The AI in Your Pocket: How Artificial Intelligence Is Already Shaping Your Daily Life

Artificial intelligence already shapes everyday life, influencing smartphones, banking, healthcare, employment and online choices while raising important questions about privacy, fairness and human judgment.

By Florita Bell Griffin | Houston, TX | August 11, 2026

Artificial intelligence is often presented as a technology that belongs to the future. News reports show humanoid robots, self-driving vehicles, powerful computers, and machines capable of producing art or carrying on remarkably human-sounding conversations. These images make AI appear distant from ordinary life, as though it exists mainly inside research laboratories, major technology companies, and science-fiction stories. In reality, artificial intelligence has already entered many of the most routine parts of daily life. It may help determine what appears on a person’s telephone screen, which route a driver takes, whether a banking transaction is approved, which job applicant receives further consideration, and which news story reaches a particular reader.

Most people interact with AI without consciously deciding to do so. It operates within smartphones, websites, vehicles, medical systems, stores, workplaces, schools, banks, and entertainment services. It can recommend a movie, identify a face in a photograph, filter unwanted email, translate a message, answer a customer-service question, or alert a credit-card company to suspicious activity. These functions are often convenient, and many have become so familiar that they no longer feel remarkable. Yet each one involves a computer system analyzing information, identifying patterns, and producing a recommendation, prediction, classification, or response.

This quiet integration of artificial intelligence into everyday life deserves attention. Technology is most powerful when it becomes ordinary enough that people stop noticing it. Once a system feels routine, users may no longer ask what information it is collecting, how it reached a conclusion, whether its recommendation is fair, or what happens when it makes a mistake. Understanding everyday AI does not require technical training. It begins with recognizing when a machine is influencing a choice and remembering that automated decisions are still human creations with human purposes, limitations, and consequences.

The Invisible Intelligence Inside Ordinary Devices

A smartphone is one of the clearest examples of artificial intelligence becoming an ordinary companion. When a person unlocks a telephone using facial recognition, the device compares the user’s features with stored information. When the camera automatically improves lighting, reduces blur, sharpens details, or identifies faces, AI-assisted systems are working behind the scenes. A photograph application may allow someone to search thousands of images using words such as “birthday,” “dog,” “beach,” or “car,” even though no one manually labeled each picture. The software has learned to recognize visual patterns and associate them with familiar objects and settings.

The keyboard on a telephone also uses forms of artificial intelligence. Predictive text attempts to anticipate the next word. Autocorrect compares what was typed with common language patterns. Voice-recognition tools turn spoken language into written text, while translation programs convert messages from one language into another. Accessibility features may read text aloud, describe images, create captions, or help people operate devices through speech. These functions can be especially valuable for older adults, people with disabilities, travelers, students, and workers who must communicate quickly.

The usefulness of these systems can make their presence easy to accept without question. Every convenience, however, may require information. A navigation application needs location data. A voice assistant may process spoken commands. A photo service may analyze faces and places. A personalized application may study what the user searches for, watches, purchases, or ignores. The question is not whether all collection of information is harmful. The more important question is whether people understand what is being collected, why it is needed, how long it is retained, and whether it may be used for purposes beyond the service they originally requested.

Artificial intelligence also shapes what people see online. Social-media platforms do not simply present information in the order it was posted. Their systems continually decide which videos, photographs, advertisements, opinions, and news stories are most likely to hold a person’s attention. Every pause, click, search, reaction, share, and repeated viewing may become part of the platform’s understanding of that user. Over time, the system learns which subjects attract interest and which emotions are most likely to produce engagement.

This explains why two people can open the same application and encounter completely different versions of the world. One may see cooking demonstrations, local events, family photographs, and gardening advice. Another may see political conflict, frightening health claims, celebrity rumors, or stories designed to provoke anger. Each person may begin to believe that the information appearing repeatedly on the screen represents what everyone is discussing. In fact, the content has been selected partly because an automated system believes that particular person is likely to respond to it.

A personalized feed can be enjoyable and useful, but it is not a neutral picture of reality. It is a constructed environment shaped by technology, advertising, business priorities, and the user’s own behavior. When a person repeatedly watches angry or fearful content, the system may provide more of it because emotional material often keeps people engaged. The platform does not necessarily ask whether the information is healthy, balanced, or true. Its immediate concern may be whether the user continues watching.

How AI Influences Choices, Opportunities, and Access

Artificial intelligence does more than recommend entertainment. It increasingly participates in decisions that affect money, employment, healthcare, transportation, education, and access to services. Online retailers use AI to recommend products, predict demand, adjust advertisements, and estimate what a customer may be willing to purchase. A product displayed prominently may appear to be the best choice, even when its position results from advertising agreements, sales patterns, or the retailer’s desire to increase profit.

Consumers should therefore distinguish between a recommendation and independent advice. When an online store says, “You may also like,” the system is attempting to predict what the customer may buy. It is not necessarily deciding what the customer needs, what provides the best value, or what fits the person’s budget. AI can make shopping faster, but it cannot replace comparison, financial judgment, or the discipline to avoid unnecessary purchases.

Banks and credit-card companies use AI to detect unusual transactions and possible fraud. If a card is suddenly used in another country or for a purchase far outside the customer’s normal spending pattern, an automated system may temporarily block the transaction or request confirmation. This can prevent theft and allow financial institutions to examine far more activity than human employees could review manually.

The same ability to identify patterns can also influence loan decisions, credit evaluations, insurance rates, and account reviews. These decisions may appear objective because they are produced by a computer, but computers do not create fairness automatically. AI systems are designed by people and trained on information produced by human societies. If past data reflects unequal treatment, inaccurate records, or long-standing discrimination, an automated system may repeat those patterns. A machine can process information consistently and still produce an unfair result.

Employment systems present similar concerns. Companies may use AI to screen résumés, identify promising candidates, schedule interviews, measure productivity, summarize meetings, or evaluate employee performance. A résumé system may reject an applicant because certain words, employment gaps, or educational experiences do not match patterns found among previously successful employees. Yet the pattern may fail to recognize talent that appears in a different form.

When an automated system influences employment, lending, insurance, education, or healthcare, people should be able to ask how the decision was made and how to challenge an error. “The computer decided” is not an acceptable end to the conversation. Organizations choose the systems they use, decide which information enters them, and determine how heavily to rely on their conclusions. Human responsibility does not disappear merely because a decision has been automated.

Healthcare is another area in which AI may provide both meaningful benefits and serious concerns. Medical systems can help analyze scans, organize records, identify possible drug interactions, predict which patients may require additional monitoring, and reduce administrative work. Consumer devices can track heart rate, sleep, activity, and other health-related information. These tools may help patients notice patterns and prepare more informed questions for medical professionals.

However, a health application does not know a person in the same way a qualified clinician does. It may lack the full medical history, family circumstances, environmental conditions, medication details, and personal observations needed to understand a symptom. AI may assist healthcare, but it should not create the illusion that a quick automated answer is equal to a careful professional evaluation. The greater the possible harm from an incorrect answer, the more important human review becomes.

Convenience Without Surrendering Judgment

The most serious long-term concern may not be that artificial intelligence suddenly takes control of everyday life. It may be that people gradually give away small acts of judgment because automated assistance feels easier. Navigation systems can weaken a person’s awareness of direction. Recommendation systems can reduce independent discovery. Writing tools can encourage people to submit language they have not carefully considered. Summaries can replace reading. Search results can become substitutes for investigation, and personalized feeds can become substitutes for understanding the wider world.

Using a tool does not automatically weaken human ability. A calculator can support mathematics, and a map can support travel. The problem begins when assistance becomes dependence and convenience becomes unquestioned authority. A navigation application may recommend the fastest route, but the driver must still notice weather, safety, construction, and local conditions. A writing system may produce a polished message, but the sender remains responsible for its meaning. A medical tool may suggest a possibility, but a patient should still seek qualified care when the situation requires it.

The same principle applies to generative AI systems that write, summarize, create images, answer questions, or hold conversations. Their fluent language can make them appear more knowledgeable than they are. A system may provide a useful explanation one moment and an inaccurate statement the next. It may generate a confident answer without reliable evidence. Users should therefore treat AI as a powerful assistant rather than an unquestionable authority.

Everyday readers can protect themselves by developing a few simple habits. When an automated system makes an important recommendation, consider who operates it, what information it may be using, what outcome it is designed to produce, and who benefits from that outcome. When the decision affects employment, healthcare, money, education, or legal rights, seek an explanation and verify the information through reliable human or official sources. Review privacy settings, limit unnecessary permissions, and remember that accepting convenience does not require abandoning caution.

Artificial intelligence is neither a magical solution nor an independent force that appeared without human direction. It is created, funded, trained, purchased, and deployed by people and institutions. Some applications improve safety, accessibility, communication, and efficiency. Others may increase surveillance, manipulation, inequality, misinformation, or dependence. The same technology can produce benefit or harm depending on who controls it and how it is used.

Becoming an informed AI user does not mean learning to program or understanding every technical process. It means recognizing when a machine is influencing what you see, what you are offered, and how you are evaluated. It means understanding that a recommendation is not a command, a prediction is not a certainty, and an automated answer is not necessarily the truth.

Artificial intelligence is already in the pocket, home, workplace, vehicle, and institutions of the average person. It is helping to organize daily life in ways that are often useful and sometimes invisible. The task before ordinary citizens is not to fear every use of AI or accept every use without question. It is to remain aware, ask who is responsible, protect personal information, and preserve human judgment in a world increasingly shaped by intelligent machines.

© 2026 Truth Seekers Journal. Published with permission from the author. All rights reserved.

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Kween Jacqueline Merrill Wins Atlanta Regional, Advances to Soul Country Music Star National Finals in Los Angeles

Kween Jacqueline Merrill wins the Soul Country Music Star Atlanta Regional, advancing to Los Angeles after four Black country artists compete at the Georgia International Horse Park.

Four distinct voices competed at the Georgia International Horse Park as Soul Country Music Star brought its search for emerging Black country artists at the BPIR rodeo

By Milton Kirby | Conyers, GA | August 9, 2026

Four artists entered the Soul Country Music Star Atlanta Regional carrying different sounds, stories and interpretations of what Soul country music can be.

By the end of the opening round, Reggie Stacy and Kween Jacqueline Merrill remained. Each returned to the stage at the Georgia International Horse Park on August 1 to perform one final song before the judges made their decision.

Jacqueline Merrill – Photo by Milton Kirby

Merrill was named the 2026 Atlanta Regional champion, earning a place in the national finals in Los Angeles and moving one step closer to the competition’s $10,000 grand prize.

For an artist who had spoken with The Truth Seekers Journal days earlier about faith, motherhood, personal loss, health struggles and perseverance, the victory marked another chapter in a journey that began in church when she was a child.

“It feels like I listened to God and it all worked out,” Merrill said after winning.

Now, the Road from Atlanta to Hollywood belongs to her.

Four Artists, Four Different Sounds

Presented as part of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo’s Soul Country Rodeo Experience, the Atlanta SCMS Regional featured Angela Roundtree, Bernard “OG Nard” Stephens, Stacy and Jacqueline Merrill.

Roundtree brought gospel-rooted expression and a belief in performing with authenticity, emotion and meaning. OG Nard introduced what he calls “Trapp Kountry,” blending country storytelling, Southern Soul and contemporary urban influences. Stacy arrived with years of performance experience and an appreciation for country music shaped by artists including Charley Pride and Chris Stapleton.

Merrill brought perhaps the most difficult sound to categorize. She is a singer, songwriter, rapper, country artist and gospel performer, but she has never viewed those descriptions as competing identities. To her, they are all parts of the same artist.

Her relationship with music began in church. At five years old, she led her first song in the Church of God in Christ, and music remained part of her life through motherhood, hardship, health challenges and loss. Rather than separating those experiences from her artistry, she incorporated them into it.

In Atlanta, Merrill also performed an original song written specifically for the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. Before the competition, she told TSJ what she wanted audiences to take away from her music.

“If I made you feel something,” Merrill said, “then I’ve done my job.”

On August 1, she also convinced the judges.

SCMS Atlanta Judges L to R Debonair DJ PNUT, Dr, Acynthia Villery & Rickey Davis Scott – Photo by Richard DuCree

Down to the Final Two

After the opening round, Stacy and Merrill performed again before three judges; Dr. Acynthia Villery, the BPIR rodeo announcer and influencer, Music Producer and Talent Scout Rickey Davis Scott and V-103FM Debonair DJ Pnut.

Their comments throughout the competition revealed that strong vocals alone were not enough. Stage presence, song selection and artistic identity also mattered, as did understanding the distinction between Southern Soul and the Soul Country sound the competition was seeking.

OG Nard, for example, was praised for his energy and ability to command attention. The judges also noted that some of his song choices leaned more toward Southern Soul and encouraged him to build a stronger connection to Soul Country.

Reggie Stacey – Photo by Milton Kirby

The critique highlighted a challenge for artists working in a musical space that is still defining itself. Soul Country does not require performers to abandon gospel, blues, Southern Soul, hip-hop or the other influences that shaped them. Instead, artists are challenged to show how those influences can live within country music while preserving the storytelling at the heart of the genre. That’s the goal.

In that context, song selection becomes more than a showcase for a performer’s voice. It becomes a statement about who the artist is.

Bringing Soul Country into the Rodeo

The Atlanta event marked a new approach for Soul Country Music Star and the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. Margo Wade LaDrew, founder and creator of Soul Country Music Star, told the audience that the competition had traditionally been presented as a separate Friday night event. In Atlanta, organizers brought it directly into the rodeo experience.

When Wade LaDrew asked whether the audience enjoyed seeing Soul Country Music Star incorporated into the rodeo, the response came in cheers.

“This was something we wanted to try and do here at the rodeo,” she told the crowd, explaining that organizers could consider incorporating the competition into future rodeo programming.

The pairing is a natural one. For more than four decades, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo has celebrated the often-overlooked history of Black cowboys and cowgirls while providing a national platform for Black Western culture. Soul Country Music Star extends that mission into music.

Black musicians have been part of country music since its earliest development, even when their contributions were overlooked or separated from the genre’s mainstream story. Although Black country artists are receiving greater visibility today, Wade LaDrew reminded the Atlanta audience that the work is not finished.

“As you know, the genre is just starting to open up, but we still have a long way to go,” she said.

Her request was straightforward: support the artists, follow them, share their music and help build the audiences their careers need to grow.

Wade LaDrew also recognized Valeria Howard Cunningham, president and CEO of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, for supporting opportunities for Black country artists. She thanked Soul Country Music Star producer Michelle Johnson, the judges, SCMS show host Kirk Jay, DJ Tiffany Guess and others who helped bring the competition into the Atlanta rodeo.

L – R – Reggie Stacey, Kirk Jay, season 1 winner, Angela Roundtree, Jacqueline Merrill, Nathaniel “Mr. Bowleggs” Dansby, season 2 winner & Bernard “OG Nard” Stephens – Photo by Milton Kirby

The Road to Hollywood

Merrill’s victory placed her alongside Brenda Guy, Dallas-Fort Worth Regional winner; Silas Reed IV, Memphis Regional winner; and Glenn Stanton, Los Angeles Regional winner.

One regional competition remains before the national finals. The Washington, D.C./Maryland Regional is scheduled for September 18 at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

The regional champions will then travel to Los Angeles for the Soul Country Music Festival and National Finals on October 31 and November 1, where they will compete for the $10,000 grand prize and the Soul Country Music Star national title.

Only one artist could become Atlanta’s regional champion, but something larger also happened at the Georgia International Horse Park. Four Black artists were given a stage to present four different visions of where country music can go, and another audience heard performers who might not have received the same opportunity a generation ago.

