urgent: connect students to real-world skills in engineering, advanced manufacturing, medical fields, and the trades.
Reggie Jackson Classroom – Courtesy Mr. October Foundation
Since 2014, the foundation has partnered with STEM 101, launching first in the Bronx (2015) and expanding to Detroit, Oakland, and St. Louis. The program’s three pillars—Create & Innovate, Career Pathways, andSolutions-Based Learning—turn curiosity into competence. The outcomes are clear: stronger post-secondary readiness, a visible path to good jobs, and a rising interest in STEM compared to peers. It’s the same formula that made Mr. October: preparation, courage, and timely impact.
Remembering where he stood—and stands
Jackson has always been candid about the business and the bruise of the game—about race, pressure, and the costs of being first in certain rooms. At baseball’s Rickwood Field tribute in 2024, he spoke bluntly about the insults and exclusions he faced early in his career. Those memories still cut. Yet his story arcs toward construction: hitting through hecklers, winning through chaos, building programs that open doors for kids who will build what’s next.
Why Mr. October still matters
Reggie Jackson is more than a night of three swings. He is a career of big moments and a life of bigger meaning. He pushed baseball forward. Now he’s pulling students forward—toward the labs, shops, clinics, and plants where the next American breakthroughs will be made. That’s clutch, too.
DeKalb residents packed the Porter Sanford Center to learn how data centers impact energy, water, and community life—and what new policies could mean for local neighborhoods.
By Milton Kirby | Decatur, GA | October 17, 2025 (Updated October 21, 2025)
On Wednesday evening, a packed house at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center bore witness to an important community discussion: the town hall event titled “Helping Residents Understand Data Centers”, hosted by DeKalb County Government in collaboration with County CEO Lorraine Cochran Johnson, Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson and Commissioner Dr. LaDena Bolton. The goal — to shed light on data-center development across metro Atlanta and engage residents directly in shaping policy and zoning.
In her opening remarks, CEO Cochran Johnson emphasized the event’s purpose: “Our goal is to ensure residents have access to accurate information and can engage in meaningful discussion before decisions are made,” she said, stressing that the conversation was “about education, transparency, and community understanding.” With the meeting also live-streamed on DCTV to reach broader audiences, it underscored the County’s intention to leave no stone unturned.
The timing is telling. In July the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved a temporary moratorium on new data-center approvals, citing the need for deeper research, policy development and public engagement — extended recently through December 2025. The town hall forms part of that process: a chance for residents to hear from experts directly, ask questions, weigh the potential benefits and pitfalls of data-center development in their communities, and help shape the regulatory framework that will guide what comes next.
Photo by Milton Kirby – DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson
What is a data center—and why does it matter?
It may sound technical, but the concept is clearer when you break it down. A data center is fundamentally a physical facility where computing equipment, storage systems, networking gear and infrastructure are housed to store, process and manage data and applications. According to Cisco Systems, “at its simplest, a data center is a physical facility that organizations use to house their critical applications and data.” This includes the servers, storage drives, routers and switches, firewalls, as well as the power, cooling and backup infrastructure that keeps everything running — often 24/7.
In practice, the modern facility is an industrial-scale enterprise. It might host cloud-computing platforms, serve as the backbone for AI and machine-learning workloads, support massive “hyperscale” operations (for companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft) or even serve as regional hubs, connecting telecommunications infrastructure.
Because nearly every service you use—online banking, streaming video, storing and sharing images, remote work, emergency services—runs through some portion of this infrastructure, data centers are essential to our digital lives. They are the silent—but massive—buildings behind the scenes.
As the panel at the Porter Sanford meeting made clear, the reason data centers are increasingly under scrutiny is that, while they provide digital backbone benefits, they also raise real questions about land use, infrastructure stress, environmental impact, community equity and local benefits.
The Town Hall Discussion: Experts, Residents & Real Questions
To assist residents and officials in considering these questions, the County brought together an array of specialists:
Demond Mason of Newton County
Shane Short of the Walton County Development Authority
Ahmed Saeed of Georgia Tech
Céline Benoît of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
Danny Johnson of the Atlanta Regional Commission
Juliana Njoku of DeKalb’s Department of Planning and Sustainability
Under the guidance of CEO Cochran Johnson, the panel addressed core topics such as: energy and water use; required infrastructure (power grid, water, cooling, fiber and roads); economic impact and job creation; community benefit and quality-of-life concerns; and the evolving role of data centers in a world of AI, cloud computing and remote everything.
