Atlanta’s West Midtown will once again serve as a hub for connection, conversation, and celebration as Tee It Up for Women hosts its 3rd Annual Tee Up Meet Up on Thursday, March 26.
The event, scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at The Back Nine Golf, blends golf, networking, and Women’s History Month recognition into a single evening designed to bring professionals and enthusiasts together.
Organizers say the annual gathering has grown into more than a social event. It has become a platform where corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and community members meet, exchange ideas, and build relationships in a relaxed but intentional setting.
“This is about creating access and opportunity in spaces where relationships matter,” organizers noted in the event release. “Golf has long been a place where business gets done — this event ensures women are fully part of that conversation.”
A Featured Voice Behind Atlanta’s Global Stage
This year’s featured guest speaker, Bev Carey, brings a global perspective rooted in decades of high-level event strategy and execution.
Currently serving as Atlanta’s FIFA World Cup Host City Director, Carey plays a central role in preparing the city for one of the largest sporting events in the world. Her work spans operational readiness, logistics coordination, and stakeholder integration all critical to ensuring Atlanta delivers on the global stage.
Through her firm, Carey Communications, she has spent more than 20 years managing complex projects across sports, entertainment, nonprofit, and technology sectors. Her experience includes Olympic and Paralympic planning, large-scale live event production, and crisis management strategy.
Her recent appearance as a lead panelist at Mercedes-Benz Stadium underscores her leadership in shaping Atlanta’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
At Tee Up Meet Up, attendees will hear firsthand how those experiences translate into leadership, innovation, and opportunity particularly for women navigating traditionally male-dominated industries.
Networking, Play, and a Unique Atlanta Twist
The evening includes a mix of structured and casual engagement. Attendees will enjoy golf bay play, a putting challenge, appetizers, and drinks while connecting with fellow professionals and sponsors.
But the experience doesn’t end when the golf clubs are put away.
Participants are invited to continue the evening just steps away at American Axes, where a one-hour bonus axe-throwing session will extend the networking experience.
The event’s design reflects a broader trend in Atlanta’s professional scene — blending business development with experiential environments that encourage authentic interaction.
How to Attend
For registration details, sponsorship opportunities, or additional information, readers are encouraged to contact the event organizer directly:
Bill Pickett Rodeo leader Margo Wade-LaDrew launches Soul Country Music Stars, creating national opportunities for Black country artists and reshaping the genre’s cultural narrative.
THE ARCHITECT OF SOUL COUNTRY MUSIC STAR
How Margo Wade‑LaDrew Helped Reimagine the Black West
By Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA| March 17, 2026
When cable technician Shannon Whitaker stepped into Margo Wade‑LaDrew’s living room in Baldwin Hills, California he didn’t pause for the television or the equipment he’d come to repair. His eyes locked onto a jacket draped across a chair, unmistakably embroidered with the crest of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo.
“I went when I was nine,” he said, suddenly grinning like a child. He was forty‑eight now. The memory had lived inside him for nearly four decades.
Moments like this follow Margo everywhere. They are reminders — unplanned, unscripted of the impact she has helped shape. For nearly thirty years, she has been one of the quiet architects behind the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR), the nation’s only touring Black rodeo association and the spiritual home of Black Western culture. And in recent years, she has become the visionary behind its newest cultural branch: Soul Country Music Star, a platform designed to restore Black presence in a genre Black people helped create.
To understand how she arrived at the intersection of rodeo, music, fashion, and philanthropy, you have to start long before the arena lights, long before the crowds, long before the sound of a banjo or the thunder of hooves.
You have to start in Richmond, Virginia.
Photo courtesy BPIR – Margo Wade-LeDrew
A Childhood of Work and Responsibility
Born in 1961, Margo Wade grew up in a household shaped by both love and hardship. When she was twelve, her mother began cycling in and out of hospitals with schizophrenia. The responsibility of raising two younger brothers fell to Margo and her sister while their father worked long hours to keep the family afloat.
“I’ve worked all my life,” she says, not as complaint but as fact.
By fourteen, she had a job in a Richmond hospital. By ten, she had already been knocking on doors selling flower seeds and Christmas cards. She didn’t know it then, but she was learning the skills that would define her adult life: how to connect with people, how to read a room, how to sell, and how to build trust.
Her first dream was to become a flight attendant. But life had other plans — plans that would take her into the heart of Black beauty culture, Black media, and eventually, Black Western history.
The Black Institutions That Formed Her
In her twenties, Margo entered the beauty industry, modeling in Richmond before moving to Chicago then the epicenter of Black haircare. She worked temp jobs until she landed at Johnson Publishing Company, the powerhouse behind Ebony and Jet. There, she became a merchandiser, then a sales rep, then a national sales manager.
Johnson Publishing didn’t outsource creativity. They held internal think tanks where Black professionals brainstormed campaigns, promotions, and strategies. It was a training ground in cultural authorship – a place where Black people shaped how Black people were seen.
From there, she moved through World of Curls, Dark & Lovely, Magic Shave, Bronner Brothers — a constellation of Black-owned companies that defined Black aesthetics for generations. She learned event planning, sponsorships, branding, and community outreach. She learned how to build programs from scratch.
And then she stepped into the NAACP Image Awards, where she wrote her first bid for services without ever having written one before and won. For six years, she helped produce one of the most important cultural events in Black America.
She didn’t know it yet, but all of this was preparing her for the moment she would walk into the Burbank Equestrian Center in 1996 and see something that would change her life.
The Revelation: Discovering Black Cowboys
She had gone to volunteer for a friend. She expected a community event. She did not expect to see Black cowboys and cowgirls — not in California, not in the 1990s, not in a world where Westerns had erased them.