For Merrill, Atlanta was not the finish line. It was another door.

Now Los Angeles awaits.

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When the Seasons Stop Making Sense: Climate Change Is Rewriting the Rules for Black Farmers

Black farmers across the South confront climate change, shifting growing seasons, drought, flooding and rising costs while fighting to protect land and livelihoods.

By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | August 8, 2026

This reporting was made possible thanks to a grant from Grist.

For generations, farming required knowing the land and learning the seasons.

Farmers knew when the ground was usually ready. They knew when to plant, when rain normally came, when temperatures should begin to fall and how much grass cattle could expect from a pasture.

Weather was never completely predictable. Farming has always required risk.

But Black farmers interviewed across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia describe something different happening now.

The old assumptions are becoming less dependable.

They describe warmer temperatures, shifting planting dates, drought, intense rainfall, flooding, unexpected freezes and changing growing conditions. Some have altered what they plant. Others have changed when they plant. Cattle producers are watching pastures and hay supplies more carefully. Crop farmers are investing in irrigation, drainage, high tunnels and soil conservation.

And sometimes, after making all those adjustments, they still lose the crop.

Taken together, their experiences reveal something larger than a collection of bad weather events.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southeast Climate Hub describes agriculture in the region as operating under “increasing weather variability.” The Hub identifies drought, heat stress, excessive moisture and changing pest pressures among the risks confronting Southeastern producers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency similarly identifies changing temperature and precipitation patterns, changes in extreme weather and shifts in growing seasons among the evidence of a changing climate.

For the farmers visited, those scientific descriptions have practical meanings.

Climate change is a decision about whether to put seed in the ground.

It is a field planted twice.

It is a pasture without enough grass.

It is hay that has to be purchased.

It is soil washed away by heavy rain.

It is produce that never reaches market.

And for Black farmers, those pressures are landing on top of a much older struggle over land, capital and survival in American agriculture.

The Calendar Is Moving

Bobby Wilson has spent decades working in Georgia agriculture.

Long before Metro Atlanta Urban Farm took root in College Park, Wilson spent years in agricultural extension, learning how to help farmers succeed. Today, he and his wife, Margarett, are reshaping five acres into an urban agricultural campus, producing food, training families, and cultivating a new generation of growers.

The farm grows more than two dozen crops across warm and cool seasons and is Certified Naturally Grown.

Wilson has watched something fundamental change over the course of his agricultural career.

The planting calendar.

Dates farmers once regarded as relatively safe are no longer necessarily the dates they use today. Warmer conditions can tempt a farmer to plant earlier, creating the possibility of getting produce to market ahead of competitors.

But warmth in early spring does not guarantee that winter is finished.

A late cold snap can turn that advantage into a loss.

USDA says growing seasons are changing as temperatures rise. Earlier spring conditions and later first frosts can lengthen growing periods, but earlier plant development can also leave crops vulnerable when damaging cold arrives after growth has begun.

That is the contradiction farmers are learning to manage.

Dennis Dahmer Sr. has confronted it in Mississippi.

An unexpected freeze damaged sugarcane on his farm, forcing him to reconsider when he should plant.

But changing a planting date after one bad season does not eliminate the risk.

Next year may be different.

That uncertainty is becoming part of farming itself.

In New Orleans, Ashley Webb and her husband, Andres Barcelo-Sanchez, have learned a similar lesson.

They operate Barcelo Gardens in the Ninth Ward, where what began as a community garden grew into an urban farm, farmers market and fresh-produce operation serving an area with limited access to fresh food.

Webb teaches gardening according to growing zones and seasons, but New Orleans presents another complication: the city’s heat-island effect can create conditions different from surrounding areas.

The couple also learned quickly that crops they had grown in Los Angeles did not necessarily perform the same way in Louisiana. Corn and carrots struggled. They adjusted, turning toward crops including okra, long beans, cucumbers and hot peppers.

Adaptation began with paying attention.

Crate of vegetable from the Barcelo Gardens – Photo by Milton Kirby

Too Little Water. Then Too Much.

Water may be the clearest example of the contradictions farmers described.

Harry McCoy raises cattle at McCoy Ranch in Pell City, Alabama.

When rainfall declines, pasture suffers.

Cattle still have to eat.

When the pasture no longer supplies enough grass, it must be replaced with purchased feed or hay, turning a weather problem into an economic one.

Anson County, North Carolina, cattle farmer Keith Crawford understands that equation.

Crawford raises Black Angus and Hereford-cross cattle. He has watched the availability and cost of hay become a critical issue for livestock producers.

Crawford cuts hay and watches weather forecasts closely because producing feed requires its own set of weather calculations. Hay needs the right window for cutting, drying and baling. Rain arriving at the wrong time can damage what a farmer has already spent time and money producing.

Crawford described neighboring cattle producers selling animals when hay became difficult or too expensive to obtain.

For a cattle farmer, drought doesn’t just strike once. It can strike two or even three times. It begins with shrinking ponds and water sources, leaving livestock without reliable drinking water. Then it hits again when pastures wither, forcing farmers to buy hay or feed at inflated prices and driving up the cost of keeping cattle alive. By the time the third blow lands, through reduced weight and lower market value, the damage is already deep.

USDA’s Southeast Climate Hub notes that climate conditions can weaken both pasture and feed resources, pushing feed costs higher. Heat stress can also reduce livestock productivity.

Shawn Harris, a cattle farmer in Rockmart, Georgia, has built a sophisticated underground maze of pipes to keep water flowing to his herd when the pond runs low, a climate adaptation strategy born from necessity.

But several hundred miles away, other farmers are confronting the opposite problem.

Too much water.

At Belle’s Barn & Garden in Mississippi, the Rev. D’Andre Miles described periods of dry conditions followed by intense rainfall.

When large amounts of rain fall quickly, the water does not always soak gently into the soil.

It moves.

And when it moves, soil can move with it.

Miles’ approach is to work with the landscape. Vegetation around vulnerable areas can slow water and help hold soil in place rather than leaving the ground exposed.

That philosophy reflects Belle’s broader approach to agriculture: working with natural systems instead of constantly trying to overpower them.

Jesse Buie of Ole Brook Organics in Brookhaven, Mississippi, has also had to think carefully about water.

Buie has more than three decades of farming experience and grows certified organic vegetables, melons, ginger, turmeric, wheatgrass and microgreens.

Heavy rain can saturate growing areas and threaten crops.

His response has included changing how growing areas are configured so water can move more effectively through the farm.

USDA’s research helps explain how both stories can be true at once.

The Southeast can experience substantial rainfall and still suffer drought. Rainfall variability, heat and increased water loss through evaporation and plants can produce dry conditions, while rainfall concentrated into fewer, heavier events can create flooding and runoff.

For farmers, the question is not simply how much rain falls.

It is when it falls, where it falls and how quickly it arrives.

Foot Print Farm vegetables – Photo by Milton Kirby

When One Planting Becomes Two

Few interviews illustrate the economics of climate risk more clearly than Kara Boyd’s.

Boyd Farms operates about 1,500 acres across three farms in Virginia, giving this investigation a view of climate pressures on a substantially larger Black farming operation.

Boyd described having to replant roughly 200 to 300 acres after conditions contributed to poor germination.

Consider what that means economically.

The farmer pays for seed.

The farmer pays for fuel.

The farmer pays for equipment.

The farmer pays for labor.

The crop goes into the ground.

Then enough of it fails to emerge.

The farmer starts again.

But the second planting does not merely repeat the first expense. It also begins later, potentially shortening the crop’s growing window and affecting eventual yield.

Crop insurance can soften the loss.

It does not necessarily erase it.

USDA’s Southeast Climate Hub says changes in the timing and amount of precipitation can contribute to short-term crop failures and longer-term declines in production. Higher temperatures can also reduce yields, while climate variability can expose crops to damaging temperature fluctuations.

Boyd’s experience turns those scientific findings into a balance-sheet problem.

A failed planting has a price.

Metro Atlanta Urban Farm – Photo by Milton Kirby

The Same Storm Does Not Mean the Same Loss

Boyd’s operation also exposes one of the central questions in this investigation.

Climate does not distinguish between a Black farmer and a white farmer.

But farmers do not encounter climate risk with equal resources.

A large operation may have more acreage over which to spread costs, greater access to equipment, stronger cash flow and more ability to absorb a failed field.

For a small farmer, one failed crop can represent a much larger percentage of annual production.

Boyd described that difference vividly, saying an event that feels like a relatively small storm to a large operation can feel like a hurricane and an earthquake to a smaller Black farmer.

That is where a climate story becomes an economic story.

And where an economic story becomes a story about history.

A Crisis Built on an Older Loss

Black farmers did not enter today’s climate challenges on equal footing.

In 1920, USDA recorded more than 925,000 Black farm operators, representing roughly 14 percent of the nation’s farmers.

What followed was one of the most dramatic agricultural declines in American history.

Over subsequent generations, Black farmers lost millions of acres of farmland while the number of Black farmers fell sharply.

A USDA historical review, Black Farmers in America, 1865-2000, documents the racial discrimination and social and institutional barriers that restricted Black farmers’ ability to acquire land, operate independently and retain farms.

Discriminatory lending was part of that history.

So were foreclosures, unequal access to agricultural institutions and land passed between generations without clear title.

The consequences of that history remain part of today’s agricultural landscape. In a 2026 policy resolution, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators noted that Black farmers held more than 16 million acres of farmland in 1910, but just 4.7 million acres by 2017, a loss of more than 70 percent of Black-owned agricultural land.

The resolution identifies discriminatory lending, unequal access to credit and crop insurance, exclusion from grant opportunities and inequities in agricultural subsidies and assistance as continuing barriers facing Black farmers. NBCSL called on Congress, state legislatures and USDA to expand access to grants and loans, strengthen civil rights enforcement, provide legal assistance to protect inherited farmland and invest in food infrastructure and markets that can help Black producers remain economically viable.

Heirs’ property remains part of the discussion today.

When land passes to multiple descendants without a will or clear title, ownership can become fragmented. That can make property vulnerable and complicate efforts to borrow against the land or participate in programs requiring proof of control.

But Boyd cautions against making heirs’ property the entire story.

From her perspective, access to capital, participation in federal crop insurance and the ability to navigate agricultural programs can be equally important, if not more important, to the survival of Black farms.

Her argument adds an important complication.

The problem is not simply whether Black families own land.

It is whether they possess the financial tools needed to keep farming it.

Foot Print Farms – Photo by Milton Kirby

Who Can Afford to Adapt?

Dennis Dahmer knows irrigation could help protect crops during dry periods.

But knowing what would help and being able to justify the investment are different things.

For a farmer working a relatively small number of acres, a major irrigation system may never generate enough additional farm income to recover its cost.

For a producer farming hundreds or thousands of acres, the same investment can produce an entirely different calculation.

That exposes one of the most important climate-justice questions raised by this reporting.

Adaptation costs money.

Irrigation costs money.

Wells cost money.

High tunnels cost money.

Drainage costs money.

Replacing seed costs money.

Buying hay costs money.

Even participation in crop insurance requires farmers to understand the system, maintain records, meet reporting requirements and pay premiums.

Boyd said those requirements can become barriers for smaller producers unfamiliar with federal crop insurance or reluctant to enter a system they may not trust.

That distrust did not emerge from nowhere.

It exists against the historical record of discrimination Black farmers experienced within American agricultural institutions.

Learning to Work the System

Dr. Cindy Ayers-Elliott has taken a different approach.

At Foot Print Farms in Jackson, Mississippi, Ayers-Elliott operates a 68-acre farm producing specialty crops, vegetables and livestock while using agriculture as a tool for community and economic development.

Her farm trains young people and adults.

It also works with USDA and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Ayers-Elliott believes farmers must learn how the system works.

That means obtaining a USDA farm number, understanding conservation programs, keeping records and identifying resources that can help pay for infrastructure or improve production.

Her farm uses adaptation and conservation tools that include irrigation and protected growing.  But her larger contribution may be education.

A federal program is of little value to a farmer who does not know it exists, does not understand the paperwork or cannot determine whether the farm qualifies.

That gap between the existence of assistance and the ability to access it remains one of the central policy questions raised by this investigation.

One proposal before Congress attempts to address some of those structural barriers.

The Black Farmers and Socially Disadvantaged Farmers Increased Market Share Act, introduced in the U.S. House by the late Georgia Rep. David Scott and other lawmakers, would create a USDA grant program supporting food hubs designed to increase market access for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. The legislation would authorize $100 million for the program in fiscal year 2026, with grants available for infrastructure, processing, storage, transportation, equipment and marketing. Recipients would not be required to provide federal matching funds.

The bill would also direct USDA to prioritize purchases from socially disadvantaged producers for domestic food assistance programs and strengthen accountability for discrimination and other civil rights violations within the department.

The legislation does not solve the climate problem confronting farmers. But it speaks directly to another question raised repeatedly during this reporting: whether farmers already absorbing greater weather risk will have the capital, markets, infrastructure and institutional support necessary to adapt.

Rev. D’Andre Miles – Bells Barn & Garden – Photo by Milton Kirby

Building Resilience From the Ground Up

The farmers interviewed are not waiting passively for someone to rescue them.

They are experimenting.

They are adapting.

And in many cases, the techniques they are using mirror practices recommended by USDA.

At Metro Atlanta Urban Farm, Wilson emphasizes the soil itself.

Cover crops, compost and organic matter help restore nutrients and improve the ground rather than simply extracting from it season after season.

At Belle’s Barn & Garden, Miles emphasizes natural systems and protecting the landscape.

At Ole Brook Organics, Buie adapts drainage and production methods to conditions on his particular farm.

At Foot Print Farms, Ayers-Elliott combines infrastructure, conservation and education.

Ricky Davis, founder of Sowing Seeds Farms in Bessemer, Alabama, incorporates water conservation, controlled growing systems and agricultural education into the operation.

The operation was established not simply to grow food but to create a community gathering place for farmers and entrepreneurs, promote economic development and teach healthier and more sustainable ways of living.

USDA identifies many of the same approaches, including cover crops, conservation tillage, efficient irrigation, improved soil-water retention, erosion control and water-management infrastructure.

The important lesson is that adaptation is not one machine, one crop or one federal program.

It is local.

What works on one farm may not work five miles away.

Boyd sees that even across her own acreage. Rain can fall on one section of a farm while missing another.

A county line cannot tell a farmer whether enough rain fell on a particular field.

The land itself decides.

When Farming Is the Paycheck

At Fountain Heights Farms in the Birmingham area, climate risk carries another dimension.

Farming is not supplemental income.

It is the livelihood.

That distinction matters.

Many small farmers maintain outside employment because the farm alone cannot consistently support the household. Fountain Heights does not have that secondary income cushion.

A lost crop is therefore not merely a disappointing harvest.

It is lost household income.

The operation also exists within a larger community food system, making affordability and access part of the farm’s mission.

That means climate pressure can travel beyond the property line.

When a community farm produces less food, the people depending on that farm can feel the loss too.

Climate Change Does Not Stop at the Farm Gate

Barcelo Gardens demonstrates that connection particularly clearly.

Webb and Barcelo-Sanchez began growing food after realizing their Ninth Ward neighborhood lacked convenient access to fresh produce.

Their garden eventually grew into a market that also obtains food from other producers.

Among them is Jubilee Justice, a Black-led agricultural organization based near Alexandria, Louisiana, that works on sustainable farming practices.

Ricky Davis – Sowing Seeds Farm – Photo by Milton Kirby

That creates a chain.

A farmer loses a crop.

A market has less produce.

A neighborhood already lacking grocery options has fewer sources of fresh food.

The climate event may happen in a field miles away.

Its consequences arrive in the city.

The same principle applies elsewhere in this investigation.