Residents asked pointed questions: how many jobs will actually be created? Will their electricity bills go up? What about the noise, the land-use conversion, the water demand? Many admitted they came to the event unsure of how a data center operates yet left with a clearer understanding of the mechanics and implications.
The Upsides: Why Data Centers Can Be Good for Local Communities
During the discussions, several clear benefits emerged.
Economic development and tax revenue Data-center construction can bring substantial investment into a region. Some counties have seen increased property values, boosted infrastructure spending, and attraction of technology-sector ecosystem growth. The panel cited examples such as Loudoun County in Virginia, where data-centers supported these spill-over benefits.
Infrastructure-upgrade spillover Because data centers require robust utilities—electricity grids, fiber-optic networks, road access—they can serve as catalysts for broader infrastructure improvements that benefit whole communities: better broadband, improved roads, enhanced power reliability.
Foundational digital backbone As noted above, data centers are critical for cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital entertainment, remote work, telehealth and emergency services. Local proximity to such infrastructure can help position a region for the future economy.
Community partnership opportunities Some operators are increasingly conscious of their role as community partners: training programs, community benefit agreements, technological access, local hiring efforts. When these partnerships are handled proactively, the hosting community sees more than just a facility in its backyard.
In short: with the right planning, regulation and transparency, a data-center project can be more than an industrial site—it can become an asset for a community.
The Concerns: Real Risks that Need Guarding Against
However, the discussion also surfaced multiple legitimate concerns—several of which resonated with many residents.
Massive energy consumption Data centers are extremely energy intensive. Analysts project that U.S. data-center power demand could triple by 2030 if current trends continue, driven in large part by AI workloads. That means pressure on local grids, higher utility infrastructure costs, potential for increased electricity costs for residents, and stronger reliance on fossil-fuel generation in some cases.
High water usage and cooling demands In many facilities, water is used for cooling (evaporative systems, cooling towers). One study found that a single 100-megawatt data center could use up to two million liters (more than half a million gallons) per day in water-stressed regions. In drought-prone areas this becomes a key local water-resource risk.
At the town hall, panelists explained that not all data centers cool the same way. Some rely on open, or free-flowing, water systems—in which water continuously cycles through equipment and then exits the facility, often as warm discharge into municipal systems. While cheaper to build, these systems consume far more water and can increase strain on local supplies.
By contrast, closed-loop cooling systems recirculate water within sealed pipes or tanks, losing only small amounts through evaporation. Though more expensive upfront, they dramatically reduce total water consumption and are now considered a best practice in water-sensitive areas. Experts noted that some advanced centers are moving toward hybrid or air-cooled designs that reduce or eliminate water use entirely.
Understanding which system is being proposed for any new facility, several panelists said, should be one of the first questions local residents and zoning boards ask. “The type of cooling system tells you a lot about the facility’s environmental footprint,” one expert explained. “A closed-loop system signals a commitment to sustainability.” These distinctions matter deeply for regions like metro Atlanta, where droughts and high summer demand already put pressure on shared water resources.
Pollution, noise and land-use impacts
Backup diesel generators, used for power outages and often regularly tested, release pollutants (particulate matter, nitrogen oxides) that affect air quality and health, particularly in nearby communities. (businessinsider.com)
Noise from cooling fans, servers, power infrastructure and HVAC systems can disturb neighborhoods. One source put it this way: “It’s like being on a tarmac with an airplane engine running constantly … Except that the airplane keeps idling and never leaves.” (en.wikipedia.org)
Large data-center campuses require significant land—sometimes in competition with housing, agriculture or conservation. Zoning change and land-use conversion may alter neighborhood character and environmental justice concerns.
Job and benefit-share questions While data-center construction may bring many temporary jobs, once operational the facility often requires relatively few permanent employees (security, maintenance, facility management). Critics argue that the number of long-term, well-paid jobs may be low compared with the scale of incentives offered and the local infrastructure costs borne.
Infrastructure and regulatory burdens Upgrading the local power grid, improving transmission lines, reinforcing water systems, may require large investments—sometimes partially funded by local utility customers. Without strong policy frameworks, the host community may bear disproportionate share of cost or risk. There is also concern that data centers are sometimes located in communities that already face higher pollution burdens—raising environmental-justice flags.
Unequal distribution of benefits and burdens Some research suggests that while benefits concentrate (large corporations, landowners, utility companies), many of the burdens (environmental impact, utility cost increases, land conversion) fall on less-advantaged communities. (businessinsider.com)
What the Experts Emphasised: Keys for DeKalb County to Watch
From the town-hall panel, several watch-points and recommendations stood out.
Promised local benefits must be specific and enforceable. What are the actual jobs, training programs, property-tax contributions, community-benefit agreements?