“I had never seen Black cowboys before,” she says. “I didn’t even know there was a traveling rodeo this.”
The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo was celebrating its tenth anniversary that year. Founded by promoter Lou Vason in 1984, it was the first and only touring Black rodeo in the country. It had been built from scratch, city by city, without internet, without mainstream support, without recognition.
Margo was stunned. She was also hooked.
When her friend left for a job at BET, she asked Margo and another colleague to take over her role. They didn’t know rodeo culture. They didn’t know sponsorship strategy for Western sports. They didn’t know the logistics of animals, arenas, or ticketing.
But they learned. And Margo stayed.
For the next twenty years, she worked alongside Lou Vason, traveling from city to city, counting tickets in hotel rooms until 3 a.m., building relationships with cowboys, cowgirls, families, and communities. She watched the rodeo grow from a grassroots operation into a cultural institution.
And she watched Lou a legendary Black music promoter tie entertainment to the rodeo because he understood something essential: Black people would come for the culture, not just the competition.
That insight would later become the seed of Soul Country Music Star.
Sidebar – What Is Soul Country Music?
Soul Country Music, as envisioned through the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo’s Soul Country Music Star competition, blends the storytelling structure of country music with the emotional force, vocal texture, and lived experience long rooted in Black musical traditions. The concept pushes back against the narrow way country music has often been marketed and remembered. It creates room for artists who may sound country, soul, gospel, blues, or genre-crossing, but who still carry the themes of struggle, family, faith, place, love, and resilience that define country storytelling. For Margo Wade-LaDrew, the idea is not about inventing something new from scratch. It is about naming, elevating, and investing in a tradition that has always existed.
The Leadership Era: Black Women Take the Reins
When Lou Vason became ill in the early 2010s, his wife, Valeria Howard Vason, began traveling more, learning the books, the logistics, the operations. When Lou passed in 2015, she stepped fully into leadership becoming the first Black woman to run a national rodeo.
Margo became her right hand.
Together, they modernized the organization:
Expanded the tour
Secured major sponsors
Built the BPIR Foundation
Created grant programs
Partnered with Crown Royal, Toyota
Brought BPIR to television for the first time in 2021
Returned to Fort Worth’s historic Cowtown Coliseum
Grew the Fort Worth stop to ten sold‑out performances
Became Hollywood’s go‑to rodeo for authenticity
They did all this with a tiny staff. No salaries for leadership. No corporate infrastructure. Just commitment, cross‑training, and a belief that the rodeo mattered.
And then came the idea Margo had been carrying for a decade.
The Birth of Soul Country Music Star
For years, Margo had watched Black country artists show up at BPIR with guitars in hand, hoping for a chance to perform. They had no platform. No industry support. No place to belong.
She and her husband, Lawrence LeDrew, talked often about creating something for them — a showcase, a competition, a cultural home.
After Lou’s passing, she kept bringing it up.
Finally, Valeria said, “Stop talking about it and just do it.”
And she did.
In June 2024, during BPIR’s 40th anniversary, Soul Country Music Star launched. It was a tribute to Lou Vason’s entertainment legacy, to Valeria’s belief in the idea, and to the artists who had been waiting for a door to open.
The program quickly grew:
60–70 artists have come through
six finalists per city
two winners so far
$10,000 prize
winners travel with the rodeo
artists perform halftime and pre‑show
BPIR promotes their music
artists sell merch at the rodeo
mentorship in branding, booking, and performance
Suddenly, the world was paying attention to Black country music. Soul Country Music Star was no longer a niche idea it was part of a national cultural moment.
Photo courtesy BPIR – Soul Country Music Star
The Cultural Lineage: Restoring What Was Always Ours
Margo is clear about the history:
The banjo is African.
The harmonica was central to early Black country and blues.
DeFord Bailey was the first Black star of the Grand Ole Opry — and they hid his race.
Linda Martell was the first commercially successful Black female country artist — and the industry pushed her out.
Charley Pride broke barriers but was treated as an exception.
Ray Charles reshaped country music by adding soul.
“Country music is ours,” she says.
Soul Country Music Stars is not a novelty. It is a restoration.
The Rodeo as a Cultural Homeplace
Ask Margo why BPIR matters, and she won’t talk about prize money or logistics. She’ll talk about:
the seven‑year‑old boy who whispered, “I see Black cowboys”
the woman who begged for tickets with a childhood photo
the families who plan reunions around the rodeo
the fourth and fifth generation children growing up in the stands
the music, the clowns, the announcers, the rope tricks
Howard Johnson singing Lift Every Voice in the dirt
the Black flag flying beside the American flag
BPIR is a place where people reconnect with history, community, and each other.
The Legacy She Wants to Leave
When asked what she wants future generations to remember, Margo doesn’t hesitate.
“That the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo cared,” she says. “That we opened doors. That we loved our community enough to keep going.”
She wants BPIR in museums. She wants the traveling museum to become permanent. She wants the documentary finished. She wants the nighttime drama about a Black family running a rodeo to be televised.
And she wants The Greatest Show on Dirt — the story of BPIR — on the big screen.
She has already begun the work.
A Cultural Architect for the Next Generation
Margo Wade‑LaDrew’s life is a blueprint of Black cultural stewardship:
a childhood of responsibility
a career in Black-owned institutions
two decades shaping the rodeo under Lou Vason
a leadership era defined by Black women
a foundation built on grants, scholarships, and community
a music platform restoring Black country’s rightful place
a commitment to legacy, memory, and cultural truth
She is not simply preserving history. She is expanding it.
And somewhere in Greater Los Angeles, California, cable technician Shannon Whitaker is telling someone about the day he walked into a house, saw a jacket, and remembered the first time he saw a Black cowboy. That is the legacy she continues to build – one memory at a time.