Metro Atlanta Urban Farm teaches families how to produce food.

Foot Print Farms trains future farmers and entrepreneurs.

Sowing Seeds combines food production with community education.

Fountain Heights works to keep food available and affordable.

These operations are more than businesses occupying acreage.

They are pieces of community infrastructure.

Protecting the farm can therefore mean protecting more than the farmer.

Science Catches Up With What Farmers See

The experiences documented across these farms are consistent with risks identified by the USDA Southeast Climate Hub.

When I described the farmers’ observations to Dr. Mac Callaham Jr., director of the Hub, including warmer conditions, changing growing seasons, flooding and precipitation problems, his initial response was direct.

“Yeah, absolutely.”

Callaham pointed specifically to shifting growing seasons, variability in precipitation and increasing temperatures among the issues agricultural producers are confronting.

His program’s public materials go further.

The Southeast Climate Hub says farmers and land managers are dealing with drought, heat stress, excessive moisture, changing pest pressures and increasing weather variability.

Its crop research warns that changes in temperature and the timing and amount of precipitation can affect yields and contribute to crop failure.

Its livestock research identifies heat stress and changes in pasture and feed resources as risks to producers.

Its growing-season research describes earlier spring conditions, later frosts and the possibility that earlier plant development can leave crops exposed to damaging cold.

The science does not mean every failed crop, flooded field or expensive roll of hay can individually be blamed on climate change.

Weather still varies naturally.

But taken across regions and over time, the conditions farmers described fit a larger pattern agricultural scientists are already studying.

Callaham also acknowledged that the language surrounding the federal government’s work has changed.

He said his program previously focused more explicitly on climate literacy and climate education, but priorities shift between presidential administrations.

The current emphasis, he said, remains on helping farmers, forest landowners and grazing-land managers improve productivity and resilience to risk.

The terminology may change.

The farmer still has to plant.

Mother Nature Has the Final Say

Kara Boyd summed up the limits of adaptation in a few words.

“We’re trying to adapt to Mother Nature,” she said. “But she has the final say.”

That may be the central truth running through every farm visited.

Farmers can move planting dates.

They can build high tunnels.

They can improve drainage.

They can install irrigation.

They can rebuild soil.

They can capture rainwater.

They can buy crop insurance.

They can change crops.

They can study forecasts.

They can learn government programs.

But none of those decisions gives them control over the weather.

For Black farmers, the question is not whether they know how to adapt.

They have been adapting for generations.

The harder question is how many additional costs, failed plantings, droughts, floods, freezes and changing seasons a farmer can absorb before adaptation is no longer enough.

Across the South, the farmers interviewed are still planting.

Still raising cattle.

Still rebuilding soil.

Still feeding communities.

Still teaching the next generation.

But they are doing so while some of the seasonal assumptions inherited from previous generations become less dependable.

Climate change is altering the conditions under which they farm.

History has shaped the resources they have available to respond.

The future of Black farming may depend on whether the institutions surrounding these farmers can adapt as quickly as the farmers themselves already have.

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Keisha Lance Bottoms Appeals to Georgia Voters, Especially Black Men: Record Turnout Could Decide Georgia’s Governor’s Race

With 99 days until Election Day, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms urged Georgia voters, especially Black men, to deliver record turnout during a town hall at Atlanta’s Gathering Spot.

At Atlanta’s “Mandate” town hall, the Democratic nominee made a direct appeal to Georgia voters, particularly Black men, arguing that grassroots organizing, not campaign spending, will determine who becomes the state’s next governor.

By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | July 28, 2026

With just 99 days remaining before Georgians choose their next governor, Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms walked onto the stage at The Gathering Spot Monday evening carrying a message that has become the foundation of her general election campaign.

She isn’t asking voters to be impressed by campaign spending.

She isn’t asking them to be persuaded by carefully choreographed social media moments.

Instead, she is asking them to participate.

Speaking before a packed audience at “The Mandate,” a town hall organized by The Gathering Spot and moderated by co-founder Ryan Wilson, Bottoms repeatedly returned to one central theme: Georgia’s next governor will not be chosen by the candidate with the biggest advertising budget or the most viral campaign photographs. The election, she argued, will ultimately be decided by ordinary Georgians willing to organize their communities, encourage their neighbors and show up to vote in record numbers.

“Turnout is key. Turnout is key. Turnout is key,” Bottoms told the audience, emphasizing that participation—not complacency—will determine whether Democrats can reclaim Georgia’s highest office for the first time in more than a quarter century.

The message came at a pivotal moment in one of the nation’s most closely watched gubernatorial races.

Earlier Monday, Republican nominee Rick Jackson’s campaign announced an $87 million statewide advertising buy, underscoring the enormous financial resources fueling his campaign. Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive who has already poured more than $100 million into the race, has paired that media strategy with a series of highly publicized visits to Black-owned businesses, churches and community gathering places throughout metro Atlanta.

Bottoms acknowledged the financial disparity but dismissed the notion that money alone will determine the outcome.

“We’re going to do what we need to do with what we have,” she told reporters after the event. “Whatever that amount is, we are still going to take our case directly to the people of this state.”

A Race That Could Reshape Georgia Politics

The stakes extend well beyond the two candidates.

No Democrat has won Georgia’s governor’s race since Roy Barnes was elected in 1998. Yet the state’s political landscape has shifted dramatically over the past decade. Georgia has twice elected Democratic U.S. senators, and razor-thin statewide contests have transformed the state into one of America’s premier political battlegrounds.

Those changes have elevated turnout from a campaign tactic to a governing strategy.

Political analysts from both parties agree that victory in November will depend less on persuading large numbers of undecided voters than on motivating reliable supporters to cast ballots. That reality has placed Black voters and particularly Black men at the center of both campaigns, although the candidates are pursuing markedly different approaches.

Monday night’s town hall reflected Bottoms’ strategy.

Rather than delivering a traditional stump speech, she spent nearly two hours answering questions about affordability, education, healthcare, economic opportunity and voting rights while repeatedly encouraging attendees to become ambassadors for civic participation within their own families and neighborhoods.

Answering a Personal Call to Serve

Bottoms told the audience that seeking the governor’s office was never part of a carefully crafted political roadmap.

After completing her four-year term as mayor of Atlanta, she said life had become comfortable. Returning to elected office was not part of her immediate plans.

That changed after the 2024 presidential election.

“The day after the presidential election, I cursed and then I prayed,” she recalled, explaining that she spent considerable time reflecting on whether she was being called back into public service. The decision, she said, required conversations with her husband and children because campaigns demand sacrifices from entire families, not just the candidates themselves.

“It was really about what am I called to do?” Bottoms said. “What can I offer? And is it worth me getting out of my comfort zone? Because life was comfortable. And the answer was yes.”

That sense of purpose shaped much of the evening’s discussion.

Rather than focusing primarily on partisan attacks, Bottoms framed her candidacy as an effort to build on opportunities created by previous generations while creating new ones for the next.

“I want to be able to look at my kids in their faces and say in this moment I did everything that I could do on behalf of us,” she said.

The Issues She Says Georgians Raise Everywhere

As Bottoms has campaigned from metropolitan Atlanta to rural South Georgia, she said the conversations have remained remarkably consistent.

Whether speaking in barbershops, churches, community centers or small-town gathering places, Georgians repeatedly raise the same concerns.

Unidentified Black men listen with intensity – Photo Milton Kirby

The rising cost of groceries.

Housing affordability.

Gas prices.

Healthcare expenses.

Mental health services.

Support for small businesses.

Educational opportunity.

“These are some of the issues that have been generations long,” Bottoms said. “And they are coming up everywhere I go.”

Healthcare emerged as one of the evening’s most frequently discussed topics.

Bottoms argued that many Georgians are facing increasing insurance costs while others have lost coverage altogether. She connected those concerns to broader questions about affordability, describing healthcare as inseparable from the financial pressures confronting working families across the state.

Education also occupied a prominent place in the discussion.

Bottoms criticized Georgia’s long-running struggles to fully fund public education, she stated that the last time the state consistently met its funding commitments she was still a member of the marching band at Frederick Douglass High School.

Her point drew laughter.

It also underscored her broader argument that many of Georgia’s biggest challenges did not emerge overnight but have persisted across generations.

A Direct Conversation With Black Men

Although “The Mandate” welcomed a broad audience, organizers intentionally focused much of the evening on Black men, a voting bloc both political parties increasingly recognize as critical to statewide success.

Wilson challenged the narrative that Black men have become disengaged from politics, noting that conversations inside barbershops and neighborhoods often center on the same economic and quality-of-life concerns shared by other Georgians.

Bottoms agreed.

Drawing from conversations with her own sons and young men she has met while traveling the state, she said Black men are asking practical questions about employment, housing, public safety and whether higher education still guarantees economic opportunity.

“They’re concerned there won’t be jobs,” she said. “They’re concerned whether they’ll be able to afford a home. They’re concerned about interactions with public safety. They’re concerned with mental health.”

At the same time, she rejected suggestions that Black men alone bear responsibility for civic participation.

“I think it’s an unfair burden for Black men to have to carry,” Bottoms said. “This democracy is about all of us.”

Instead of singling out one demographic, she encouraged every eligible voter to recognize that participation extends beyond casting a ballot. It also includes helping neighbors verify voter registration, reminding family members about Election Day and serving as trusted voices within their communities.

That appeal to transform supporters into organizers became the thread connecting nearly every answer she gave throughout the evening.

Policy Versus Political Theater

One of the evening’s sharpest exchanges centered not on taxes, healthcare or education, but on a series of campaign photographs that have fueled debate across social media in recent days.

Republican nominee Rick Jackson has made highly publicized visits to several minority-owned businesses throughout metro Atlanta, including Toast on Lenox, Big Daddy’s Dish on Old National Highway and a Mexican-owned restaurant in Doraville. The visits generated widespread online discussion, with some business owners finding themselves unexpectedly drawn into Georgia’s increasingly heated gubernatorial campaign.

Bottoms said she takes no issue with candidates supporting local businesses. What she questioned was whether highly publicized campaign stops accurately reflect a candidate’s policies.

“I support small businesses. It’s what I do,” she said in a video posted before Monday’s town hall. “What I take exception with is when we let ‘a thing become the thing.’ The theatrics are nice, but what is the real worth? What are you actually doing?”

For Bottoms, the issue is also personal.

She traced her family’s entrepreneurial roots back more than a century, recalling that her great-grandmother operated a business on Atlanta’s west side during the 1920s. Her grandfather and aunt later owned businesses in Vine City and English Avenue, while her mother spent more than three decades operating a beauty salon that served neighborhoods across southwest Atlanta.

Those experiences, she said, shaped her understanding of what neighborhood businesses mean to families and communities.

“I live in southwest Atlanta, and I am surrounded by Black businesses,” Bottoms said during the town hall. “I don’t have to have a camera crew with me every time I walk into one.”

She also questioned what she described as contradictions between Jackson’s outreach and his policy positions, pointing to his criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and his support for stricter immigration policies while simultaneously visiting minority-owned businesses.

Her closing line in the Instagram video became one of the week’s most widely shared political remarks.

“Don’t allow people to piss on us and then tell us that it’s raining.”

Defending Her Record as Mayor

Keisha Lance Bottoms – Photo by Milton Kirby

Jackson has frequently criticized Bottoms’ four-year tenure leading Atlanta, particularly on crime and public safety.

Monday night, she answered those criticisms directly.

Bottoms reminded the audience that she served the full four-year term voters elected her to complete despite receiving multiple invitations to join the Biden administration before leaving office.

“I served every single day,” she said. “I was asked three times to join the Biden-Harris Administration, and I said no because I wanted to complete my time.”

She then walked through what she considers some of her administration’s defining accomplishments.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlanta maintained balanced budgets without laying off employees or furloughing city workers. The city increased financial support for police officers and other frontline employees while continuing major economic development initiatives, including the redevelopment of the Gulch and expanding opportunities for minority-owned businesses to compete for city contracts.

Rather than arguing she governed during easy circumstances, Bottoms suggested her administration demonstrated stability during one of the most difficult periods in the city’s history.

“If you want to say something about me, fine,” she said. “But don’t lie on my name.”

Competing Against a Billionaire

Bottoms acknowledged that this campaign presents challenges unlike any she has previously faced.

Jackson, a wealthy healthcare executive making his first bid for elected office, has already invested more than $100 million of his own money into the race. His campaign’s announcement Monday of an additional $87 million statewide advertising buy underscored the financial gulf separating the two candidates.

Bottoms said she is less concerned about Jackson’s wealth than about how it is being used.

“I’m not mad about him being a billionaire,” she told the audience. “What I am mad about is the way that he is manipulating the narrative with money.”

She added that one friend’s advice continues to resonate throughout the campaign.

“If you can be bought,” she said, “you can be sold.”

Her response reflected a broader strategy that has become increasingly central to her campaign—meeting voters directly rather than attempting to match Jackson’s advertising dollar for dollar.

Looking Beyond Metro Atlanta

Although much of the discussion focused on metropolitan Atlanta, Bottoms repeatedly returned to the importance of rural Georgia.

She described communities where factories have disappeared, broadband access remains limited and young people often leave after graduating from high school because economic opportunities are scarce.

“Some communities look like time has forgotten them,” she said.

Bottoms noted that while residents across Georgia want many of the same things, good schools, quality healthcare, stable jobs and safe neighborhoods. The path toward achieving those goals differs dramatically between urban and rural communities.

Bottoms also addressed the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers across Georgia, calling for a deliberate review of their long-term impact on utility costs, environmental resources and economic development before embracing additional growth.

Rather than opposing the projects outright, she said state leaders should ensure communities receive tangible benefits while avoiding unintended burdens on residents.

Building a Campaign One Conversation at a Time

Perhaps the evening’s most consistent message had little to do with campaign advertising or partisan politics.

Bottoms repeatedly encouraged supporters to become what she called “trusted voices.”

She acknowledged that some people may have time only to cast a ballot on Election Day.

Others, she said, can do more.

Call ten friends.

Help a neighbor verify voter registration.

Knock on doors.

Volunteer.

Encourage family members to vote.

“Put your oxygen mask on first,” she said. “For some people, the most you can do is show up and vote. For others, it’s calling ten people in your phone. Whatever you can do—do it.”

She also warned that misinformation and confusion surrounding elections have become significant obstacles to civic participation, particularly among younger voters trying to distinguish fact from political rhetoric.

Her challenge to supporters was simple: become reliable sources of information inside their own communities.

The Road to November

As the formal program concluded, the campaign did not end.

Bottoms remained inside The Gathering Spot well after the town hall was over, moving deliberately through the room as supporters waited for photographs and reporters gathered for follow-up interviews. She answered questions from members of the media one by one before turning her attention to attendees, posing for photographs and greeting everyone who wanted a moment with her.

There was no rush toward the exit.

No effort to shorten conversations.

The evening closed much the way it had begun; with Bottoms engaging voters one person at a time.

Only after every reporter’s questions had been answered and every attendee seeking a photograph had the opportunity to take one did she leave the venue.

The scene reflected the strategy she had described throughout the evening.

Rather than measuring success by advertising dollars or viral campaign moments, Bottoms repeatedly argued that elections are won through personal relationships, neighborhood organizing and direct conversations with voters.

Before stepping away from the stage earlier that evening, she had summarized her confidence in a single sentence.

“I don’t have to introduce myself to people,” she said. “I just have to earn their vote.”

Whether that strategy can overcome a billionaire opponent’s unprecedented advertising campaign will be answered in November.

The outcome will determine more than who occupies the Governor’s Mansion. It will also test two competing theories of modern campaigning.