Who bears the costs? Not just jobs and tax revenue, but what about added strain on the grid, water usage, infrastructure upgrades, noise mitigation, environmental monitoring?
Transparency, community engagement and ongoing monitoring. Projects must not just be approved and forgotten; ongoing oversight, community liaison and impact measurement matter.
Strong regulatory framework. Zoning, environmental review, utility oversight, noise/air-quality mitigation—all must be in place before large-scale approval.
Local context matters. The impact varies depending on water-stress region, grid capacity, land-use pressures, community vulnerability, equity considerations. A data center in one region can be far more challenging than in another.
Balance of economic opportunity and sustainability. It’s not simply “data centers good = jobs”; the full spectrum of benefits, burdens and trade-offs must be weighed.
Back to DeKalb: What Happens Next
For DeKalb County, the town hall was a milestone in a broader process. With the moratorium in place through December 2025, county staff, planners and officials will be synthesizing resident input, expert findings, fiscal and infrastructure impact studies, and crafting zoning and operational standards tailored for data-centers. Residents were encouraged to stay engaged: future meetings, updates and resources will be posted through official County channels.
Many attendees left the event expressing appreciation. One resident noted that she had arrived “not sure how a data center worked or why we should care” but departed with “a much clearer understanding of the issues, the trade-offs, and what questions I now want to ask.” Another stressed the importance of “making sure our neighborhood doesn’t get the downsides while someone else reaps the benefits.”
In the coming months the County will need to reconcile competing priorities: attracting investment and economic opportunity, preserving infrastructure capacity, protecting environmental and community health, ensuring fairness and equity, and shaping land use in a way that serves residents’ interests.
Final Thoughts: A Balanced Outlook
Data centers are undeniably a critical part of the 21st-century digital economy. They support cloud services, remote work, streaming, AI, healthcare, financial systems — indeed, much of modern life. If well-located, well-regulated and community-integrated, they can bring growth, infrastructure upgrades and strategic advantage to a region.
But the side-effects are non-trivial. Massive power draw, high water usage, potential air-quality and noise impacts, infrastructure cost burdens, limited long-term job gains, and land-use conversion all demand thoughtful planning and hard questions. The research is clear: impacts vary greatly depending on region, regulatory strength, benefit-sharing and community engagement. For example, while global studies show data centers may account for over 1 % of global electricity use currently and could double in the next few years, localized effects on utility grids, water systems and neighborhoods can be acute.
For DeKalb County, the next phase is crucial. The conversation has begun; now comes the work of translating dialogue into policy. The County will need to ensure that the benefits of any data-center project genuinely accrue to residents, that the costs are clearly allocated, and that long-term quality of life—environmental, infrastructural, social—is protected.
As CEO Cochran Johnson said in her opening remarks: this is about education, transparency, and community understanding. The residents of DeKalb have signalled they intend to be part of the process — and the success of future data-center development will depend on that engagement being genuine, sustained and meaningful.
In the end, the question isn’t simply whether to approve data centers—it’s how, under what terms and with what safeguards such a facility sits in a community. If DeKalb County can insist on rigorous criteria, clear community benefits, and strong oversight, it may capture the promise of 21st-century digital infrastructure while avoiding its pitfalls. The town hall was a strong first step in that direction.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned of “potential disaster” in determining that the number of votes received should impact a candidate’s ability to pursue legal action related to mail-in ballots.
The High Court heard arguments on Wednesday in a challenge to an Illinois law that allows the counting of late-arriving mail-in ballots. The lawsuit was filed by U.S. Representative Michael Bost, a Republican from Illinois.
Lower courts threw out the case, ruling that the late votes likely had little effect on the results in his district.
“What you’re sketching out for us is a potential disaster,” Roberts told an attorney representing the Illinois State Board of Elections, CNN reported. “You’re saying if the candidate is going to win by 64 percent, no standing. But if the candidate hopes to win by a dozen votes … then he has standing.”
llinois was among 18 states that accepted mail-in ballots received after Election Day 2024, as long as they were postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that aims to require votes to be “cast and received” by Election Day, but the action has been challenged in court.
What To Know
Bost filed the lawsuit in 2022, arguing that state law violates a federal statute setting a uniform day for federal elections. The Republican also says that all candidates should have default standing to challenge election rules, without having to prove that they could shift the result of their own race. Illinois officials counter that a candidate must show that the law would cause them to lose their race. The state’s solicitor general said that reviving the case could lead to more lawsuits and “cause chaos” for election officials.