Country Roots, Diverse Beats: Celebrating the Rich Tapestry of Soul in Country Music.
Agricenter International Showplace Theater – 7777 Walnut Grove Rd, Memphis, TN
Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Music Competition – Friday, April 10, 2026 | 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Competition
BPIR Rodeo – Saturday, April 11, 2026 | 1:30 pm or 7:30 pm
Upcoming in the TSJ series – Inside the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Part 3 — Kirk Jay: The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 4 — Nathaniel Dansby (Mr. Bowleggs) : The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 5 — Rodeo for Kids’ Sake and the Next Generation
“We have a system of justice in this country that treats you much better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.”
Bryan Stevenson, Esq. (Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and Legacy Museum in Montgomery, AL)
In this quote, attorney Bryan Stevenson should have included that white skin privilege also shapes outcomes. If life were fair and American democracy real for every citizen, PFC Robert Scott, and the sixty-two other soldiers who were killed in Vietnam on September 11, 1968, would be somewhere enjoying their families and racist, insurrectionist, misogynist, bully, conman, vote-stealing felon Donald Trump would be on his way either to prison or the pimps Players Ball Convention. He would not be residing in the White House! Perhaps that’s a major problem, calling it the White House and not the Peoples’ House.
In the picture next to the caricature of Trump in his grifting family is the picture of the gravestone of 19-Year-Old African American PFC Robert Lee Scott from Redwood, Mississippi. Robert began his tour of duty on August 28, 1968. Just fifteen days later, on September 11th, one day before his twentieth birthday – he was killed in Quang Tin Province, 9,133 miles from the Ballground Plantation in Redwood where he had grown up. Meanwhile, five-times draft-dodging Donald “Bone Spurs” Trump decades later ascends to the presidency – not once, but TWICE!
After fifty-eight years, I can still remember my daddy coming into the dilapidated shack we called home in Redwood, Mississippi, and delivering the heartbreaking news to Mama:
“Darlin’, Pat and Minnie’s boy got killed in ’Nam.”
I wrote another article about Robert in The Truth Seekers Journal on September 24, 2024, the link is below:
Former Georgia State Senator and Senate Majority Leader Charles W. Walker Sr. once stood as one of the most powerful Black political figures in Georgia. He was a trailblazer who rose from rural Georgia’s poverty and relocated to Augusta to become the first African American Senate Majority Leader since Reconstruction. He built influence not only in politics, but as a businessman and publisher of the Augusta Focus, a free newspaper serving the Black community.
Then came his orchestrated fall.
In 2005, Walker was indicted on federal charges including mail fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy. Prosecutors claimed he inflated circulation numbers in his FREE newspaper to increase advertising revenue. How can a guestimate of how many people read a free newspaper be criminal? Though notably, he was not convicted on the scholarship-related charges.
Charles Walker served eight years of a ten-year sentence in prison while the nation’s homemade virus, Donald Trump, is serving his second term as president of the United States of Ameri-KKK.
But even before the verdict of Walker, questions of justice were already hanging in the air.
During jury selection, Walker’s defense raised a challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, arguing that prosecutors were systematically striking Black jurors. In a case involving a high-profile Black leader in the Deep South, the racial makeup of the jury was no small matter. It was everything. The prosecution offered so-called “race-neutral” explanations, and the court allowed the jury to stand. But the deeper question lingered: was justice being administered or engineered?
The contradictions only deepen from there.
Richard S. Thompson – the republican U.S. Attorney who led aggressive investigations targeting Walker and other Democratic leaders was later convicted himself. He went to prison for stalking a former girlfriend and repeatedly violating restraining orders. The prosecutor became the criminal. Surprisingly, and unlike Trump and many of his government appointees, he did not get away with his abuse of women.
And then there is John Jay Fitzgerald Johnson, known as Grandmaster Jay. He was in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2020 as part of nationwide protests following the unlawful police killing of Breonna Taylor. Leading members of the Not Fucking Around Coalition (NFAC), he stood in armed protest exercising the same Second Amendment rights so often celebrated in other contexts. Yet, during a nighttime demonstration, he was accused of pointing a rifle toward federal agents. No shots were fired. No one was injured. Still, he was prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison for seven years.
His case underscores a troubling reality: protest in America is not experienced equally. When Black leadership shows up organized, armed, and unapologetic, the response is swift, severe, and unforgiving – raising profound questions about who is protected by the Constitution and who is punished under it.
Now place these realities alongside Donald J. Trump.
Trump – a twice-impeached president and convicted felon who faced multiple cases tied to his efforts of an insurrection to overturn the 2020 election. Yet case after case has been delayed, weakened, or dropped – including the case in Fulton County, Georgia, where evidence showed he pressured officials to “find votes” in an attempt to overturn the will of the people. Now, in a stunning display of audacity, he is seeking to have Fulton County reimburse him for his legal fees, despite the overwhelming evidence surrounding his conduct.
This is not just irony. It is the history of Ameri-KKK.
Walker was imprisoned for financial misconduct. Thompson, who prosecuted him, was later imprisoned for his own crimes. Grandmaster Jay was imprisoned in a case where no physical harm occurred. Yet Trump and the January 6th insurrectionists, whose actions struck at the very foundation of American democracy, have evaded accountability and received pardons for their illegal actions. And, in Trump’s case, returned to power as president.
What emerges is not coincidence. It is a pattern. It is a pattern of who is pursued and who is punished and protected. And even before the verdicts are handed down and oftentimes before the trial even begins, the question is already in the room: Who gets to sit on the jury, who gets prosecuted, and who gets away even though there is a preponderance of evidence of their guilt? Because in today’s America, it is not just justice that is on trial – it is democracy itself. And the most dangerous force of all is not just the man at the center of it, but the legion of supporters who excuse it, defend it, and enable it.