One relies on extraordinary financial resources, saturation advertising and carefully orchestrated public appearances. The other is built on conversations, community relationships and the belief that ordinary Georgians, especially if they turn out in record numbers, still possess the greatest power to shape the state’s political future

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The Human Stakes of AI: Why This Technology Deserves Public Attention

By Florita Bell Griffin | Houston, TX | July 28, 2026

Artificial intelligence is often discussed as a technical breakthrough, a business race, or a symbol of the future. Those descriptions are part of the picture, but they are too small to explain what is now unfolding. AI has become a public matter because it is entering the ordinary structures of life at scale. It is shaping how people find information, receive recommendations, apply for jobs, interact with institutions, complete schoolwork, manage finances, and move through digital systems that increasingly organize modern existence. For that reason, the most important question is no longer whether AI is impressive. The question is what this technology means for human beings living inside the environments it is beginning to shape.

That is where the human stakes come into view. AI matters because it affects the conditions under which people think, decide, trust, work, learn, and relate to one another. It changes how reality is filtered and presented. It influences what gets attention and what gets buried. It alters the pace of work, the structure of communication, and the meaning of judgment in settings where people once expected human discretion to remain central. These are deep social changes, even when they arrive quietly through ordinary tools and familiar platforms.

Public attention is needed because AI is moving from assistance into influence. In its earlier public image, digital technology was often described as a tool people used when they wanted something. Search for an answer. Send a message. Buy a product. Look up directions. The user acted, and the system responded. AI changes that relationship. Increasingly, systems now anticipate, rank, summarize, recommend, classify, and predict. They do more than wait for human instruction. They help shape what appears to matter before the user even begins deciding.

That shift has major consequences. A recommendation can influence a purchase. A ranking can influence a belief. A generated summary can influence understanding. A predictive score can influence whether someone receives attention, scrutiny, or opportunity. In each case, the machine may appear to be only assisting. In reality, it may already be helping structure the field inside which human judgment occurs. That is why the public should pay attention. The influence of AI often begins long before a final decision is visible.

One of the deepest human stakes involves trust. People live by trust every day. They trust institutions to handle information responsibly, systems to function fairly, professionals to exercise judgment, and public-facing platforms to give usable access to what they need. As AI becomes more integrated into the systems people depend on, that trust is increasingly being placed in tools that are more dynamic, more opaque, and more interpretive than earlier digital systems. A machine does simply retrieve information. It may frame it. It may prioritize one path over another. It may decide what is relevant, what is normal, and what deserves attention.

That changes the texture of daily life. Much of what people now experience as convenience is also a form of invisible mediation. The system helps sort the world before the individual sees it. In some cases that is helpful. It reduces overload and makes complex environments easier to navigate. But it also means that human beings are relying more heavily on systems whose internal assumptions they do understand. Public attention is necessary because trust becomes fragile when influence grows faster than understanding.

The workplace offers one of the clearest examples of these human stakes. AI can improve productivity, support communication, automate routine tasks, and help people move through information faster. Many workers are already benefiting from those capabilities. At the same time, the introduction of AI into work changes expectations. It can accelerate pace, intensify monitoring, shift evaluation standards, and redefine what counts as acceptable output. Workers may gain assistance while also entering environments where the pressure to produce more, faster, becomes harder to resist. That is a human stake, not just a technical one, because it affects dignity, autonomy, and the lived experience of labor.

Education raises similar concerns. AI tools can explain material, support students, and widen access to help. Those are important advantages. Yet education is also about forming habits of thought, concentration, authorship, and independent reasoning. When AI enters the learning process too casually, it can blur the line between support and substitution. Students may gain immediate answers while losing some of the struggle through which understanding deepens. Teachers and families must now think carefully about how to preserve intellectual formation in an environment where generated assistance is increasingly easy to access. That is why AI deserves public attention from parents, educators, and communities, not only from technical experts.

The human stakes also extend into emotional and social life. AI is entering communication systems, recommendation engines, entertainment platforms, and digital spaces where people form impressions, sustain relationships, and interpret the world around them. As systems become better at tailoring content, predicting preferences, and shaping what individuals encounter, they begin to influence mood, attention, and perception. That influence may feel subtle because it is woven into ordinary routines. Yet what people repeatedly see, hear, and respond to affects how they feel, what they believe, and how they understand others. A society should pay close attention whenever technologies begin shaping emotional environments at scale.

Another major stake is the preservation of meaningful choice. Many people assume choice exists as long as options appear on the screen. But meaningful choice depends on the conditions under which those options are presented. If recommendations are highly personalized, rankings are behaviorally tuned, prices are dynamically adjusted, and some pathways are elevated while others are quietly hidden, then choice begins to operate inside an engineered environment. People still choose, but the setting in which they choose is being actively structured. Public attention is necessary because freedom can narrow gradually while still appearing intact on the surface.

This is especially serious when AI enters high-impact settings such as healthcare, finance, employment, insurance, public services, and legal or administrative systems. In those environments, machine-guided processes can influence who gets approved, delayed, escalated, reviewed, or denied. Even where humans remain involved, AI may shape what those humans see first, what risks appear significant, or what cases deserve priority. The human stake is obvious: when systems influence access to opportunity, care, safety, and recognition, the public has every reason to ask how those systems work and where accountability remains.

Public attention is also needed because AI can create the appearance of authority very easily. A fluent answer, a calm tone, a polished explanation, and an efficient interface can all make a system seem more trustworthy than it actually is. Human beings are naturally responsive to confidence and coherence. Yet an output can sound persuasive while being incomplete, biased, or contextually wrong. The danger grows when people begin to rely on style as a substitute for reliability. A technology with that level of persuasive power should be a matter of broad public concern.

None of this means AI is only a threat. That framing would be too simple and too careless. AI can support medicine, research, education, accessibility, logistics, communication, and public administration in important ways. It can reduce burdens, widen assistance, and help institutions function more effectively where overload is real. The point is that usefulness does remove seriousness. A technology can be beneficial and still require strong public scrutiny. In fact, the more deeply a system is woven into everyday life, the more necessary that scrutiny becomes.

What public attention should produce is a better quality of civic response. Citizens do need to master the mathematics of machine learning in order to understand what is at stake. They do need clear language, institutional transparency, and the confidence to ask strong questions. Where is AI being used? What role does it play in shaping outcomes? What forms of review and appeal exist? What assumptions are built into the system? Whose interests are being optimized? How is trust being earned? These are public questions because the consequences of AI are public consequences.

The human stakes of AI are therefore larger than the technology itself. They concern what kind of society people want to build around systems that can predict, classify, recommend, and influence behavior at enormous scale. They concern whether convenience will quietly outrun autonomy, whether speed will outrun judgment, and whether fluency will outrun truth. They concern whether human beings will remain meaningfully present in the decisions and environments that shape their lives.

That is why this technology deserves public attention. AI is helping organize modern life in ways that touch work, learning, trust, family, institutions, and individual choice. Its influence is growing through systems people use every day, often without fully seeing how much mediation is already taking place. Public attention is not a sign of fear. It is a sign of seriousness. Whenever a technology begins to shape the terms on which human beings understand, decide, and live, the public has every reason to look closely.

© 2026 Truth Seekers Journal. Published with permission from the author. All rights reserved.

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SHADOW BALL: Learning More About Negro League History

By Ted Knorr | Harrisburg, PA | July 28, 2026

This column exists for only one purpose: that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, we need your help … if you are reading this column, enjoy it, want it to continue, and do not already know everything about Negro League history … then please submit a question on any aspect of Negro League history. Your questions are the lifeblood of Shadow Ball—they shape where we go next … players, teams, events, and more – and, in so doing, you will direct where this column goes moving forward. Your participation is important and appreciated. The very existence of this column depends on you. Submit your questions to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com.

Given the level of talent in the Negro Leagues and so few slots opened in the major leagues, why and when did the Negro League collapse? Elston Hoskins, Saint Charles, Missouri

Before getting to the “why and when” I want to recognize the astute preamble to your query which correctly notes that the available, unfettered by recognized contracts, talent of  Negro League represented the greatest source of talent in the history of the game. Simultaneously, with 15 franchises in opposition to the thought of integration in this moment of time due to racism, ignorance, poor judgement or whatever rationale one wants to invent the process of bringing talent of color to the Majors was painfully slow despite a demonstrated high reward as the below illustration shows:

One would think such slow movement from the Negro Leagues would postpone, as Mr. Hoskins’ question implies, the inevitable collapse, sic, of the Negro Leagues. The reality was that Negro League baseball fans for several reasons – racial pride, quality of play, media attention (and lack thereof) – almost immediately began an exodus from a viable entertainment source and major African American business to the American and National Leagues

I think the “Why” has been covered. For me, the “When” is simultaneous with Jackie Robinson’s final exit from the Kansas City Monarch locker room in August 1945. However, with no players of color on Major League rosters in 1946 I count that year as the last where the Negro Leagues should be considered major.’. Major League itself is a little more forgiving in its definition, by edict on December 16, 2020, of Major Leagues includes the Negro National and Negro American League through 1948. The Society for American Baseball Research extends its Major league imprimatur through the 1950 season. All three of us (MLB, SABR and myself) recognize that the Negro Leagues specifically the Negro American League sputter on, descending in quality and quantity until 1960 or ’61.

Last Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week

Which former Memphis Red Sox player worked in various roles at the Peabody Hotel after his baseball career ended? Nat Rogers, himself a veteran of over twenty years at the highest level of baseball permitted, hit .305 with an OPS+ of 111 and better than average fielding percentage and range factor in all three outfield positions, who must be considered a solid Major League outfielder. After his playing days were over, he worked in various capacities at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and was as much a favorite with that clientele as with baseball fans. No reader submitted a guess so this week’s question, hopefully, will be a bit more inviting.

This Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week

Ted Knorr

Which pitcher won the last “Major League” Negro League World Series game? Send your answer, along with your comments/questions about the Negro Leagues, to  

shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or mail them to:

Shadow Ball
3904 N. Druid Hills Road, Suite 179
Decatur, GA 30033

The Road to Los Angeles: How Soul Country Music Star Is Showcasing the Next Generation of Black Country Artists

By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | July 26, 2026

The stage in Atlanta will introduce only one new regional champion, but the story of Soul Country Music Star stretches far beyond a single performance or a single city.

Across the country, artists are stepping onto stages with different voices, different life experiences, and different reasons for making music. Some are seasoned performers. Others are chasing opportunities they have spent years praying for. All share a belief that country music has room for stories that have too often gone unheard.

Three artists have already secured their places in the Soul Country Music Star Finals, scheduled for October 31 in Los Angeles. Brenda Guy earned her victory in the Fort Worth-Dallas Regional. Silas Reed captured the Memphis Regional title. Glenn Stanton advanced by winning the Los Angeles Regional. Their journeys through the competition are complete, at least for now, as they wait for the remaining regional champions to join them on the national stage.

The spotlight now turns to Atlanta.

On August 1, at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, five artists will compete for the chance to become the next regional champion and earn a coveted spot in the Los Angeles finals and Festival. The competition is part of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo’s Soul Country Rodeo Experience.

OG NARD, Angela Roundtree, Da’Rell Sims Jr., Reggie Stacy, and Jacqueline Merrill each bring distinct musical styles, backgrounds, and aspirations. Yet, after speaking with each of them, one thing became remarkably clear.

This competition is about far more than selecting the next winner.

It is about discovering artists who are redefining what Soul country music can be.

Some draw from gospel traditions that first shaped their voices in church pews. Others blend country with Southern soul, hip-hop, Americana, or contemporary storytelling. Some speak openly about grief, redemption, and perseverance. Others see music as a bridge connecting generations, cultures, and communities.

Together, they represent a movement that is steadily expanding both the sound and the story of country music.

As the road to Los Angeles continues, The Truth Seekers Journal spoke with three regional winners from Memphis, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Los Angeles who have already secured their places in the finals, as well as the five Atlanta regional contestants preparing for their opportunity. Their conversations reveal not only why they sing, but also what they hope their music will leave behind long after the final note fades.

More than a competition, Soul Country Music Star has become a window into the next generation of Black Soul Country artists, each carrying a unique story to the stage.

More Than a Singing Competition

For more than four decades, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR) has celebrated the often overlooked history and legacy of Black cowboys and cowgirls, preserving a chapter of the American West that many people never learned in school. Alongside the excitement of rodeo competition, the organization has steadily expanded its cultural programming to showcase the music, traditions, and creative voices that have long been part of that heritage.

One of its newest and fastest growing programs is Soul Country Music Star.

Far more than a traditional talent competition, Soul Country Music Star provides emerging performers with a national platform to showcase their artistry before live audiences while introducing new voices to one of America’s oldest musical traditions. Regional competitions are held across the country, with each winner advancing to the national finals and festival, where one artist will ultimately earn the title of Soul Country Music Star, a $10,000 cash prize and a chance to tour with the BPIR in 2027.

This year’s journey has already produced regional winners in Memphis, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Los Angeles. Atlanta will select its finalist on August 1, followed by the final regional competition on September 19 at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The four out of state regional winners will then travel to Los Angeles for the Soul Country Music Festival & National Finals, taking place October 31 and November 1 at the Autry Museum of the American West in Griffith Park.

The competition is also helping reshape public perceptions of country music.

For generations, Black artists have played a foundational role in the evolution of country music, from its earliest influences rooted in gospel, blues, and folk traditions to today’s expanding blend of Southern Soul, Americana, and contemporary country. Yet many of those contributions have remained underrecognized.

The artists participating in Soul Country Music Star are helping change that narrative.

Some arrive with decades of performing experience. Others are taking their first major step onto a national stage. Their musical styles differ widely, but each brings an authentic perspective shaped by family, faith, hardship, perseverance, and community.

After speaking individually with the three regional winners, and the five Atlanta Regional contestants, one theme surfaced again and again.

None of them spoke first about winning.

Instead, they spoke about purpose.

For some, music became a way to preserve family traditions. For others, it offered healing after personal loss, redemption after difficult seasons, or the freedom to express themselves without being confined by expectations. Nearly every conversation returned to faith, perseverance, and the belief that music could touch lives beyond the stage.

That may be the competition’s greatest achievement.

Before judges score a single performance, audiences are introduced to artists whose stories are every bit as compelling as the songs they perform.

The Road Already Traveled

Long before the Atlanta Regional contestants step onto the stage, three artists have already secured their places in the Soul Country Music Star Finals. Their victories came hundreds of miles apart, in different cities and before different audiences, yet their stories reveal that there is no single path to success.

Brenda Guy earned top honors in the Fort Worth-Dallas Regional by doing what she has always believed music should do: bring people together.

Her performances are rooted in connection. Whether singing before longtime country music fans or audiences experiencing Soul Country for the first time, Guy believes every performance should create a relationship between the artist and the listener. That ability to connect has become one of her greatest strengths and helped carry her to a regional championship.

In Memphis, Silas Reed took a different road.

A musician, educator, and student of Black musical history, Reed views every performance as an opportunity to preserve a legacy that stretches across generations. His appreciation for country music is grounded in research, faith, and a deep understanding of the Black artists whose influence helped shape the genre long before many of them received recognition. Rather than simply entertaining audiences, Reed hopes every performance encourages listeners to better understand the music’s history while inspiring the next generation of artists to carry that tradition forward.

Thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, Glenn Stanton emerged from a very talented pool of Soul Country artists at the California Regional with yet another perspective.

An actor, Americana artist, and storyteller, Stanton speaks openly about music as a source of healing. His songs often reflect life’s difficult seasons, reconciliation, and hope. Rather than separating country music from personal experience, Stanton embraces both, believing that authentic storytelling has the power to comfort people who may be carrying struggles of their own.

Although their musical styles differ, Guy, Reed, and Stanton share something larger than a regional title.