Multiple justices expressed concerns that basing a candidate’s right to sue on electoral prospects could force judges to assume a political role. Roberts said it would push courts to make political decisions during “the most fraught time for the court to get involved in electoral politics.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh raised concerns that requiring candidates to wait until after an election to have standing could mean that judges are asked to invalidate votes that have already been cast. “If we’re not thinking ahead to that, we’re going to walk into something,” he said.
Justice Elena Kagan characterized the legal claim as a “suit in search of a problem,” arguing that a large number of lawsuits are filed by voters, political parties and others around every election cycle.
What People Are Saying
Kagan, during arguments in Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections: “You’re asking to create a whole new set of rules when everything has been proceeding just fine.”
Paul Clement, attorney for Bost, during arguments: “A longer campaign is a more expensive campaign, and that classic pocketbook injury is sufficient to give Congressman Bost standing. There is no need to make the standing inquiry here any more complicated than that.”
What Happens Next
The High Court is expected to issue its ruling by June.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Early voting in Georgia runs through November 1, with local and statewide races on the ballot, including mayoral and Public Service Commission elections.
By Milton Kirby | Decatur, GA | October 14, 2025
Early voting began today in Georgia and in several states across the country, marking the start of a critical three-week stretch before the November 4th General Election.
In DeKalb County, residents can now cast ballots for a range of key races — from statewide offices to local leadership posts that will shape the future of communities across metro Atlanta.
On the ballot this year is the Statewide Special Election for the Public Service Commission, along with municipal general elections in numerous cities, including Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, and Doraville.
Atlanta voters will select a Mayor, City Council President, City Council members, Board of Education representatives, and Municipal Court Judges. These races are expected to draw strong turnout as city leaders continue to navigate housing affordability, infrastructure expansion, and public safety reform.
Election officials across Georgia are encouraging voters to take advantage of early voting to avoid long lines on Election Day. Polling places and sample ballots are available through the state’s My Voter Page.
Georgia’s 17-day early voting period will run through Friday, November 1, with mandatory Saturday voting in every county.
This year’s election season arrives as lawmakers and advocacy groups continue to debate possible adjustments to Georgia’s early voting laws — a discussion that could shape voter access and participation for years to come.
Please consider supporting open, independent journalism – no contribution is too small!
Dear Shadow Ball: I am 63 years old and Black. I have only heard snippets about the Negro Leagues during my lifetime. I now have an interest in educating myself about the leagues. How do you suggest that I start — I imagine reading your column is one place and I will read your column and engage, but I want to really dig in deep.
Secondly, are any of the players still alive? Ready to Dig in Deep – Ansonville, NC
Dear Ready to Dig in Deep: Thanks very much for that question and your imagination is in keeping with my expectations and intent for this column. I hope that questions like yours and future inquiries submitted by others allow me to “really dig in deep” and permit me to educate readers about the rich history of the Negro Leagues. I expect from time to time I may recommend books, articles or websites that further serve to provide that education about the other half of Major League baseball.
With regard to your second question, some background is necessary. On December 16, 2020, Major League Baseball declared seven specific Negro Leagues and time spans as Major Leagues. I will limit my answer to those leagues. They are as follows:
Negro National League I 1920-1931
Eastern Colored League 1923-1928
American Negro League 1929
East-West League 1932
Negro Southern League 1932
Negro National League II 1933-1948
Negro American League 1937-1948
Sadly, at the time of that 2020 announcement, only three players survived. Since then, Willie Mays has passed on leaving only Reverend William Greason, 101, who pitched for the Birmingham Black Barons in 1948 and Ronald Teasley, 98, who played outfield for the 1948 New York Cubans still alive. So only two – Greason & Teasley remain from those Negro Leagues designated as a Major League. Just to be clear, the Negro American League continued on, no longer recognized as major, until 1961. A couple dozen or more of those players are still with us and continue to share rich stories with us.
The Shadowball Significa Question of the Week
“Who was the first 20th century player to break the color barrier and get into the major leagues, two bonus questions, what year, what team? A third bonus question, how long did he play in the majors?
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro Leagues history expert and longtime SABR member, known for his trivia wins and founding the Jerry Malloy Conference and Commemorative Nights. You can send questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Please consider supporting open, independent journalism – no contribution is too small!
Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation will invest $50 million over 10 years to help nearly 10,000 Atlanta HBCU students complete degrees through need-based “gap scholarships.”
The initiative, beginning in 2026, aims to close financial gaps that often prevent students from completing their degrees. The foundation estimates the funding will help nearly 10,000 students earn their diplomas over the next ten years.