Instead, a kakistocracy has emerged – led by a shameless, criminal “old orange demented pimp” and his dangerous sycophants, sustained by a movement that has become an infectious, exhaustive, and deadly virus on American democracy. If life were fair – it’s not – and justice truly applied to all – again, not – Trump would be in prison, sitting on the lap of P. Diddy, getting his hair braided by R. Kelly, and a pedicure from Ghislaine Maxwell.
In the words of famed artist, Kendrick Lamar, “They Not Like Us!”
This column exists for only one purpose and that is to answer your questions on Negro League baseball history. To that end, I need your help … if you are reading this column and enjoy it and want it to continue and you don’t 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.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: Last week’s Shadowball Significa Question of the Week: What manager has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame for Negro League performance?
Since no one submitted the correct answer, everyone gets credit for being correct since there, in the 55 years since the Baseball Hall of Fame began inducting Negro Leaguers no Negro Leaguer has been inducted as a manager. Hence, this week’s topic. Last week I opined that there should be between 58 (i.e., 30 additional) and 80 (or 52 more than at present) Negro League players in the Hall. This week, as a follow up I thought I should suggest who a few of those players – and others – should be. Below I list two candidates (and their overall rank in the 42 for ’21 poll) for each category:
3rd Baseman John Beckwith (4) Oliver Marcelle (18)
Shortstop Dick Lundy (7) Home Run Johnson (8)
Outfielder Rap Dixon (1) Wild Bill Wright (23)
The Shadowball Significa Question of the Week: What Negro League player was Barry Bonds Godfather? Send your answer and any comments on Negro League topics to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
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By Florita Bell Griffin, Ph.D. | Houston, TX | March 17, 2026
Control is often mistaken for stability. When systems behave predictably, when rules are clear, and when outcomes can be enforced, it feels as though risk has been reduced. Control offers reassurance. It creates the impression that uncertainty has been managed. Yet control and stability are not the same thing.
Control narrows possibility. Stability absorbs variation. Systems that rely heavily on control may appear orderly, but they often become brittle. They perform well under expected conditions while struggling when reality deviates. Over time, what felt safe begins to feel fragile.
This distinction becomes visible after people have lived through enough disruptions to recognize patterns. They have seen tightly controlled systems fail suddenly. They have watched rules multiply as exceptions increase. They understand that control does not eliminate uncertainty. It merely postpones its appearance.
Early in a system’s life, control can be effective. Scope is limited. Conditions are known. Decisions are centralized. As systems grow, however, complexity increases. Dependencies multiply. External forces exert pressure. Control mechanisms that once worked begin to strain. More rules are added. More monitoring is introduced. More enforcement is required. The system becomes harder to manage precisely because it is being managed too tightly.
Consider an organization that responds to inconsistency by adding layers of approval. Processes become standardized. Authority is clarified. Deviations are reduced. Initially, performance improves. Errors decline. Yet over time, decision-making slows. People stop exercising judgment. When unexpected situations arise, the organization struggles to respond because adaptation has been trained out of the system. Control has replaced learning.
The same pattern appears in technology. Systems designed to minimize error often rely on rigid constraints. Inputs are tightly validated. Outputs are strictly governed. Behavior is limited to predefined pathways. Under normal conditions, the system performs reliably. Under novel conditions, it fails abruptly. Control has reduced variability, but it has also reduced resilience.
People with experience recognize this tension instinctively. They have learned that safety does not come from eliminating uncertainty, but from being able to respond to it. They understand that systems must be able to bend without breaking. Control that prevents deviation may look strong, but it often hides weakness.
Control also changes how responsibility is distributed. In highly controlled systems, accountability shifts upward. Decisions are made by those who design the rules rather than those closest to the situation. Over time, this disconnect grows. People stop feeling responsible for outcomes because they no longer feel empowered to influence them. Compliance replaces ownership.
This dynamic creates a false sense of security. Metrics improve. Variance decreases. Reports look clean. Yet the system’s capacity to absorb surprise diminishes. When disruption arrives, it overwhelms structures that have been optimized for predictability rather than adaptability.
Consider a public system that enforces strict eligibility criteria to ensure fairness. Rules are clear. Decisions are consistent. Processing is efficient. Yet individuals with complex circumstances fall through gaps. Exceptions are difficult to accommodate. Appeals are slow. The system appears fair, but it struggles to respond humanely to reality. Control has simplified administration while complicating lived experience.
Control feels safer because it creates clarity. It reduces ambiguity. It promises order. What it cannot do is prepare a system for conditions it has never encountered. Stability requires something different. It requires the ability to integrate new information, revise assumptions, and respond proportionally to change.
Systems that achieve stability do so by maintaining internal coherence rather than external enforcement. They preserve context. They allow for judgment. They recognize that variation carries information. Instead of suppressing deviation, they learn from it. Stability emerges from alignment, not constraint.
This distinction matters as systems become increasingly automated. Automated control scales easily. Rules can be enforced instantly and uniformly. Yet automation also amplifies brittleness. When systems operate at speed without interpretive capacity, errors propagate quickly. Control becomes amplification rather than protection.
People who sense this are often labeled cautious or resistant. In reality, they are responding to experience. They have seen control mechanisms fail quietly before collapsing dramatically. They understand that systems designed only to prevent deviation eventually lose the ability to respond intelligently.
Stability requires continuity across change. It depends on the system’s ability to remember why rules exist, not just enforce them. It relies on preserving relationships between intent, action, and outcome. Control alone cannot do this.
When systems mistake control for safety, they optimize for the wrong condition. They reduce visible risk while increasing hidden vulnerability. They feel secure until they are tested. When they are tested, they fail in ways that surprise those who trusted them most.