“Promotional Artwork Courtesy of Soul Country Music Star”

Each views music as a calling rather than simply a career.

Each spoke about faith, purpose, and service before discussing trophies or recognition.

And each now waits for October 31, when regional champions from across the country will gather in California to compete for the Soul Country Music Star national title.

Their journeys have reached the next chapter.

Atlanta’s is just beginning.

A New Stage. Five New Dreams.

When the Soul Country Music Star competition arrives in Atlanta on August 1, five artists will step onto the stage carrying very different stories, but sharing one common goal: to become the next regional champion and earn a place alongside Brenda Guy, Silas Reed, Glenn Stanton, and the other regional winners awaiting the national finals in California.

For some, the competition represents the culmination of decades spent performing before live audiences. For others, it is an opportunity to introduce audiences to a new sound or to share deeply personal stories through music. Together, they represent a cross-section of today’s Black country music landscape, where gospel harmonies, Southern Soul, Americana, traditional country, and contemporary influences exist side by side.

Their names are Bernard Stephens aka OG NARD, Angela Roundtree, Da’Rell Sims Jr., Reggie Stacy, and Jacqueline Merrill.

Over the course of several conversations with The Truth Seekers Journal, each answered the same basic questions about music, inspiration, and purpose.

None gave the same answers.

And that may be what makes this year’s Atlanta Regional one of the most compelling stops on the Road to Los Angeles.

Five Artists. Five Different Dreams.

By the time the Soul Country Music Star competition reaches Atlanta on August 1, the judges will already know what a regional champion looks like.

What they will not know is whose story will emerge next.

The five artists preparing to compete in Atlanta come from different backgrounds, different musical traditions, and different walks of life. Some have spent years performing before live audiences. Others have built loyal followings while waiting for an opportunity to introduce themselves to a larger stage.

What unites them is not a common sound.

It is a common belief that country music still has room for voices that reflect their own experiences.

OG Nard (Bernard Stephens): A Story of Redemption

For OG Nard (Bernard Stephens), music represents something larger than entertainment.

It represents another chance.

The Atlanta artist openly acknowledges that life has included difficult chapters, but he refuses to allow those experiences to define his future. Instead, they have become the foundation of his music and his desire to encourage others facing similar struggles.

OG describes his music as “Trapp Kountry,” a style that blends country storytelling with the sounds and experiences of contemporary urban life. Rather than trying to fit into someone else’s definition of country music, he has created a style that reflects where he comes from, what he has lived through, and people he hopes to reach.

His music carries a message of perseverance.

During our conversation, OG spoke repeatedly about giving back to young people, helping others avoid mistakes he has already made, and using music to demonstrate that redemption remains possible regardless of a person’s past.

For him, the Atlanta Regional is more than another performance.

It is another opportunity to prove that second chances can become new beginnings.

Angela Roundtree: Singing from the Heart

If OG’s music speaks through redemption, Angela Roundtree’s begins with authenticity.

Raised in a family where gospel music was part of everyday life, Roundtree says she has been singing for as long as she can remember. Yet despite her remarkable voice and growing audience, she remains remarkably humble, often describing herself as someone who simply wants listeners to feel what she feels.

Her songwriting rarely begins with commercial trends or radio formats.

Instead, it begins with life.

Sometimes the inspiration arrives while driving alone.

Sometimes it grows from personal experiences that eventually become songs capable of touching complete strangers.

Roundtree admits she has battled self-doubt and even describes herself as someone who occasionally gets in her own way. That honesty may be one of her greatest strengths. Rather than presenting herself as a polished celebrity, she allows audiences to see both her confidence and her vulnerability.

When she steps onto the stage in Atlanta, she is not trying to become someone else.

She is simply trying to be herself.

And for many artists, that may be the hardest performance of all.

Da’Rell Sims Jr.: Building an Atlanta Sound

While some artists spend years trying to fit comfortably inside an established genre, Da’Rell Sims Jr. is focused on creating space for something new.

He calls it Atlanta Country.

Growing up in Atlanta with family roots that stretch into rural Georgia, Sims believes country music should reflect the places and experiences that shaped him. Rather than choosing between country, hip-hop, Southern Soul, or gospel influences, he embraces all of them, creating a sound that reflects the city he calls home.

“I’m the bridge,” he said during our conversation, explaining that his music connects traditions that many people mistakenly view as separate.

For Sims, authenticity matters more than stereotypes.

He has little interest in performing a version of country music that doesn’t feel genuine. His songs are built on real experiences, real people, and real emotions. Whether writing about relationships, everyday life, or personal growth, he believes audiences recognize honesty long before they recognize polish.

That same philosophy extends beyond the stage.

An entrepreneur as well as a musician, Sims thinks about music as part of a larger vision that includes education, branding, film, television, and community impact. He has even developed music designed to help children learn reading, mathematics, history, and life skills, demonstrating that entertainment and education can exist together.

His long-term vision reaches well beyond recording songs.

He wants to build something lasting.

If Atlanta Country becomes part of the national conversation, Sims hopes it will not simply introduce audiences to another musical style. He hopes it will encourage listeners to recognize that country music continues to grow because artists are willing to bring their own communities, cultures, and experiences into the genre.

For Da’Rell Sims Jr., the Atlanta Regional represents more than a competition.

It is an opportunity to introduce audiences to a new way of thinking about country music.

Reggie Stacy: Prepared for the Moment

If Da’Rell Sims Jr. is introducing something new, Reggie Stacy is building upon a foundation that has taken decades to establish.

Long before arriving at the Soul Country Music Star competition, Stacy had already built a reputation as a polished performer. He has appeared in singing competitions across the country, performed the National Anthem at sporting events, entertained audiences in restaurants and live music venues, and earned recognition as both Country Vocalist of the Year and Country Entertainer of the Year at a major competition in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Yet despite those accomplishments, he speaks less about success than preparation.

Every performance begins with prayer.

Every rehearsal is approached with purpose.

Every appearance is treated as an opportunity to represent himself, his band, and his faith with professionalism.

“It’s not on my timing,” he explained while discussing his career. “It’s on God’s time.”

That quiet confidence runs throughout his story.

Rather than measuring progress by trophies alone, Star believes every performance is another step toward the larger stage he has envisioned since childhood. He speaks openly about trusting the process, remaining patient, and continuing to improve while waiting for the next opportunity.

His musical influences reflect that same respect for tradition.

Inspired by artists including Charlie Pride and Chris Stapleton, Stacy embraces the soulful storytelling that has long defined country music while adding his own warmth and vocal style. His original song, Livin Life, celebrates the balance between hard work and enjoying the moments that make life meaningful.

As he prepares for the Atlanta Regional, Stacy is not trying to reinvent country music.

He simply wants to honor it through excellence.

For him, the greatest performance is not measured by applause alone.

It is measured by leaving the stage knowing he gave audiences everything he had.

Jacqueline Merrill: Music Without Boundaries

If there is one artist in the Atlanta Regional who refuses to be confined by labels, it is Jacqueline Merrill.

Singer.

Songwriter.

Rapper.

Performer.

Those titles describe what she does.

They do not fully explain who she is.

Merrill describes herself as an artist who refuses to be placed in a box. During our conversation, she spoke passionately about studying vocal techniques, listening carefully to the phrasing and breathing of legendary performers, and challenging herself to master different musical styles. That curiosity has made her one of the competition’s most versatile performers, comfortable moving between gospel, soul, country, and contemporary music without losing her own identity.

Her introduction to music began in church.

At just five years old, she led her first song in the Church of God in Christ, discovering both her voice and her confidence before a congregation that recognized her gift almost immediately. That early foundation continues to shape every performance today.

Faith remains at the center of everything she does.

Throughout our conversation, Merrill repeatedly described moments in her life that she believes were guided by God, from opportunities that appeared unexpectedly to doors that opened at precisely the right time. She views the Soul Country Music Star competition not as coincidence, but as confirmation that she is walking the path prepared for her.

For Merrill, Soul Country represents freedom.

Freedom to sing.

Freedom to rap.

Freedom to tell stories.

Freedom to express herself without allowing traditional genre boundaries to define her artistry.

She believes audiences should leave every performance feeling something.

Sometimes that feeling is joy.

Sometimes it is laughter.

Sometimes it is reflection.

The emotion matters less than the connection.

“If I made you feel something,” she said, “then I’ve done my job.”

That perspective has been shaped by life’s deepest challenges.

Merrill spoke openly about personal loss, health struggles, and the responsibilities of motherhood. Rather than allowing those experiences to silence her, she has transformed them into purpose. Her children remain her greatest motivation, inspiring her to keep moving forward and demonstrating through her own life that perseverance can outlast disappointment.

As she prepares for the Atlanta Regional, Merrill carries more than songs to the stage.

She carries a testimony.

One built on faith, resilience, and the belief that music has the power to change lives.

More Than Eight Voices

After conversations with three regional winners and five Atlanta Regional contestants, one conclusion became impossible to ignore.

No two artists described country music in exactly the same way.

Brenda Guy spoke about creating connections.

Silas Reed viewed every performance as an opportunity to preserve history.

Glenn Stanton found healing through storytelling.

OG embraced redemption through what he proudly calls Trapp Kountry.

Angela Roundtree sang with disarming honesty and vulnerability.

Da’Rell Sims Jr. envisioned a future shaped by Atlanta Country.

Reggie Stacy built his career on preparation, professionalism, and faith.

Jacqueline Merrill celebrated artistic freedom without boundaries.

Their musical styles differ.

Their life experiences differ.

Even their reasons for standing on stage differ.

Yet every conversation returned to the same foundation.

Family.

Faith.

Perseverance.

Purpose.

None of the artists spoke first about trophies, prize money, or recognition.

Instead, they spoke about making meaningful music, encouraging others, honoring those who came before them, and leaving audiences better than they found them.

Perhaps that is what makes Soul Country Music Star different.

The competition may crown one regional winner in Atlanta.

But before the judges make their decision, audiences will have the opportunity to hear five artists who represent five distinct visions of where Soul country music is headed.

And beyond Atlanta, three regional champions already await them in California, each carrying a different story but sharing the same dream of becoming the next Soul Country Music Star.

The Road Continues

When the lights come up in Atlanta on August 1, one performer will move one step closer to the national title.

But regardless of who advances, the competition is accomplishing something that reaches far beyond a single evening of music.

It is introducing audiences to artists whose stories challenge long-held assumptions about country music while celebrating the Black traditions that helped shape the genre from its earliest beginnings.

The Road to Los Angeles is about more than selecting a champion.

It is about discovering voices that deserve to be heard.

On October 31, another chapter in that journey will be written when regional winners from across the country gather in California for the Soul Country Music Star Finals.

By then, Atlanta will have added another name to that growing list.

Until then, the music continues.

The Road to Los Angeles

Regional Winners

Already qualified for the Soul Country Music Star Finals

Fort Worth-Dallas Regional
Brenda Guy

Memphis Regional
Silas Reed

Los Angeles
Glenn Stanton

Upcoming Regional Competitions

Atlanta, Georgia
August 1, 2026

Washington, DC/Maryland
September 19, 2026
The Show Place Arena
Upper Marlboro, Maryland

Soul Country Music Festival & National Finals

Saturday, October 31, 2026
Los Angeles, California

Sunday, November 1, 2026
12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Autry Museum of the American West
Griffith Park

National Finals & Soul Country Music Festival
October 31-Novemebr 1
California

Eight Conversations. One Discovery.

After speaking individually with each artist, one thing became increasingly clear. Although every conversation began with music, none remained there for long. Discussions quickly turned toward faith, family, perseverance, loss, healing, service, and purpose. The artists differed in style, personality, and performance, but they shared a common belief that music should leave people better than it found them.

That may ultimately become the lasting impression of this year’s Soul Country Music Star competition. While audiences will remember the performances, they may remember the stories behind those performances even more.

The Road to Los Angeles Continues

On August 1, one more artist will earn the right to continue the Road to Los Angeles. But regardless of who advances, every performer who steps onto the Atlanta stage will bring something that cannot be measured by judges’ scores alone: a story shaped by faith, family, perseverance, and a belief that music still has the power to connect people. In the end, that may be Soul Country Music Star’s greatest accomplishment.

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Ask the Archivist: Obama Presidential Center Opens Door to Presidential Research Through New Public Program

The Obama Presidential Center’s new “Ask the Archivist” program gives visitors direct access to National Archives experts, expanding public engagement with the Obama Administration’s digital presidential records.

By Milton Kirby | Chicago, IL | July 26, 2026

For many visitors, a trip to the Obama Presidential Center is an opportunity to experience the story of the nation’s first Black president through exhibits, artifacts, and interactive displays. Beginning this summer, it also offers something far less common: the chance to sit down face-to-face with the people responsible for preserving that history.

The Obama Foundation and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have launched “Ask the Archivist,” a new public program that gives visitors direct access to professional presidential archivists inside the Obama Presidential Center.

The initiative reflects the continuing partnership between the Obama Foundation and NARA to make the records of the Obama Administration more accessible to researchers, students, historians, and the general public.

Bringing History Within Reach

Under the new program, a NARA archivist will be available every Thursday from July 23 through October 8, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time, at the Obama Presidential Center Branch of the Chicago Public Library.

Visitors can ask questions about presidential records, learn how to conduct research using the Barack Obama Presidential Library’s digital collections, and better understand how presidential archives are preserved and made available to the public.

Rather than simply viewing history behind glass, guests will have an opportunity to learn directly from the professionals who manage one of the nation’s largest presidential archives.

A Different Kind of Presidential Library

Unlike earlier presidential libraries built primarily around paper documents, the Obama Presidential Library represents a new chapter in presidential recordkeeping.

Approximately **95 percent of the Obama Administration’s records were created digitally**, making it one of the first presidential libraries designed around a predominantly digital archive.

That distinction has required an unprecedented effort to preserve millions of electronic records while also digitizing the remaining physical documents.

The Obama Foundation has committed more than $4.5 million to support NARA’s work digitizing those remaining materials, allowing more of the collection to become accessible online.

The result is a library model that extends far beyond a single building, enabling researchers across the country to explore presidential records through digital collections while still preserving original historical materials.

Continuing a Historic Partnership

Foundation leaders say the new program builds naturally on an already successful collaboration between the two organizations.

“The National Archives have been a tremendous partner to us as we work to illuminate the work of the Obama Administration at the Obama Presidential Center, particularly in the artifact lending program and digitization of records,” said Valerie Jarrett, Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation.

Jarrett said “Ask the Archivist” represents another step toward making President Barack Obama’s administration accessible and transparent for the public.

Dr. Kenvi Phillips, Director of the Barack Obama Presidential Library, said the partnership gives visitors a richer understanding of the presidential collection.

“We are excited to partner with the Obama Foundation to provide another avenue for public awareness and access to the records of the Obama Administration,” Phillips said.

He noted that visitors can now experience both museum artifacts and personal conversations with archivists who can explain how the Library’s digital holdings are organized and accessed.

Beyond Museum Exhibits

The new program expands the educational mission of the Obama Presidential Center beyond traditional museum experiences.

Numerous artifacts and historical records owned by NARA are already on loan and displayed throughout the Center’s museum, allowing visitors to encounter original presidential materials while learning about the policies, decisions, and events that shaped the Obama presidency.

The addition of on-site archivists transforms that experience into an interactive one, helping visitors understand not only what they are seeing but also how presidential history is documented, preserved, and researched.

For students beginning research projects, educators seeking classroom resources, genealogists, journalists, and historians, the opportunity to speak directly with a presidential archivist offers practical guidance that is rarely available outside the National Archives.

Preserving a Digital Presidency

As government increasingly conducts its work electronically, preserving digital records has become one of the greatest challenges facing modern archivists.