Photo by Milton Kirby Morris Brown College
“These grants are a material investment in hope,” said Fay Twersky, president of the foundation. “Our goal is to help more students earn their degrees, launch successful careers, and become alumni who give back — creating a cycle of opportunity that benefits young people and communities across the nation.”
Closing the Financial Gap
Each of the four institutions will distribute the funds independently. Clark Atlanta, Morehouse, and Spelman are expected to receive about $16 million each, while Morris Brown, which currently enrolls about 350 students, will receive a smaller share.
Scholarship awards will range from $500 to $10,000, depending on financial need. The funds will primarily support juniors and seniors in good academic standing who have exhausted all other sources of aid, including federal Pell Grants, state programs, and loans.
A Legacy of Giving
Founded in 1995 by Arthur M. Blank, co-founder of The Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta FalconsandAtlanta United, the foundation has donated more than $1.5 billion to date. Blank, who has signed The Giving Pledge and holds a net worth of more than $11 billion, has long focused his philanthropy on education, health, and community development.
Past contributions to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) include$10 million for the Arthur M. Blank Innovation Lab at Spelman College; $6 million to improve athletic fields at Clark Atlanta, Albany State University, Miles College, and Savannah State University; $3 million to help Morris Brown digitize a hospitality credential; and $400,000 for Morehouse College’s golf program and new football helmets at both Clark Atlanta and Morehouse.
Broad Economic and Social Impact
According to the foundation, Atlanta’s HBCUs collectively contribute more than $1 billion annually to the region’s economy and outperform other institutions in helping students from lower-income families move into higher-income brackets.
“This monumental investment will empower our students to remain focused on their academic studies and ensure that their talent, ambition, hard work, and integrity — not financial hardship — will determine their futures,” said Dr. F. DuBois Bowman, president of Morehouse College.
Rooted in Values
Blank traces his philanthropic philosophy to his mother, Molly Blank, who taught him the Jewish principle of tikkun olam — repairing the world through kindness. “You only pass through life once, so make it count,” she often told him — words that continue to shape the foundation’s mission.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, headquartered in Atlanta, supports initiatives across Georgia and Montana, as well as programs for veterans, mental health, democracy, youth development, and environmental sustainability. Its leadership reaffirmed in 2023 a commitment to accelerate philanthropy over the next decade to address urgent social challenges.
Through strategic giving and community engagement, the foundation continues to embody its founder’s guiding principle: repair the world, one opportunity at a time.
The reason for the indictment? James is accused of having falsified a mortgage application on a property purchased in Virginia. The extent of the harm she is alleged to have caused? About $18,000.
Whether the prosecution will ultimately be able to prove the case against James remains to be seen. What seems more likely is that James will be able to get the case dismissed, because it could be classified as an unconstitutional selective prosecution.
James is charged with having engaged in mortgage fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. The case appears to rest on flimsy and conflicting evidence at best, has been brought on grounds that are rarely prosecuted and was filed over the objection of career lawyers within the Justice Department who did not think there was probable cause to bring the case.
What the government will have to prove in establishing the charges before a jury is that James knowingly lied when she claimed that she intended to use the home as a secondary residence at the time of the application. That is something the prosecution will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Other evidence that James appears to be able to present will likely contradict that case. It will be up to the jury to decide if the prosecution can meet that burden. But there is a good chance a jury will never hear this case.
Donald Trump has railed against and threatened to prosecute James once he retook power, after she brought a civil action against him for … mortgage fraud. James won that case in New York and secured a nearly $500 million judgment against Trump, several members of his family and some of his businesses. That damages award has been overturned on appeal, and what damages should be paid is an issue that is pending final resolution. The underlying verdict that Trump committed fraud still stands, however.
While James has professed her innocence, she has another potential response to this indictment: that the prosecution itself violates the constitutional prohibition against what is known as selective prosecution.
The concept of selective prosecution is one recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. It occurs when a prosecution is brought for an improper purpose and an improper discriminatory effect. Courts generally recognize that prosecutors have wide discretion to prosecute cases as they see fit — but that discretion is not without limits. Still, establishing a claim of selective enforcement requires the defendant to meet a fairly high bar. From the publicly available information about her case and others, James would appear to be able to make out a good case that this action against her qualifies as a selective — and therefore unconstitutional — prosecution.
According to the Supreme Court, a selective prosecution claim is available to someone who says that the prosecution “had a discriminatory effect” and “was motivated by a discriminatory purpose.” For example, that the prosecution was brought based on the defendant’s race or gender, or as a form of punishment for asserting a protected constitutional right.
It is hard to escape the conclusion that James is being prosecuted simply because, in carrying out her functions as a state attorney general, she enforced the law against the person who is currently president.