True safety comes from systems that remain intelligible as they evolve. Systems that can explain their own behavior. Systems that can adapt without losing coherence. These systems may appear less controlled on the surface, but they endure because they remain aligned with reality.
Control will always have a role. It defines boundaries. It establishes norms. It protects against known threats. Stability, however, emerges from something deeper. It arises when systems are designed to carry meaning forward as conditions change.
When control is mistaken for safety, systems grow rigid. When stability is designed intentionally, systems remain alive.
Northwest Georgia voters will decide April 7 between Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris in a runoff to replace former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
By Milton Kirby | Rome, GA | March 16, 2026
Voters in northwest Georgia will return to the polls on April 7 to decide who will replace former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after a crowded special election failed to produce a majority winner.
The race has narrowed to two candidates: Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller, who finished first and second respectively in the March 10 special election.
Harris led the field with 37.3% of the vote (43,241), while Fuller secured 34.9% (40,388), setting up a runoff after neither candidate crossed the 50% threshold required under Georgia law. The winner will serve the remainder of Greene’s congressional term, which runs through December 31, 2027.
A Seat Opened by Political Fallout
The special election was triggered after Greene resigned earlier this year following a highly public split with Donald Trump.
Greene had once been one of Trump’s most visible allies, frequently appearing at rallies and promoting his claims of election interference. But tensions grew after the two clashed over issues including health care costs, U.S. policy toward Israel’s war in Gaza, and the release of files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Her departure opened a rare vacancy in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the most reliably Republican districts in the state. Trump carried the district by 37 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, underscoring the steep challenge Democrats typically face there.
Photo courtesy of Harris campaign – Shawn Harris
Harris Builds an Unusual Coalition
Harris, a Polk County cattle farmer and retired brigadier general, entered the race emphasizing coalition politics in a district dominated by conservative voters.
During a campaign rally in Rome attended by Pete Buttigieg, Harris urged supporters to look beyond party labels.
“The way we’re going to win is simple,” Harris told the crowd. “More excited Democrats knocking on doors, independents flipping our way, and Republicans that the Republican Party has left behind voting for me.”
Harris has framed his campaign as a moderate alternative capable of representing the entire district. He has also placed a strong focus on veterans, noting that roughly 40,000 veterans live in the district.
“This Democrat is a moderate and I will represent everyone in the district,” Harris said.
He has argued that the economy remains the top concern among voters, adding that tensions related to the ongoing conflict with Iran have intensified economic anxieties.
Harris previously ran against Greene in 2024. Although he lost that race, he received more votes than any Democratic candidate in the district in more than a decade.
Fuller Leans on Trump’s Endorsement
Fuller, the district attorney for northwest Georgia’s Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, has leaned heavily on his endorsement from Trump as he heads into the runoff.
Speaking after the first-round results were announced, Fuller described the outcome as an encouraging sign for Republicans.
“We know that the endorsement from President Trump made a difference in this race, and we’re going to go and win it,” Fuller said. “It’s time that the Republican vote unites and gets a representative to Capitol Hill as soon as possible.”
Fuller serves as the top prosecutor for a four-county judicial circuit in northwest Georgia, where he has tried cases involving murder, rape, and armed robbery, securing life sentences in several jury trials. He has also argued criminal appeals before the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Georgia Court of Appeals.
In addition to his legal career, Fuller is a lieutenant colonel and deputy staff judge advocate in the Air National Guard. In 2024 he deployed to operations centers in South Carolina and Qatar supporting U.S. Central Command missions in the Middle East.
Fuller also served as a White House Fellow from 2018 to 2019, working in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Defense on issues including opioid policy and support for POW/MIA families.
Raised in the North Georgia mountains, Fuller attended Emory University before earning a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.
A Test of Political Strength in Northwest Georgia
The runoff now presents a political contrast between a Trump-aligned Republican prosecutor and a retired Army general attempting to assemble a cross-party coalition in one of Georgia’s most conservative regions.
Although the district’s voting history favors Republicans, Harris argues that voter frustration with national politics has created an opening. “Yes, it’s ruby red,” Harris said after the initial results. “It won’t turn blue, but it’ll definitely turn pink.”
For Republicans, the contest is also a test of Trump’s continued influence inside the party after the dramatic political split that led to Greene’s resignation.
For voters in the mountains and rural counties of northwest Georgia, the April runoff will determine who represents them in Washington for the next year and a half — and whether the district continues its deep-red tradition or edges toward a more competitive political future.
Sidebar: Why Georgia Requires a 50% Majority in Elections
Georgia election law requires a candidate to receive more than 50 percent of the vote to win most statewide and federal elections outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the top twovote-getters advance to a runoff election.
The rule was adopted in the 1960s as part of broader election reforms intended to ensure that winning candidates have majority support rather than simply finishing first in a crowded field.
Runoffs are especially common in special elections, where many candidates from both parties often appear on the same ballot. In these contests, voters choose among all candidates at once rather than through separate party primaries.
If no candidate reaches the majority threshold in the first round, the runoff typically held several weeks later gives voters a final choice between the top two finishers.
Georgia is one of the few states that still regularly uses runoff elections. The system has produced several nationally watched contests in recent years, including the 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs that ultimately shifted control of the Senate in Washington.
In Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, the April 7 runoff between Shawn Harris and Clay Fuller will determine who completes the remainder of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s term in Congress.
DeKalb County officially launched Arts DeKalb, unveiling a new Briarcliff arts campus and a countywide push to make culture more visible and accessible.
By Milton Kirby | Decatur, GA | March 15, 2026
The evening started with the melodic voices of the DeKalb School of the Arts. Up second was the amazing guitar and vocals of Eugene Owens. Then there was dinner, anchored by gumbo and clam chowder for the palate. The twelve cities located in the county were not left out. Each received a fiberglass bull or heifer. Last, but certainly not least, came the magical violin of Brooke Alford.