Emails, digital photographs, electronic memoranda, social media content, and other born-digital records require preservation methods very different from traditional paper archives.

The Obama Presidential Library has become one of the nation’s leading examples of how those records can be organized, protected, and eventually made available to the public while meeting legal requirements governing presidential records.

Programs such as “Ask the Archivist” help explain that work to visitors while encouraging greater public engagement with one of the country’s most significant historical collections.

A Living Institution

The program also reflects the broader vision behind the Obama Presidential Center itself.

Rather than functioning solely as a traditional presidential museum, the Center was designed to be an active civic institution that encourages public participation, lifelong learning, and community engagement.

Adding direct access to presidential archivists reinforces that mission by inviting visitors not only to reflect on history but also to explore it firsthand.

For anyone curious about how presidential history is preserved, or how to begin researching one of the most consequential administrations of the 21st century, the answer may now be as simple as asking the archivist.

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Warnock’s $35 Insulin Cap Bill Clears Senate Committee, Moves One Step Closer to Becoming Law

By Milton Kirby | Washington, D.C. | July 24, 2026

A bipartisan effort to make insulin more affordable for millions of Americans moved one step closer to becoming law this week as legislation led by U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock of Georgia cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

The Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act of 2026 would cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month for Americans with private health insurance while helping uninsured patients obtain insulin for $35 or less..

The committee approved the measure with bipartisan support, sending it to the full Senate for consideration.

For Georgia, where more than 12 percent of residents have diabetes and thousands more remain undiagnosed, the legislation could provide significant financial relief for families struggling with the rising cost of one of the nation’s most essential medications.

Expanding Affordable Insulin Beyond Medicare

The legislation builds on a major healthcare victory achieved in 2022, when Congress capped monthly insulin costs at $35 for Medicare beneficiaries through the Inflation Reduction Act.

Warnock has since worked to extend those protections to every American who depends on insulin, regardless of age or insurance status.

“After years of effort, my bill to cap insulin at $35 a month for everyone is one step closer to becoming law,” Warnock said after the committee vote.

“No one should be forced to put their health or life in danger because they can’t afford insulin or don’t know where to get it.”

If enacted, the INSULIN Act would apply the same $35 monthly out-of-pocket limit to Americans covered by private insurance, closing one of the largest remaining gaps in insulin affordability.

New Resources for Uninsured Patients

The legislation also addresses the needs of Americans without health insurance.

A provision negotiated by Warnock would establish a 10-state pilot grant program that provides funding to community health centers to supply affordable insulin while connecting uninsured patients with ongoing medical care.

The bill would also create a nationalinsulin resource center and hotline to help uninsured individuals locate affordable insulin programs, financial assistance, and healthcare providers.

Supporters say the additional resources recognize that affordability alone is not enough. Many patients also need help finding available programs and navigating the healthcare system.

Rising Costs Continue to Burden Families

The legislation comes as insulin prices remain a significant financial challenge for many Americans.

According to the Health Care Cost Institute, the average price of a 30-day insulin supply nearly doubled between 2012 and 2021, increasing from $271 to $499.

The American Diabetes Association estimates that diabetes-related medical expenses and lost productivity total$412.9 billion each year, with diabetes accounting for one out of every four healthcare dollars spent in the United States.

For patients with Type 1 diabetes and many living with Type 2 diabetes, insulin is not optional. Without consistent access, missed doses can quickly lead to serious and potentially life-threatening complications.

Years of Legislative Effort

Making insulin more affordable has been one of Warnock’s signature healthcare priorities since joining the Senate.

In 2023, Warnock partnered with Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana to introduce legislation extending the $35 monthly cap to all Americans. The two senators also released a report identifying what they called “Insulin Deserts,” counties where high diabetes rates overlap with large uninsured populations, making affordable insulin especially difficult to obtain.

The current legislation represents the latest step in that continuing effort.

Bipartisan Support Gives Bill Momentum

The INSULIN Act is co-led by Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, John Kennedy of Louisiana, and Susan Collins of Maine and has attracted support from more than two dozen Democratic, Republican, and Independent senators.

At a time when healthcare legislation often divides Congress, supporters say the broad bipartisan coalition reflects growing agreement that access to lifesaving insulin should not depend on a family’s financial circumstances.

What Comes Next

The INSULIN Act now advances to the full Senate, where lawmakers will decide whether to send the measure to the House of Representatives.

If ultimately approved by Congress and signed into law, the legislation would represent the most significant expansion of federal insulin affordability protections since the Medicare cap took effect in 2022.

For millions of Americans living with diabetes, supporters say the bill is about more than lowering prescription costs.

It is about ensuring that no one is forced to choose between paying their bills and obtaining the medication they need to stay alive.

Black Writers Weekend Comes Home: Why Atlanta Will Host More Than a Literary Festival

Black Writers Weekend concludes its national tour in Atlanta with three days of storytelling, film, publishing, networking, and opportunities that extend far beyond books.

By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | July 23, 2026

Every generation has places where movements take shape.

Some begin in churches. Others start in classrooms, neighborhood barbershops, or around kitchen tables where stories are shared long before they are ever written down.

For thousands of Black writers, readers, filmmakers, publishers, and creative entrepreneurs across the country, one of those places has become Black Writers Weekend.

What started nearly two decades ago as a gathering for Black authors has grown into a national movement that celebrates storytelling while helping creatives build careers, expand their audiences, and take greater ownership of their work. After stops this year in Dallas, Newark, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., the 2026 tour concludes in Atlanta from July 31 through August 2 with three days of conversations, workshops, film screenings, networking, and celebration.

For anyone still wondering whether the event is worth attending, organizers believe the answer lies in understanding that Black Writers Weekend is no longer simply about books.

It is about building the future of Black storytelling.

More Than a Festival

The publishing industry has changed dramatically over the past decade.

Writers today are no longer limited to traditional publishing houses. Independent publishing, digital platforms, podcasts, streaming services, audiobooks, newsletters, and social media have opened new pathways for creative voices to reach audiences directly.

Those opportunities, however, come with new challenges.

Authors must learn marketing, branding, distribution, intellectual property, audience development, and business strategy in addition to mastering the craft of writing.

Black Writers Weekend was designed to help bridge those gaps.

Produced by AAMBC Inc., the nonprofit organization behind the festival, the event has spent 18 seasons creating opportunities for Black creatives to learn from experienced professionals while building relationships that often continue long after the weekend ends.

“BWW is about making sure Black storytelling isn’t treated as a moment, it’s a movement,” said Delphine of Legacy Media.

“After 18 seasons and over 30,000 readers and creatives touched, I see BWW as infrastructure. We’re building the pipeline. The future of Black storytelling depends on us controlling more of our own distribution, our own narratives, and our own platforms.”

Her words capture what many attendees say separates Black Writers Weekend from a traditional literary festival.

It is not simply a place to showcase completed work.

It is a place where careers begin.

Where Stories Meet Opportunity

This year’s Atlanta finale reflects how much the festival has evolved.

The weekend opens Friday at the historic Auburn Avenue Research Library with the Black Writers Weekend Film Festival, featuring more than 20 independent films created by Black filmmakers. The evening concludes with a screening of Dear Black Writers, a documentary exploring the artists and storytellers fueling today’s Black literary movement. Later that evening, poets and spoken-word artists will gather for Open Mic in the Garden at The Darwin Hotel, one of the festival’s most anticipated community traditions.

The focus shifts Saturday and Sunday to the Loudermilk Conference Center, where more than 80 speakers will lead discussions ranging from publishing and digital marketing to filmmaking, branding, entertainment, and entrepreneurship.

Among the featured sessions are the BookFunnel Workshop, designed to help authors expand their readership through digital distribution, the “I Am Creative” conversation with bestselling author Zane and filmmaker Trey Haley, and the Access to Hollywood panel featuring Jonathan Curtiss, Lamont Pete, Imani Nia Robinson, and Lynette Blackwell. Other sessions will explore how attorneys, publicists, talent managers, and financial advisors help creatives protect and grow their brands.

For aspiring writers and filmmakers, the weekend offers something that cannot be downloaded from the internet.

Access.

Beyond Amazon

Delphine believes one of the biggest mistakes new authors make is assuming success begins and ends with publishing a book online.

“The biggest mistake I see debut authors make is thinking distribution is just about getting a listing on Amazon and calling it a day,” she said.

Instead, she encourages writers to build relationships with bookstores, festivals, community organizations, and media outlets that already serve Black readers.

“Distribution isn’t just logistics,” she said. “It’s visibility. You have to be seen and remembered before someone picks up your book in a market where nobody knows your name yet.”

That philosophy explains why Black Writers Weekend has expanded into multiple cities across the country.

Each stop introduces writers to new readers, new collaborators, and new opportunities.

“My advice to new authors is don’t treat a festival stop like a one-off event,” Delphine said. “Treat it like the first domino.”

The Power of Honest Stories

While publishing strategies and marketing workshops are important, organizers never lose sight of why people write in the first place.

Stories change lives.

Asked about memoirs rooted in trauma and resilience, such as Little Miracles of Katrina by M. V. Despenza, Delphine said authenticity remains a writer’s greatest strength.

“Your story doesn’t need to be polished to be powerful,” she said.

She believes readers recognize honesty immediately, especially when writers refuse to sanitize painful experiences.

“Don’t rush the healing to finish the book,” she said. “Let the book carry the healing as it happens.”

For many aspiring writers attending Black Writers Weekend, those words may prove just as valuable as any publishing contract.

Why Community Media Matters

Another recurring theme throughout Black Writers Weekend is the importance of community-centered journalism.

While major media organizations often determine which stories receive national attention, Delphine believes local and independent outlets frequently discover important voices long before they become household names.

“They’re everything,” she said of community media.

“Community-centered outlets don’t wait for permission. They cover us because we matter to them, not because we’re trending.”

That relationship between independent journalism and emerging writers has become an important part of the festival’s identity, helping connect authors with readers who may never encounter their work through traditional publishing channels.

Atlanta’s Growing Literary Legacy

Anyone who attended Black Writers Weekend in Atlanta last year already understands why so many people return.

The 2025 festival brought together bestselling authors, filmmakers, podcasters, publishing professionals, and emerging writers for conversations on everything from world-building and memoir writing to Hollywood opportunities, banned books, and the future of Black storytelling. Those sessions sparked collaborations, mentorships, and professional relationships that extended well beyond the closing ceremony.

This year’s finale aims to build on that momentum.

Saturday evening’s Book Swap Party at Buckhead Art & Gallery will once again invite attendees to exchange books while meeting fellow readers in a relaxed, art-filled setting. Throughout the weekend, informal conversations in hallways, networking events, and community gatherings may prove just as meaningful as the scheduled programming.

Often, the most important story begins after the panel discussion ends.

More Than a Weekend

Black Writers Weekend is not asking people to attend another conference.

It is inviting them into a community built on stories.

Some attendees will leave with signed books.

Others will leave with publishing contacts, business partnerships, or the confidence to finally finish the manuscript sitting on their computer.

Some may discover a new favorite author.

Others may discover their own voice.

That is why Black Writers Weekend has grown from a literary gathering into one of the nation’s most important celebrations of Black creativity.

And for one weekend this summer, that movement comes home to Atlanta.

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Why Speed Feels Loud After a Certain Age

By Florita Bell Griffin, Ph.D | Houston, TX | July 21, 2026

Speed is often treated as a universal good. Faster systems are praised as smarter. Quicker decisions are framed as better decisions. Acceleration becomes synonymous with progress, efficiency, and relevance. In many technological environments, speed is positioned as the primary signal of advancement.

Yet for people who have lived long enough to observe patterns repeat, speed begins to register differently. It does not simply feel fast. It feels loud.

This sensation is not about age in a biological sense. It is about exposure. People who have moved through multiple eras of change have learned that speed amplifies whatever already exists inside a system. When structure is sound, speed can feel exhilarating. When structure is thin, speed becomes destabilizing. Experience sharpens the ability to sense the difference.

Earlier in life, speed often feels forgiving. Consequences are lighter. Recovery is easier. Decisions can be reversed with minimal cost. The environment absorbs error. Over time, people experience situations where rapid movement produces lasting effects. They witness reorganizations that move too quickly to integrate learning. They see technologies deployed at scale before their implications are understood. Speed stops feeling neutral and starts feeling consequential.

Consider an organization that prioritizes rapid iteration above all else. Decisions are made quickly. Features ship continuously. Feedback loops shorten. On the surface, the system appears agile. Yet employees who have lived through previous cycles of acceleration notice familiar signals. Documentation lags behind implementation. Context disappears between iterations. Rationales change without record. The organization moves faster, but understanding struggles to keep pace. Speed becomes noise.

The same pattern appears in communication systems. Messages arrive instantly. Channels multiply. Expectations compress. Response time becomes a proxy for competence. Those with experience recognize how this alters judgment. Faster communication encourages premature conclusions. It rewards reaction over reflection. It fills available attention without increasing clarity. Over time, people begin to experience speed not as efficiency, but as constant interruption.

Speed also changes how systems handle error. Rapid environments often assume mistakes can be corrected quickly. What this overlooks is how errors propagate when systems are tightly coupled. A fast decision made without sufficient context can ripple outward before it is detected. Those who have lived through system failures understand that speed without buffers magnifies impact. What feels agile in the moment can become fragile over time.

This sensitivity grows after people have witnessed consequences unfold slowly. A policy change whose effects appear years later. A technology adoption that reshapes incentives long after rollout. A restructuring that improves metrics while hollowing culture. Memory teaches that not all outcomes reveal themselves at the pace of implementation. Speed feels loud because it drowns out signals that only emerge over time.

Consider a public institution that adopts an automated decision system to increase efficiency. Processing time drops dramatically. Backlogs clear. The improvement is immediate and measurable. Yet experienced observers notice what the system does not capture. Edge cases disappear into averages. Appeals become harder to navigate. Accountability blurs as decisions move faster than explanation. The institution appears more efficient, while trust quietly erodes. Speed has outpaced understanding.

Human lives do not operate at constant velocity. Learning unfolds unevenly. Insight often arrives after delay. Judgment benefits from pause. People with experience recognize that certain forms of knowledge require time to surface. When systems eliminate pause entirely, they eliminate the conditions under which deeper understanding forms.

This does not mean speed is inherently harmful. It means speed requires structure. Without continuity, acceleration becomes overwhelming. Signals blur together. Prior lessons are bypassed. People lose the ability to locate themselves within the system’s movement. The result is not resistance, but withdrawal. Individuals continue to function while disengaging from meaning.

Speed also alters how authority is perceived. In fast systems, authority tends to reside with those who respond quickest rather than those who understand most deeply. Decision-making shifts toward immediacy. Reflection is reframed as delay. Over time, this devalues experience not because it lacks relevance, but because it operates on a different timescale.

People who have lived long enough to feel this shift are not rejecting speed. They are responding to its volume. Speed feels loud when it leaves no room for context to settle. It overwhelms the internal processes that integrate new information with prior understanding. What once felt energizing begins to feel abrasive.

Continuity offers a way to recalibrate. Systems designed with continuity acknowledge that not all intelligence arrives instantly. They create space for sequence, explanation, and integration. They allow speed where it strengthens coherence and slow where it preserves understanding. They recognize that pace is not a single setting, but a variable that must align with consequence.

Consider a system that introduces deliberate checkpoints during rapid change. Decisions move quickly, but rationales are recorded. Transitions are documented. Feedback is contextualized rather than immediately acted upon. In such systems, speed remains present, but it is no longer overwhelming. People stay oriented because the system remembers itself as it moves.

Over time, this distinction becomes critical. Systems that prioritize speed alone tend to burn through trust. Systems that balance speed with continuity gain durability. They move quickly without becoming disorienting. They remain responsive without becoming chaotic.