A prosecution of a state official for doing their job in enforcing federal law would fly in the face of critical free speech and federalism principles — in violation of the 1st and 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Again, a claim of selective prosecution is hard to establish. Still, the evidence for James to try to make out this claim is in plain sight, but even that evidence may be but the tip of the iceberg. In September, the president took to Truth Social to implore Attorney General Pam Bondi to commence prosecutions against several of his enemies. (It seems quite possible that this message was not meant to be a public communication.)
Are there more communications like that that were not made public? What was the scope of the investigation into mortgage fraud by James and others? Why were these investigations even commenced? Was it simply a case of presenting a list of individuals to the Justice Department with the directive to find a crime, any crime? What steps has the administration taken to investigate the allegations that others in the administration engaged in similar conduct?
If James can present some initial evidence that the case against her constitutes an unconstitutional selective prosecution, she will then be able to explore some of these other factual questions.
From publicly reported information, the criminal case against James appears to rely on a somewhat flimsy evidentiary basis. At the same time, what we do know already from publicly available information, with some of it containing the public statements and missives of the president himself, the evidence that this was a selective prosecution may be overwhelming.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
MARTA closes Five Points’ Peachtree entrance October 13 as part of its $230 million transformation to enhance safety, connectivity, and community space in downtown Atlanta.
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | October 12, 2025
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) will take another major step in its ongoing Five Points Station transformation project this Monday, October 13, as crews close the Peachtree Street entrance and the federal employee tunnel to prepare for demolition of the concrete canopy.
Starting October 13, all passengers will need to use the Forsyth Street entrance, which will serve as the only access point to the city’s central transit hub during this phase of construction.
What Riders Need to Know
The following service changes remain in place:
Alabama Street and Broad Street Plaza entrances remain closed.
Restrooms are closed.
Customer service offices have temporarily relocated and will eventually reopen at Ashby Station.
All bus routes continue boarding on Forsyth Street.
Rail service and transfers remain unchanged.
Elevators will stay open for passenger access and transfers.
While elevators will continue to operate, riders should expect temporary escalator and stair closures in the coming weeks as MARTA crews install scaffolding and overhead protection. Signs will be posted throughout the station to direct customers during the transition.
A $230 Million Rebuild in Motion
MARTA officials describe the closure as a key step toward transforming Five Points into a modernized, vibrant city center with improved transit connectivity, enhanced safety, and expanded community spaces.
The first phase involves removal of the aging concrete canopy, followed by the construction of a new, open-air canopy designed to brighten and expand the station. Later stages will include a centralized bus hub, a new pedestrian connection to Broad Street, and community-oriented features such as public art and urban agriculture spaces.
The total project cost is estimated at $230 million, funded primarily through the More MARTA Atlanta half-penny sales tax, with additional support from a $25 million Federal RAISE Grant, $13.8 million from the state of Georgia, and the MARTA core penny.
MARTA says the upgrades are aimed at strengthening the system’s role in downtown revitalization while improving daily experiences for thousands of riders.
For updates and construction details, visit itsmarta.com.
“It’s just the continuation of his hatred toward Black women and Black people,” former Obama White House aide Michael Blake tells theGrio.
President Donald Trump‘s vow to go after his political enemies came to a head on Thursday when his Justice Department announced the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
James, who was charged with mortgage fraud, maintains that she did not commit any crime and slammed the president for his “desperate weaponization of our justice system” and “grave violation of our constitutional order.”
While the targeting of James is being condemned as part of a growing trend of political retribution in which Trump is using his second term presidency to go after Democrats he deems his political enemies, others see another trend: the targeting of prominent Black women in politics.
“It’s just the continuation of his hatred toward Black women and Black people. From Tish James, to Lisa Cook, to Fani Willis, over and over again, this is Donald Trump,” said Michael Blake, a former Obama White House aide who serves as CEO of KAIROS Democracy Project. He told theGrio, “You can’t be surprised when a man calls for political revenge that he takes these kinds of actions.”
Blake slammed the “cowardice” of Republicans in not speaking out against Trump’s use of the Department of Justice to try to or threaten to jail his political enemies.
“You have a Republican Party that refuses to fund the government because they want to take your health care away. You have a president who cares not about helping you with groceries but cares about grudges,” he said.
“It is quite appropriate and fitting that in his latest act of cowardice, of going after Tish James, where he fired someone because they wouldn’t go after her, but the very next day, he lost on the Peace Prize he thought he was going to get. Justice was actually served.” Here is a list of the Black women that President Trump and his administration have gone after since taking office this year.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 14: NY Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at Manhattan Federal Courthouse on February 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Letitia James
On Oct. 9, the Trump Justice Department announced that it had indicted Letitia James, New York’s first female and African American attorney general.