That was how DeKalb County chose to introduce Arts DeKalb on Thursday, March 12, 2026 — not with a dry government announcement, but with music, symbolism, and a clear message that the arts are being placed closer to the center of county life.
The evening also spoke to the visual senses. County officials placed original works by local artists on each table as centerpieces, while additional artwork lined the walls throughout the venue. The result was a room that did not just talk about art it surrounded guests with it.
Led by CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson and the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, the county officially launched the reconstituted DeKalb Council for the Arts and unveiled its permanent home, a 23,000-square-foot arts campus on Briarcliff Road.
For county leaders, the evening was about more than opening a building. It was about announcing a new cultural direction.
A New Home for Creativity
The new Arts DeKalb headquarters sits in the former Metro City Church property, now repurposed as a county hub for arts programming, public art, and cultural development.
The property was acquired for $7.5 million. DeKalb County contributed $4.5 million, while Callanwolde Fine Arts Center provided the remaining $3 million through a larger $9.5 million capital campaign. The arrangement doubles Callanwolde’s usable space and extends its partnership with the county through 2064.
Photo by Milton Kirby – Unidentified arts lovers watch the performance.
“This is a formal, strategic framework to elevate creativity, expand opportunity, and ensure that arts and culture remain central to reimagining DeKalb,” Cochran-Johnson said.
That phrase — reimagining DeKalb — has appeared often in county policy language. On Thursday night, officials tried to give it a physical form.
A Mission With Countywide Reach
Arts DeKalb launches under the theme, “Celebrating Creativity. Elevating Culture. Connecting DeKalb.”
Its mission is broad but clear: build thriving communities through the arts, support artists and arts organizations, advocate for arts education and funding, and promote cultural vitality across all 12 cities in DeKalb County.
That countywide reach was underscored during the event when each city received a fiberglass bull or heifer as part of the county’s expanding public art initiative.
The symbolism was hard to miss. The county was not presenting arts investment as something reserved for galleries, elites, or one side of town. It was presenting it as a shared civic project.
New Leadership for a New Chapter
The county also introduced Stephanie Raines as the new Director of Arts and Cultural Affairs.
Raines was selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants. She comes to DeKalb from Athens-Clarke County, where she oversaw visual, performing, and public art programming tied to the Lyndon House Arts Center, the Morton Theatre, Athens Creative Theatre, the East Athens Educational Dance Center, and the county’s public art program.
She brings both academic training and practical experience, with degrees in photography and art history and a master’s degree in arts administration.
Her hiring signals that DeKalb wants experienced leadership, not just ceremonial energy, as Arts DeKalb begins its work.
Oversight, Funding, and Accountability
County officials also introduced the Arts DeKalb oversight board, which will help guide the initiative and manage the rollout of its first $500,000 in funding under the county’s DeKalb Reimagined initiative.
The board includes:
Charlene Fang, District 1, Appointee…………………………………………..Lauren Kiefer, Super District 6, Appointee Kyle Williams, District 2, Appointee…………………………………………….Delores Burgess, Super District 7, Appointee Kamille Gilmore, District 3, Appointee……………………………………….Jan Selman, CEO’s Appointee Melanie Hammet, District 4, Appointee…………………………………….Gale Walldorff, CEO’s Appointee Rahn Mayo, District 5, Appointee
Their work will include overseeing public art installations, strategic grants for artists and nonprofits, and efforts to maintain transparency and equity as the initiative expands.
Andrew Keenan, Executive Director, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, summed up the economic case for the investment in simple terms. “When arts move into an area, the area starts to grow and flourish,” Keenan said.
Photo by Milton Kirby Brook Alford The Artist of the Violin
A Strong Night for Local Talent
The launch also served as a showcase for the kind of local and regional talent Arts DeKalb says it wants to support. The DeKalb School of the Arts Chorale opened the evening with a polished performance that reminded the audience why the school remains one of the county’s strongest artistic pipelines. The ensemble is nationally recognized and recently earned the Gold Mickey at Festival Disney in Orlando, the top choir award across divisions.
Students are now preparing for the GHSA State Literary Championships on March 14 and March 21.
Eugene Owens followed with a soulful performance that matched the evening’s celebratory tone. Owens is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, writer, composer, and producer whose work centers on themes of self-belief and personal growth.
Then came Brooke Alford, known professionally as “The Artist of the Violin,” whose smooth contemporary jazz style gave the night one of its most memorable moments. Her performance filled the room with the kind of emotion that official speeches often try to describe but cannot create on their own.
Programs Already Taking Shape
County leaders also announced several new cultural programs tied to Arts DeKalb’s rollout.
Among them are Art Stroll, a quarterly series featuring galleries, artist studios, and murals across the county; the DeKalb Arts Pavilion at the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park; DeKalb Jazz Fest, a countywide concert series planned for October; FACE 2: The DeKalb Experience, which DeKalb will host in 2026 in partnership with Fulton County; and FUR + Ball: The Bridgerton Experience, a themed fundraiser blending fashion, philanthropy, and pet-friendly runway moments.
Taken together, the programs suggest that Arts DeKalb is being built not just as an office or agency, but as a public-facing brand with events that can draw residents into a broader county arts identity.
A Cultural Turning Point
What began as a proposal in October 2025 has now become a real institution with a building, leadership, funding, a governing board, and a calendar of programs.
In a message shared during the event, Cochran-Johnson said the arts help shape vibrant communities by inspiring creativity, bringing people together, and reflecting the stories and cultures that make a place unique.