Why speed feels loud after a certain age is not a mystery. It is a signal. It reflects accumulated awareness of consequence, propagation, and delayed impact. It indicates that the observer has learned how systems behave beyond the moment of action.

As technology continues to accelerate, this perspective becomes increasingly valuable. Systems that dismiss it will continue to optimize for immediacy while destabilizing those inside them. Systems that listen to it gain access to a deeper form of intelligence, one that understands how movement unfolds across time.

Speed will always matter. The question is whether it is governed by structure or allowed to dominate it. The answer determines whether progress remains inhabitable, or whether it becomes something people endure rather than inhabit.

© 2026 Truth Seekers Journal. Published with permission from the author. All rights reserved.

Support open, independent journalism, your contribution helps us tell the stories that matter most.

SHADOW BALL: Learning More About Negro League History

By Ted Knorr | Memphis, TN | July 21, 2026

Last week, I discussed the recent 25th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Research Conference that I attended last month. This week I want to introduce readers to the ten Negro League players/managers identified by conference attendees at the conference as the worthiest of induction in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. . It is my strongly held opinion that all ten and more need immediate induction in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown if that organization is to truly fulfill its mission as a 501 c 3 educational non-profit . Here are the top ten candidates according to attendees at this year’s Negro League Research Conference:

10th     Candy Jim Taylor, Manager … Connie Mack (each candidate will feature an existing Hall of Fame comparable): Taylor is number one in Negro League history with 27 years. 2169 games, and 1042 wins (the only Negro League manager with more than 1000 Major League victories); only Vic Harris & Rube Foster won more pennants, and no Negro League manager won more World Series. He also was an all-star caliber player: hitting .295 with 11 HRs and 14 SBs for every 162 games played while achieving batter than average fielding percentage and range as a third baseman. He is listed in the Courier poll as the 7th best third baseman in Negro League history. “(each candidate will feature a quote from James  A. Riley’s Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues) He was with sixteen different teams during a forty-five-year career as player and manager that spanned virtually the entire existence of the Negro Leagues as a Major League.”

8th tie  John Beckwith, 3B …Dick Allen … named to the 1952 Courier 2nd team as a utility player who played  all positions during his career – including catcher and shortstop, while being a top ten masher with the bat … no Negro Leaguer, batting as often as he did. achieved a higher batting average, slugging. OPS, or OPS+ …  “The right-handed pull hitter was a powerful and consistent batter whose slugging prowess was extraordinary.” In my opinion, he is the most deserving Negro League player outside of Cooperstown’ plaque room.

8th tie  George Scales, 2B … Rogers Hornsby … Scales slashed .322/.427/.522 with a 149 OPS+ while exhibiting better than average metrics in both fielding percentage and range factor as a second baseman over a 20-year Major League career. “Scales was a versatile fielder who could play third base, first base, shortstop or the outfield, but was at his best at second base.”

7th        Grant Johnson, SS … Luke Appling … “(In 1894) he is credited with 60 home runs and earned his nickname of “Home Rin” at that time.”  He was the best “Negro League” shortstop prior to John Henry Lloyd … Baseball historian Gary Ashwill argues, “(Grant Johnson) was the best everyday player in Black baseball from 1895 to 1909.” This opinion is backed up by Seamheads database which shows Johnson’s career WAR (Seamheads.com)  at the time of his retirement  was exceeded among Negro Leaguers only  by Hall of Famer Pete Hill.

5th tie  John Donaldson, Pioneer/P … Rube Foster … (John Donaldson) won his greatest fame in the ‘10s as a star for J.L. Wilkinson’s multiracial All Nations ball club with whom he averaged almost 20 strikeouts per game.” Personally, I consider his overall career when I consider him as a Hall of Famer – entrepreneur, owner, manager, outfielder, pitcher, and Major League scout over a forty year plus career.

5th tie Newt Allen, 2b …  Nellie Fox … “Considered the best second baseman during the 1920s and early 1930s, the wide-ranging, slick-fielding middle infielder had quick hands and was superb on the pivot in turning a double play.” Currently, there is no second baseman from the Negro Leagues in the Hall of Fame … Newt Allen is one of the strongest candidates to represent that position. His playing in two Negro League World Series 18 years apart is one of his more remarkable feats. Although he hit .285 over his twenty-year big-league career, it is his glove that is most worthy of the Hall. Among second baseman only Bingo DeMoss saved more runs with his glove than Allen and no one – not even DeMoss – had better a better range factor than Allen among secondbaseman playing as many games as Allen did.

4th        Dick Lundy, ss …     Arky Vaughan, Derek Jeter … “The best shortstop during the 1920s, Lundy bridged the time gap between John Henry Lloyd and Willie Wells.”  Lundy’s WAR/162 of 5.85 is the highest among all Negro Leaguers yet to be inducted that played as many games as he did.

3rd        Vic Harris, mgr … Joe McCarthy, Miller Huggins, John McGraw … quite simply there is no Major League manager, appearing in more than 500 games, with a higher winning percentage than 7-time pennant winner Vic Harris.

2nd       Rap Dixon, rf … Roberto Clemente  … both Dixon & Clemente wore “21” and had the best arms in their respective era … “A five-point ballplayer who did everything with style, the power-hitting outfielder was one of the better hitters during the 1920s and 1930s.”  Dixon cracked 14 consecutive hits in July 1929, stroke four triple in one game in August 1930 – the only Major Leaguer to do so in the 20th century.

1st        Dick Redding, p … Smokey Joe Williams …  Dick Redding is in the top 5 amongst all Negro League pitchers in games, innings (#1), wins, complete games (#2 behind Joe Williams), shutouts, strikeouts, and years pitched. “One of the great pitchers of Black baseball, Dick Redding’s overpowering speed earned the big, tall right hander the nickname “Cannonball Dick …Redding was credited with 30 no-hitters against all levels of opposition.”

One note regarding John Donaldson (tied for 5th) and the top two finishers – Donaldson & Redding as pitchers and Dixon as an outfielder are the only players named to the Negro League Centennial team at the Negro League Baseball Museum in December 2018 that are not inducted in Cooperstown.

Last Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week

When was the last year that any Negro League players were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Please identify at least one player inducted that year. No one submitted the correct answer which follows: In 2006, 17 Negro League personages were inducted … of them 12 were players, including Frank Grant who currently is listed by the Hall as an executive. Other players inducted that year were Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Pete Hill, Biz Mackey, Jose Mendez, Louis Santop, Mule Suttles, Ben Taylor Cristobal Torriente, and Jud Wison.

This Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week

Which former Memphis Red Sox player worked in various roles at the Peabody Hotel after his baseball career ended.?

Send your answer, along with your comments about the Negro Leagues, to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or mail them to:

Shadow Ball
3904 N. Druid Hills Road, Suite 179
Decatur, GA 30033

About the Author

Ted Knorr

Ted Knorr is a respected Negro League baseball historian, a longtime member of SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee, and the founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference. He has also organized numerous Negro League Commemorative Nights throughout central Pennsylvania.

Beyond his research and organizational work, Ted is a sought-after speaker at sporting events, community programs, family gatherings, and educational forums, where he brings Negro League history to life. His deep knowledge of the players, teams, and the cultural significance of Black baseball has made him a trusted voice for audiences seeking to better understand the enduring legacy of the Negro Leagues.

AI and the Public Good: Why Citizens Need a Clear Understanding

By Florita Bell Griffin | Houston, TX | July 14, 2026

rtificial intelligence is now entering public life at a depth that makes broad civic understanding necessary. For several years, AI was discussed mainly as a technical field, a business opportunity, or a future-oriented innovation story. Today it is something larger. It is increasingly part of the systems through which people receive information, apply for services, encounter recommendations, complete financial transactions, communicate with institutions, and move through everyday routines. That shift means AI is no longer only a topic for engineers, executives, or policymakers. It is a public issue, and citizens need a clear understanding of what is changing around them.

The phrase public good matters here because AI is affecting the shared conditions of social life. It influences how information circulates, how resources are prioritized, how institutions make decisions, and how individuals are seen by the systems they depend on. Once a technology begins to shape those underlying conditions, public understanding becomes essential. A society cannot responsibly govern what large numbers of people do understand. It cannot protect fairness, accountability, or human dignity if major systems are changing faster than the public’s ability to interpret them.

One reason clear understanding is so important is that AI often arrives under the language of convenience. It is introduced as something that will save time, reduce complexity, personalize services, improve efficiency, and remove friction from daily tasks. In many cases, those promises are genuine. AI can help summarize information, detect patterns, support administrative work, improve customer service, assist with logistics, flag anomalies, and make certain systems more responsive. People and institutions do benefit from tools that help them manage complexity in a demanding world.

At the same time, convenience can hide significance. A system that seems to help a user find something faster may also be shaping what is considered relevant. A system that appears to offer support may also be narrowing the range of options a person sees. A system that feels neutral may be carrying assumptions, priorities, and optimization goals that remain invisible to the public. This is why citizens need more than excitement or fear. They need clarity. They need to understand that AI is altering decision environments, not merely adding digital assistance.

That distinction is central to the public good. In democratic life, people need sufficient visibility into the systems that affect them. They need to know when information is being filtered, when recommendations are being personalized, when rankings are being influenced by behavioral data, and when machine-generated outputs are helping shape institutional decisions. Without that visibility, people begin to live inside systems they rely on but do understand. That is a dangerous condition for any society, because trust without understanding can be easily exploited.

Trust is one of the key issues in the AI era. Modern life already depends heavily on digital systems. People trust platforms to display information, banks to detect suspicious activity, schools to manage learning tools, healthcare networks to process records, transportation systems to guide movement, and government-facing systems to handle applications and communication. As AI becomes more integrated into these structures, that trust is being extended toward systems that do more than transmit information. They interpret it. They sort it. They rank it. They frame what appears first and what fades into the background.

This matters because interpretation is a form of power. A system that decides what is most relevant, what counts as risk, what deserves escalation, or what should be recommended is influencing the shape of human decision-making. The public still sees a screen, a portal, a service, or a result. Underneath, however, the environment is being organized by predictive logic. If citizens do understand that shift, then public discussion remains too shallow. People may debate whether AI is useful while missing the more serious fact that it is helping structure the conditions under which they think and choose.

A clear understanding is also necessary because AI often appears more reliable than it truly is. Many systems speak in polished language, respond instantly, and produce outputs that feel coherent and assured. This creates a natural tendency to trust them. Human beings often associate fluency with competence and speed with authority. Yet a confident answer can still be incomplete, biased, poorly sourced, or contextually wrong. Citizens therefore need a stronger public literacy that allows them to distinguish between persuasive presentation and justified reliability. Without that distinction, AI can accumulate influence simply because it sounds sure of itself.

The public good requires more than personal caution. It requires shared standards. Citizens need to be able to ask common questions about systems that increasingly affect everyone. How are these tools being used in schools, hospitals, banks, workplaces, courts, agencies, and public-facing services? What rights do people have when automated systems influence outcomes? Where does human review remain essential? What kinds of explanation should be required? How should recourse work when AI-assisted processes create confusion or harm? These are civic questions, and they belong in public discourse.

Education is one place where this need becomes especially clear. If young people are growing up with AI-assisted learning tools, generated explanations, predictive recommendations, and algorithmically shaped information streams, then they need more than technical familiarity. They need civic understanding. They need to know how systems influence what they see, how outputs are produced, how errors can occur, and why independent judgment still matters. A society that teaches students how to use AI without teaching them how to think about AI is leaving them underprepared for the world they are entering.

The same is true for adults. Many citizens now interact with AI in subtle ways through work platforms, search systems, online retail, digital entertainment, financial tools, and institutional portals. Often they are using the system before they have developed language to describe what it is doing. That gap between experience and understanding is exactly why public education around AI matters. Citizens do need to know every technical detail of machine learning in order to participate meaningfully in the discussion. They do need to understand how influence works, how opacity can hide power, and why convenience should never replace accountability.

The public good is also at stake because AI can widen inequalities if it is deployed carelessly. Systems trained on narrow histories or tuned toward blunt performance goals can reproduce distorted patterns across hiring, lending, policing, healthcare access, education, and public services. Even where intent is good, poor design or weak oversight can create uneven consequences. Citizens need to understand that technology does stand outside existing social conditions. It enters them. It can reinforce them, challenge them, or reorganize them, depending on how it is governed.

This is why the conversation about AI must remain larger than market enthusiasm. Innovation is important. Technical progress is real. Economic opportunity is part of the picture. But the public good requires a broader lens. It asks whether AI is strengthening human judgment or quietly displacing it. It asks whether institutions are using these systems responsibly. It asks whether people still have meaningful ways to question, appeal, or understand decisions that affect their lives. It asks whether public life is becoming more legible or more opaque as machine systems gain influence.

A healthy society does reject advanced tools. It develops the civic capacity to govern them wisely. That means citizens need plain language explanations, stronger digital literacy, institutional transparency, and a public culture that treats AI as a matter of shared responsibility rather than passive consumer adaptation. The future of AI will be shaped by designers, companies, regulators, and institutions, but it will also be shaped by whether the public understands enough to ask serious questions and demand serious answers.

AI is already becoming part of the infrastructure of modern life. That alone makes clear understanding a public necessity. Citizens need it because trust is being reorganized, decisions are being mediated in new ways, and power is moving into systems that often operate quietly. The public good depends on whether people can see that change clearly enough to respond with intelligence, caution, and civic seriousness. That is why AI must be understood beyond hype, beyond fear, and beyond novelty. It must be understood as a force shaping the common world citizens share.

© 2026 Truth Seekers Journal. Published with permission from the author. All rights reserved.

Support open, independent journalism. Your contribution helps us tell the stories that matter most.

Six Blocks That Changed the Conversation About Lung Health

A walk through Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy neighborhood reveals personal stories of lung disease, caregiving and fear, showing why community conversations about screening matter.

A walk through Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy neighborhood revealed stories of resilience, fear and hope before a community lung cancer screening event even begins.

By Milton Kirby | Philadelphia, PA | July 12, 2026

Six blocks.

That was all it took to remind me why community journalism still matters.

On a warm Friday afternoon, I walked the neighborhood surrounding Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, where residents will gather on Saturday, July 25th 10:00am – 12:30pm, for the Lung Cancer Screening to Treatment 2.0: A Community Conversation.

I wasn’t conducting a formal survey. I wasn’t knocking on doors.

I simply walked.

Two blocks along Ogontz Avenue. A turn onto 18th Street. Two more blocks through a neighborhood where families relaxed on front porches, neighbors washed garbage bins after a delayed pickup, and others returned home from work or afternoon errands.

Nothing about the neighborhood immediately suggested that conversations about lung health would soon unfold.

Yet before I completed my walk, I had heard stories about a punctured lung, years of asthma, fear of cancer screening, and the quiet burden carried by caregivers who often neglect their own health while caring for others.

Those conversations reminded me that every neighborhood has stories waiting to be heard. Sometimes all it takes is slowing down long enough to listen.

Looking Beyond Statistics

Public health reports can tell us how many people develop lung cancer each year. Researchers can identify risk factors and explain who qualifies for screening.

But statistics rarely introduce you to the people behind those numbers.

That afternoon, the people of Mt. Airy did.

Each conversation revealed a different path to lung disease and a different reason why community education matters.

No two stories were alike.

RB’s Journey Through Trauma and Recovery

One of the first residents I met was RB.

His lung problems did not begin with smoking.

Years ago, he survived a gunshot wound that pierced one of his lungs. Later, exposure to mold triggered asthma complications and recurring respiratory infections that led to repeated hospitalizations.

“There were times I was in the hospital every month,” he told me as he reflected on years of treatment and recovery.