James is accused of committing mortgage fraud over a Virginia property she owns. According to the New York Times, the Eastern District of Virginia alleges that James falsely claimed in loan documents that she would use a home she purchased in Norfolk as a secondary residence. Instead, the indictment alleges, she used it as a rental investment property and received loans with “favorable terms that would save her close to $19,000.”
James called the indictment “baseless” and has maintained she did nothing wrong.
Citing the president’s own statements, New York’s top prosecutor said the charges brought by the Trump administration are nothing more than “political retribution” for her successful prosecution of Trump for business fraud.
“He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as a New York State Attorney General,” said James, who noted that Trump fired a U.S. attorney who refused to bring charges against her, only to replace the prosecutor with someone who is “blindly loyal not to the law but to the president.”
James said she stands “strongly” behind her office’s litigation against the Trump Organization.
“We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence, not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company and his two sons were liable for fraud,” she asserted.
On Oct. 9, the Trump Justice Department announced that it had indicted Letitia James, New York’s first female and African American attorney general.
James is accused of committing mortgage fraud over a Virginia property she owns. According to the New York Times, the Eastern District of Virginia alleges that James falsely claimed in loan documents that she would use a home she purchased in Norfolk as a secondary residence. Instead, the indictment alleges, she used it as a rental investment property and received loans with “favorable terms that would save her close to $19,000.”
James called the indictment “baseless” and has maintained she did nothing wrong.
Citing the president’s own statements, New York’s top prosecutor said the charges brought by the Trump administration are nothing more than “political retribution” for her successful prosecution of Trump for business fraud.
“He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as a New York State Attorney General,” said James, who noted that Trump fired a U.S. attorney who refused to bring charges against her, only to replace the prosecutor with someone who is “blindly loyal not to the law but to the president.”
James said she stands “strongly” behind her office’s litigation against the Trump Organization.
“We conducted a two-year investigation based on the facts and evidence, not politics. Judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company and his two sons were liable for fraud,” she asserted.
While a grand jury indicted James, it is no indication that the U.S. government will come out victorious in the case against James. Prosecutors have incredible sway in grand juries, which are conducted in secrecy, and defense lawyers are not permitted to present their evidence.
James said, as a woman of faith, she knows that “faith and fear cannot share the same space,” adding, “I’m not fearful; I’m fearless.”
“As my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively,” she said.
FILE – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
Fani Willis
In late September, the Trump Justice Department subpoenaed records related to the travel history of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who, in 2023, indicted Trump and 18 others for engaging in a “criminal enterprise” to illegally return Trump to office after his 2020 defeat.
Willis accused Trump, who peddled false claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him due to voter fraud, of “attempts to interfere in the administration of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.”
The Georgia prosecutor accused Trump and his co-defendants of taking “various actions in Georgia and elsewhere to block the counting of the votes of the presidential electors who were certified as the winners of Georgia’s 2020 general election.”
Trump infamously called Georgia Secretary of State Raffensberger after the 2020 election to demand that he “find 11,780 votes,” which would have reversed his loss in the state.
Willis’s case against Trump hit a snag after defense attorneys asked a judge to remove Willis from the case because of a romantic relationship with the case’s special prosecutor, Nathan Wade. After much scrutiny into their personal lives, Wade resigned, and Willis was allowed to continue leading the case.
In December 2023, an appeals court disqualified Willis, citing that the trial court “erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office.” Willis appealed the decision and asked to be reinstated; however, Georgia’s Supreme Court denied her appeal.
Willis’s criminal prosecution of Trump was one of four criminal cases against him, two of which were led by special prosecutors appointed by the DOJ. The two federal cases related to Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the withholding of classified documents were dropped upon his re-election.
Though the case in Georgia was stalled due to Willis’s disqualification, Trump was found guilty in another criminal case brought by New York Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: Lisa DeNell Cook, nominee to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, testifies during a Senate Banking nominations hearing on June 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. If confirmed, Cook would be the first Black woman to sit on the Board of Governors in its 108-year history. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The accusations against Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board–first lodged by Bill Pulte, Trump’s director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency–launched a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.
Cook, who has not been charged with a crime, has maintained she did no wrong and successfully challenged Trump’s attempted termination in federal court.
The effort to unseat Cook gave Trump an opportunity to reshape the Federal Reserve’s seven-member board, which was designed to be an independent economic policy body that is free from politics. No president has fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency’s 112-year history.