Photo by Milton Kirby Heifer for the cities
That may sound like familiar civic language. But on Thursday night, DeKalb leaders backed it with land, money, planning, and public ceremony.
For artists, musicians, students, and cultural organizations across the county, the message was clear.
The arts are no longer being treated as decoration.
They are being treated as part of DeKalb’s future.
The Obama Presidential Center will open June 19, 2026 in Chicago with four days of celebrations, public events, and a civic campus designed to inspire future changemakers.
By Milton Kirby | Chicago, IL | March 11, 2026
The long-awaited Obama Presidential Center will officially open to the public in June with four days of celebrations designed to highlight civic engagement, culture, and community on Chicago’s South Side.
The Obama Foundation announced that the grand opening festivities will run June 18 through June 21, 2026, beginning with a global dedication ceremony and continuing with public celebrations, performances, and family-friendly activities across the new 19.3-acre campus.
The opening marks a historic milestone for the presidential center created to preserve the legacy of Barack Obama while also serving as a living civic campus focused on leadership, community engagement, and democratic participation.
“This is not a monument to the past,” Obama said in a video announcing the opening. “It is a living destination for people who refuse to accept the status quo.”
Four Days of Celebration
The opening events begin Thursday, June 18, with a dedication ceremony at John Lewis Plaza, named for the late civil rights leader and longtime congressman John Lewis. The ceremony will be livestreamed globally and will include performances by international artists and remarks from prominent leaders.
The campus will then open fully to the public on Friday, June 19, allowing visitors to explore the museum and public spaces for the first time.
Community celebrations will continue on June 20 and June 21, featuring live music, art, food vendors, storytelling, and activities across the campus grounds in Chicago’s historic Jackson Park.
The opening weekend will also include special gatherings for volunteers, supporters, alumni of Obama-era programs, and young leaders connected to the Foundation’s initiatives.
A Campus Built Around Public Access
Unlike many presidential libraries, the Obama Presidential Center was designed as an open civic campus rather than a traditional archive-focused facility.
Most of the campus will be free and open to the public, including outdoor spaces and several community-oriented facilities.
Visitors will be able to explore:
The Forum, a building dedicated to public programming and events
A new branch of the Chicago Public Library
An accessible playground for children
Public art installations across the campus
Landscaped park spaces and walking paths connecting to nearby lagoons and the Museum of Science and Industry
Additional features include the Women’s Garden, Great Lawn, Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, picnic areas, and a wetland walking trail.
Visitors will also be able to dine at a café and restaurant on campus and shop at the center’s retail store.
Museum Tickets Coming This Spring
While most of the campus will be free, admission to the Obama Presidential Center Museum will require a timed entry ticket.
Tickets will go on sale in spring 2026, with prices expected to align with other major Chicago cultural institutions. The Foundation says the museum will include discounts and designated free days for Illinois residents.
A Symbol of “Hope and Change”
The announcement of the opening date was made on March 7, the anniversary of the historic Selma voting rights marches that helped shape the modern civil rights movement.
During the 50th anniversary commemoration of those marches, Obama delivered one of his most widely remembered speeches, calling on Americans to continue what he described as the “glorious task” of improving the nation.
Those words now appear engraved on the exterior of the museum building.
Valerie Jarrett said the center is intended to inspire visitors to take that mission into their own communities.
“We have always believed in the power of ordinary people to come together to make extraordinary change,” Jarrett said. “The opening of the Obama Presidential Center will be a beacon of hope to the world.”
More Than a Presidential Library
Unlike traditional presidential libraries managed by the National Archives and Records Administration, the Obama Presidential Center will be operated by the Obama Foundation as a community-focused civic institution.
Foundation leaders say the center will host year-round programs, leadership initiatives, and public discussions aimed at strengthening democracy and empowering the next generation of changemakers.
“The Obama Presidential Center is about the everyday people who make our democracy work,” Jarrett said.
For many supporters, the June opening represents more than the unveiling of a new cultural destination. It is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and construction tied to the legacy of the nation’s first Black president and the community that helped shape his rise.
A National Destination with Local Roots
When the gates open in June, the center is expected to draw visitors from around the world to Chicago’s South Side — a neighborhood that played a defining role in Obama’s early career as a community organizer.
The Foundation says the campus is designed to reflect that history while looking toward the future.
As Obama said in announcing the opening:
“If you feel that something better awaits and you’re willing to work for it, this is your invitation to join us.”
Atlanta launches ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, outlining worker protections, housing initiatives, and community safeguards tied to the global tournament.
Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | March 11, 2026
Atlanta leaders say hosting the world’s largest sporting event must reflect the city’s long tradition of civil and human rights leadership.
This week, the City of Atlanta publicly launched the ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan, a framework designed to protect workers, safeguard vulnerable communities, and ensure that the global spotlight of the World Cup leaves lasting benefits for Atlanta residents.
The initiative, led by the Mayor’s Office of One Atlanta, was formally adopted by the Atlanta City Council through Resolution 26-R-3106. City officials say the plan will guide how Atlanta prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, when matches will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Atlanta has a legacy of leading the conscience of the nation for civil and human rights,” said Andre Dickens. “The ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan reflects the city’s values and decades of the unforgotten voices of the greatest civil rights leaders in history who called Atlanta home.”
City leaders say the plan is built on a simple principle: the World Cup should happen “with Atlanta, not to Atlanta.”
Officials say that philosophy guided months of planning and community engagement aimed at making sure the event strengthens neighborhoods rather than placing additional burdens on them.
Community Voices Help Shape the Plan
The Human Rights Action Plan was developed through an extensive public process that included more than 75 hours of community engagement and participation from more than 25 organizations.
Those discussions included labor leaders, disability advocates, immigrant-serving nonprofits, faith groups, youth organizations, anti-human-trafficking coalitions, and residents across the city.