Today, he continues receiving regular medical care and says he is doing much better than he once was. His story serves as a reminder that lung disease can develop for many reasons. Trauma, environmental exposure, chronic illness and other health conditions can all leave lasting effects on the lungs.

His experience challenged a common assumption that every conversation about lung health begins and ends with smoking.

It doesn’t.

A Conversation About Caregivers

As our conversation continued, another topic emerged.

Sitting next to RB was his companion, who has accepted responsibility for managing RB’s care.

Watching the two of them together reminded me of another caregiver who has shaped my own life.

I shared the story of my cousin, who devoted years to caring for my mother until she passed away on June 19 at the age of 95.

I gently encouraged the caregiver not to make the mistake of neglecting her own health while ensuring that RB gets all of his health needs cared for.

People who care for loved ones often remind others to see a doctor.

Sometimes they need someone to remind them to do the same.

Fear Can Become Another Risk Factor

A few houses down the block, I met Andre.

He told me he has smoked for about 20 years.

He also shared something healthcare professionals hear every day.

He has never been screened for lung cancer.

As we talked, the reason slowly emerged.

It wasn’t because he didn’t know screening existed.

It wasn’t because he couldn’t find a hospital.

Like many people, he was afraid of what screening might reveal.

Fear has a way of postponing difficult conversations.

Sometimes it postpones doctor visits as well.

Rather than criticize his hesitation, I invited him to attend the July 25 community conversation.

“Just come and listen,” I told him. “Nobody is going to make you do anything.”

Community health events give people an opportunity to ask questions without the pressure that sometimes comes with a medical appointment. Physicians, survivors and healthcare advocates can explain who qualifies for screening, how the process works and why finding lung cancer early often provides more treatment options.

Whether Andre attends remains his decision.

But our conversation reflected something many healthcare providers understand.

People cannot benefit from screening if fear prevents them from taking the first step.

Every Porch Has a Story

By the end of my walk, I realized I hadn’t interviewed dozens of residents.

I had only spoken with the people who happened to be outside enjoying the afternoon.

Their stories cannot represent an entire neighborhood.

Nor should they.

But together they painted a picture that statistics alone cannot provide.

One resident was living with the lasting effects of trauma and respiratory illness.

Another admitted avoiding screening because of fear.

A caregiver quietly balanced another person’s health while risking her own.

Three conversations.

Three different experiences.

Three reminders that every family encounters health challenges differently.

Why July 25 Matters

Those conversations help explain why HEAL Collaborative, in partnership with Amgen, is bringing Lung Cancer Screening to Treatment 2.0 directly into the Mt. Airy community. Together, the organizations are working to remove barriers to information by connecting residents with physicians, survivors, patient advocates and healthcare professionals in a welcoming community setting.

The free event will take place on Saturday, July 25, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, 6401 Ogontz Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19126.

Participants will learn about lung cancer risk factors, who qualifies for screening, the importance of early detection, available treatment options and local resources that can help people navigate their healthcare journey.

Shenika Bond, Regional Director of Community Outreach and Advocacy Engagement for HEAL Collaborative, said the goal is for participants to leave with more than information.

“We want people to leave with the confidence to talk with their personal physicians, request screening if they qualify, and become strong advocates for their own healthcare,” Bond said.

That confidence begins with asking questions.

It grows through understanding personal risk factors, learning when screening is appropriate, and having informed conversations with family members and healthcare providers.

The message shared throughout the initiative is straightforward: Anyone with lungs can develop lung cancer.

While smoking remains the leading risk factor, environmental exposures, occupational hazards, family history and certain medical conditions can also increase a person’s risk. Understanding those risks and knowing when to seek screening can lead to earlier detection, more treatment options and better outcomes.

More Than an Event

As journalists, we often measure success by stories published, photographs taken or events covered.

Walking through Mt. Airy reminded me to measure something else.

Not how many interviews I completed.

But how many conversations had begun.

Through partnerships like the one between HEAL Collaborative and Amgen, organizers hope those conversations that begin on neighborhood sidewalks will continue inside churches, doctors’ offices and family living rooms, where informed decisions about lung health can ultimately save lives.

If even one resident decides to ask a physician about lung cancer screening because of a conversation that started on a neighborhood sidewalk or outside a local church, then that walk accomplished far more than filling seats on July 25.

It demonstrated what community journalism is meant to do.

Connect people with information that can improve lives.

Sometimes, it may even help save one.

Related video

Philadelphia – Mt Airy Residents – Believe in lung cancer screening

Related articles

Part I – “Anyone With Lungs”: Understanding the Hidden Realities of Lung Cancer

Part II- “Your Lungs Are Talking”: How the Respiratory System Works – and What It Tells Us

Part III – “From Awareness to Action”: Communities Confront Lung Cancer Together

A Celebration of Hope Inspires Birmingham’s Community Conversation on Lung Cancer

WNBA Makes History as First Professional Sports League to Host Events at Obama Presidential Center

The WNBA will become the first professional sports league to host events at the Obama Presidential Center during 2026 All-Star Weekend, highlighting youth leadership, civic engagement, and community impact.

By Milton Kirby | Chicago, IL | July 9, 2026

The Women’s National Basketball Association will make history later this month as the first professional sports league to host official events at the newly opened Obama Presidential Center, bringing one of basketball’s biggest weekends to one of America’s newest civic institutions.

The announcement, made jointly by the WNBA and The Obama Foundation, places several marquee events from AT&T WNBA All-Star 2026 at the Center’s Home Court athletic facility on Chicago’s South Side. Beyond basketball, the partnership reflects a shared commitment to leadership, education, and community engagement.

For the Obama Presidential Center, it marks another milestone less than a month after opening its doors to the public. For the WNBA, it reinforces a growing emphasis on using the league’s national platform to inspire young people and strengthen communities beyond the game.

A Historic Partnership

“Hosting AT&T WNBA All-Star events at the Obama Presidential Center is a true honor and reflects our commitment to creating connection through basketball and engaging communities in meaningful ways,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

“We’re excited to bring together the WNBA family and the greater Chicago community to create memorable experiences at this historic new venue.”

Valerie Jarrett, Chief Executive Officer of The Obama Foundation, said the partnership reflects the mission behind the Center.

“We are thrilled to welcome the WNBA as our first professional sports league hosted at the Obama Presidential Center,” Jarrett said. “At the Center, we believe sports have the power to bring people together and create meaningful opportunities to build the next generation of leaders.”

Their comments underscore a common goal shared by both organizations: using sports as a catalyst for leadership, learning, and civic participation.

More Than a Presidential Library

Located on 19.3 acres in historic Jackson Park, the Obama Presidential Center was envisioned by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as more than a place to preserve history.

Instead of functioning solely as a traditional presidential library, the campus was designed as a living institution where visitors are encouraged to explore public service, civic engagement, leadership, and community action.

Since opening earlier this summer, the Center has hosted educational programs, cultural events, and community gatherings that encourage people of all ages to become active participants in improving their neighborhoods and communities.

The arrival of the WNBA continues that vision by demonstrating how athletics can serve as another pathway to leadership, teamwork, and civic responsibility.

Home Court Becomes Center Stage

Most of the July 24 activities will take place inside Home Court, the Center’s 60,000-square-foot athletic facility.

Designed as a year-round community resource, Home Court includes a WNBA-regulation basketball court along with flexible spaces dedicated to youth programming, wellness initiatives, leadership development, and neighborhood events.

Its design makes it an ideal setting for the league’s expanding focus on community impact beyond competition.

A Full Day of All-Star Activities

The Obama Presidential Center will host several signature events on Friday, July 24.

The day begins with AT&T WNBA All-Star Media Day and Practice, marking the first time an official WNBA All-Star practice will be held at a venue dedicated to civic engagement and youth leadership.

The Center will also host the third annual WNBA Changemaker Day, bringing together the league’s Changemaker partners, including Ally, AT&T, AWS, CarMax, Deloitte, Google, and Nike. The initiative will be presented in collaboration with the Chicago Sky, Chicago Public Schools, and the Girls Opportunity Alliance, an initiative of The Obama Foundation.

Young athletes will also participate in Jr. WNBA Day, a full day of basketball instruction, leadership workshops, STEM activities, vision board creation, and other programming designed to inspire girls through sports, education, and personal development.

Additional details regarding Changemaker Day and other community activations are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Chicago Takes Center Stage

The Obama Presidential Center represents one stop during a weekend that will place Chicago at the center of the basketball world.

The State Farm WNBA 3-Point Contest and Kia WNBA Shooting Stars competition will be held Friday evening at Wintrust Arena, home of the Chicago Sky.

The 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game follows on Saturday, July 25, at the United Center.

Together, the events will showcase several of Chicago’s most recognizable venues while bringing thousands of visitors to neighborhoods throughout the city.

Continuing the Obamas’ Vision

The announcement builds upon the Obama Presidential Center’s mission of becoming an active gathering place rather than simply a destination for historical exhibits.

Throughout planning and construction, Barack and Michelle Obama emphasized that the Center would be a place where ordinary people could find inspiration to lead, organize, and strengthen their communities. That philosophy remains evident in the Center’s educational programming, public events, and partnerships.

Welcoming the WNBA as the first professional sports league to host official events on the campus represents another step toward fulfilling that vision.

For the league, the partnership reflects its continued commitment to expanding opportunities for young women while using basketball as a vehicle for education, leadership, and social impact.

For the Obama Presidential Center, it signals that the campus is already emerging as a national destination where sports, culture, education, and civic engagement intersect.

As thousands of fans gather in Chicago for All-Star Weekend, the Center’s first major partnership with a professional sports league may ultimately be remembered not only for the basketball played there, but for the next generation of leaders it seeks to inspire.

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SHADOW BALL: Learning More About Negro League History

By Ted Knorr | Memphis, TN | July 8, 2026

This week’s Shadow Ball focuses on my June 18-20 trip to Memphis for the 26th Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference. Since its founding in 1998, this conference has remained the highlight of my baseball year. This year was no exception. In fact, it was one of the very best.

My Memphis experience began moments after stepping off the Amtrak train on June 18. I chose to walk the mile and a quarter to the conference hotel rather than call a cab or Uber. As anyone who has traveled to Memphis by train knows, one of the first historic landmarks encountered is the National Civil Rights Museum, housed at the former Lorraine Motel, where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968.

Lorraine Motel Room 306 Where Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated – Photo by Milton Kirby

Dr. King had traveled to Memphis to support 1,300 Black sanitation workers who were striking after years of dangerous working conditions, poverty-level wages, and the city’s refusal to recognize their union. It was for such a noble cause that he met his death on April 4, 1968, while standing on the Lorraine Motel balcony.

As the familiar façade emerged through the Memphis morning mist, I stopped my walk and sat quietly in prayer for several minutes, reflecting on the events of that tragic day. It was a powerful reminder that history often feels much closer when standing where it happened.

By the time I arrived at the hotel, the conference’s opening session was already underway. The Educational Forum traditionally begins each Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference by bringing together visiting researchers and local educators to discuss ways of integrating the study of the Negro Leagues into K-12 and higher education history curricula. Anyone who teaches or lectures on Negro League history, regardless of the audience, can always find valuable ideas and techniques during these sessions.

After lunch, attendees boarded an inspiring bus tour of several civil rights and baseball sites that echoed the emotions of my morning walk through downtown Memphis. Stops included the Lorraine Motel, Mason Temple, where Dr. King delivered his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Martin Stadium, business locations associated with Memphis baseball entrepreneurs, and finally Clayborn Temple, headquarters of the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike and the birthplace of the “I AM A MAN” movement.

The greatest surprise came at Clayborn Temple, where attendees learned that the church’s damaged condition was not simply the result of age. Much of the destruction was caused by a devastating arson fire in March 2025. It served as a sobering reminder that preserving history remains an ongoing responsibility. As Robert Frost wrote, “Miles to go before we sleep.”

Later that afternoon, we watched the outstanding 1996 documentary Black Diamonds Blues City, which beautifully captured the intersection of community, race relations, politics, music, and Negro League baseball in Memphis. Following dinner, conference attendees gathered for a meet-and-greet at the Ernest Withers Photography Museum in the heart of Beale Street. My morning walk, the documentary, and the evening stroll through Beale Street together created a fitting foundation for the next two days of the conference.

Friday featured the centerpiece of every Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference. Nine Negro League researchers presented their latest work during a series of thirty-minute presentations covering subjects that ranged from player biographies and race relations to home run research, ballpark histories, and even poetry.

One of the highlights was a moving panel discussion featuring family members of Negro League greats Frank Duncan Jr., Frank Duncan III, Johnny Wright, and Larry Brown. Their personal stories reminded us that Negro League history is more than statistics and championships. It is also about families preserving the memories of remarkable men whose contributions deserve continued recognition.

After a full day of intellectual stimulation, attendees enjoyed an evening picnic before heading to AutoZone Park to watch the Memphis Redbirds, providing the perfect close to another memorable conference day.

My own contribution this year was a presentation examining Rap Dixon’s season in Japan, along with announcing the results of our annual attendee poll identifying the next ten Negro League players, managers, and pioneers who deserve induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The top ten vote-getters, all of whom have deserved induction for many years, were Cannonball Dick Redding, Rap Dixon, Vic Harris, Dick Lundy, Newt Allen, John Donaldson, Grant Johnson, George Scales, John Beckwith, and Candy Jim Taylor. An additional 36 candidates also received votes.

Inspired by everything we experienced in Memphis, SABR’s Negro League Committee should continue advocating for justice in Cooperstown. Why not begin by inducting these ten deserving players, managers, and pioneers when Negro League candidates become eligible again in December 2027?

The conference concluded Saturday with nine additional research presentations, the always-entertaining baseball Significa contest, and the annual awards banquet.

As I reflect on this year’s conference, I keep returning to the lessons Memphis teaches.

From slavery to the Civil Rights Movement, America’s racial history is on full display throughout the city. Yet Memphis also reminds visitors that the work of preserving history is never complete.

The same can be said of Cooperstown.

Throughout the National Baseball Hall of Fame, visitors find Negro League history woven into exhibits on nearly every floor, in countless displays, and throughout the museum. Yet the Hall of Fame plaque gallery tells a different story. There, 137 players whose Major League careers began during baseball’s segregation era have plaques, while only 28 Negro League players and executives have been inducted over the past two decades.

Just as there remains important work to be done in our society, there is also important work to be done in Cooperstown.

The Hall of Fame has an opportunity to continue correcting baseball’s historical record. It should begin by seriously considering the recommendation that emerged from this year’s conference and electing Redding, Dixon, Harris, Lundy, Allen, Donaldson, Johnson, Scales, Beckwith, and Taylor when Negro League candidates are next considered in December 2027.

Last Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week

What Negro League pennant-winning team played its home games at Dick Kent’s Ballyard?

The answer is the St. Louis Stars, who won the Negro National League pennants in 1928, 1930, and 1931 while playing their home games at Stars Park, also known as Dick Kent’s Ballyard.

No one submitted the correct answer.

This Week’s Shadow Ball Significa Question of the Week

When was the last year that any Negro League players were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame? Please identify at least one player inducted that year.

Send your answer, along with your comments about the Negro Leagues, to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or mail them to:

Shadow Ball
3904 N. Druid Hills Road, Suite 179
Decatur, GA 30033

About the Author

Ted Knorr

Ted Knorr is a respected Negro League baseball historian, a longtime member of SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee, and the founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference. He has also organized numerous Negro League Commemorative Nights throughout central Pennsylvania.

Beyond his research and organizational work, Ted is a sought-after speaker at sporting events, community programs, family gatherings, and educational forums, where he brings Negro League history to life. His deep knowledge of the players, teams, and the cultural significance of Black baseball has made him a trusted voice for audiences seeking to better understand the enduring legacy of the Negro Leagues.

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