A federal judge ruled that the removal of Cook was illegal and reinstated her to the position. An appeals court upheld that decision. The Trump administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to remove Cook. The nation’s highest court allowed Cook to remain as board governor as it prepares to hear oral aguments in the case in January 2026.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 06: U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) speaks on Elon Musk’s government interference at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on February 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
LaMonica McIver
U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was indicted by the Trump administration on June 10 for an encounter she had with federal agents outside an ICE facility in Newark, where she was conducting a congressional oversight visit.
McIver, a 39-year-old freshman congresswoman, faces up to 17 years in prison for a May altercation outside of a Newark ICE detention facility, where she and two other members of Congress were joined by Mayor Ras Baraka.
The encounter with federal agents was chaotic, as McIver attempted to shield Baraka from being arrested for trespassing. Baraka’s charges were ultimately dropped, and the judge overseeing the case scolded the U.S. Attorney of New Jersey, Alina Habba, for bringing the “hasty” and “embarrassing” prosecution.
McIver was ultimately still charged in a historically rare criminal case for a sitting member of Congress.
“The facts are on my side…I have no doubt that I will be victorious,” McIver previously told theGrio shortly after leaving a New Jersey courthouse where she was arraigned in June for her three-count indictment, for which she is accused of “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers.”
“Me being the one person picked out to be charged, definitely speaks to me being a young Black woman, and basically speaking up and speaking out about what they were doing and how they treated us,” McIver told theGrio. The congresswoman dismissed her prosecution as an “intimidation tactic” to “humiliate” her.
In August, McIver’s defense attorneys moved to dismiss the case against her, accusing the Trump Justice Department of selective and vindictive prosecution. She also argued that she cannot be charged for official acts.
What’s more, McIver said that the DOJ is demonstrating “unconstitutional differential treatment” by pursuing charges against her after dropping cases against over 160 other Jan. 6 defendants who were accused of the same crime. Trump pardoned more than 1,500 accused Jan. 6 rioters on the first day in office during his second term.
“There is a simple difference between this prosecution of Congresswoman McIver and the 160 cases involving assault against federal officers on January 6 that the Justice Department has dismissed: it is all about politics and partisanship,” a dismissal motion reads.
By Milton Kirby | Birmingham, AL | October 12, 2025
The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) will convene its 2025 Annual Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, from October 31 to November 1, uniting farmers, policymakers, and civil rights advocates from across the country for two days of education, empowerment, and strategy.
This year’s theme focuses on building capacity and identifying resources for small-scale, limited-resource, and socially disadvantaged farmers, ranchers, and landowners. The conference’s hands-on training sessions and educational workshops are designed to provide practical tools, proven techniques, and access to vital programs that strengthen the economic resilience of Black farmers and rural communities.
Prominent Voices in Attendance
Among the confirmed attendees are civil rights attorney Ben Crump, NBFA President John Wesley Boyd Jr., and Kara Brewer Boyd, the organization’s First Lady and national outreach coordinator.
John Boyd Jr., a fourth-generation farmer, civil rights activist, and founder of the NBFA, lives in Boydton, Virginia, with his wife Kara. He operates a 1,500-acre family farm cultivating soybeans, corn, wheat, and produce, while raising beef cattle, American Guinea Hogs, Nigerian Dwarf goats, and chickens.
A lifelong farmer and advocate, Boyd spent 14 years as a Perdue Farms breeder and many more as a tobacco farmer before forming the NBFA in the early 1990s. His leadership has brought him to the table with national and international agricultural leaders, working to eliminate discrimination in federal farm programs and expand opportunities for underserved farmers. Boyd’s story has been featured in the History Channel docuseries The American Farm, chronicling his fight to sustain his family’s land against the odds.
Conference Highlights
Hosted at the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex, the 2025 event celebrates the 35th anniversary of the NBFA’s founding. Over two days, attendees will participate in sessions focused on climate resilience, federal lending access, rural broadband expansion, hemp and specialty crops, and youth engagement in agriculture.
Workshops will be paired with a Farm Expo, women’s leadership roundtables, and networking receptions designed to connect attendees directly with USDA officials, lenders, and private sponsors.
“The NBFA has been the voice of our community for 35 years,” said Boyd. “This conference is about more than policy—it’s about passing on the tools and land that sustain us.”
Opportunities and Deadlines
The Annual NBFA Conference offers marketing, exhibitor, and sponsorship opportunities for partners who share its mission to build an equitable agricultural future.
For sponsorship, exhibitor, or advertiser information, contact Kara Boyd at nbfa.kara@gmail.com. Reservation deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