Multiple city departments participated in the effort, including the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction, the Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs, the Department of Emergency Preparedness, the Department of Innovation and Performance, and the Atlanta Department of Labor and Employment Services.
Candace Stanciel, Atlanta’s Chief Impact Officer who led the effort, said community voices were central to the plan’s development.
“This Action Plan was built through partnership,” Stanciel said. “Their voices shaped every section of this document, and their continued partnership will be essential to its success.”
Four Pillars of the Plan
The framework addresses a wide range of issues that can arise when cities host major global events.
Officials organized the plan around four major pillars.
The first pillar, Inclusion and Safeguarding, focuses on protecting vulnerable populations. Initiatives include preventing human trafficking, supporting unsheltered residents, expanding language access, protecting children, and ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities.
The second pillar, Workers’ Rights, establishes labor standards for World Cup-related jobs coordinated by the city. Officials say a $17.50 hourly minimum wage will serve as the baseline for those positions, alongside protections for safe workplaces and wage theft prevention.
The third pillar, Access to Remedy, creates a unified grievance reporting portal in partnership with FIFA and strengthens the Atlanta Human Relations Commission as the city’s primary anti-discrimination mechanism.
The fourth pillar, Accountability and Monitoring, commits the city to quarterly public progress reports and a comprehensive human rights impact report within six months after the tournament concludes.
Why Cities Now Create Human Rights Plans
Human rights action plans have become increasingly common as cities prepare to host global sporting events.
In recent years, international sports governing bodies have encouraged host cities to adopt formal frameworks designed to prevent problems that have emerged around previous mega-events, including worker exploitation, displacement of residents, trafficking risks, and limits on civil liberties.
By identifying risks early and establishing safeguards in advance, cities aim to ensure that global sporting celebrations benefit local communities rather than harming them.
Atlanta officials say the ATL26 plan reflects those lessons while building on the city’s longstanding role in the American civil rights movement.
A Legacy Beyond the Final Match
Beyond event preparation, the plan outlines eight “Legacy Impact Initiatives” designed to deliver long-term benefits to Atlanta residents.
Among them:
• A human rights resource network connecting more than 15 partner organizations • Youth leadership programs expected to serve more than 200 young people • Career exposure opportunities in the sports industry • A citywide accessibility readiness guide for major events • Efforts to support 500 permanent supportive housing units and help 2,000 households find housing • Anti-human-trafficking training for more than 1,000 individuals • FIFA-connected Pride programming providing health and legal resources • Expanded outreach and training through the Human Relations Commission
City officials say the effort is meant to ensure that when the final whistle blows in 2026, Atlanta will be stronger than before the tournament began.
“This Action Plan is both a commitment to the standards we believe every host city should uphold,” the city said in its announcement, “and an invitation to make the 2026 World Cup a model for how global sporting events can advance fairness, justice, and shared humanity.”
Sidebar
Atlanta and the Olympics: What the 1996 Games Teach Us About Hosting Global Events
When Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics, the city stepped onto the global stage in a way it never had before.
For two weeks in July 1996, millions of visitors and television viewers saw Atlanta as the capital of the New South a city of economic growth, cultural influence, and civil rights history.
The Olympics brought major benefits. They helped create Centennial Olympic Park, accelerated downtown redevelopment, expanded tourism, and helped reshape Atlanta’s international reputation.
But the Games also revealed the challenges large global events can create.
Housing advocates raised concerns about displacement of low-income residents as redevelopment accelerated. Civil liberties groups also criticized aggressive security policies and the removal of unhoused residents from parts of downtown during preparations for the Games.
Those lessons are part of why cities today often develop formal human rights frameworks when hosting global sporting events.
Atlanta’s ATL26 Human Rights Action Plan, tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, reflects that evolution. City leaders say the goal is to ensure that when the world returns to Atlanta in 2026, the benefits of the event will extend beyond the stadium and into the communities that call the city home.
The CFPB’s decision to step back from regulating Buy Now, Pay Later services could leave millions of Americans with fewer protections as BNPL use continues to surge.
Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | March 11, 2026
Millions of Americans now use Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services to spread the cost of everyday purchases. But a regulatory shift by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is raising new questions about how much protection consumers will have when problems arise.
On May 6, 2025, the CFPB announced it would no longer prioritize enforcing a rule that treated BNPL services similarly to credit cards. The agency also signaled it may rescind the rule entirely.
While the announcement initially drew limited national attention, its consequences are beginning to surface as more households rely on installment payment platforms such as Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm.
These services promise convenience: consumers can split a purchase into several smaller payments, often four installments with no interest. Retailers promote the option heavily at checkout, especially for online purchases.
But consumer advocates warn that without strong oversight, the model carries risks.
“With the CFPB stepping back, consumers are more exposed than ever especially when something goes wrong.”
Previously, the CFPB had moved toward regulating BNPL services more like traditional credit cards. That approach would have required clearer billing disclosures, stronger dispute rights when purchases go wrong, and standardized rules for fees and collections.
The agency’s decision to step back leaves uncertainty about how those protections will be applied going forward.
If a purchase arrives damaged, if a refund is delayed, or if a billing error occurs, consumers may face a more complicated path to resolving the issue than they would with a traditional credit card.
The CFPB said it is shifting resources toward protecting servicemembers, veterans, and small businesses — priorities the agency considers urgent. However, the move also creates a regulatory gap in one of the fastest-growing segments of consumer finance.
BNPL’s Rapid Growth
Even though the CFPB announcement came nearly a year ago, its relevance continues to grow.
Buy Now, Pay Later usage has expanded rapidly, particularly among younger consumers and families facing rising costs for housing, food, and transportation. Retailers are increasingly promoting installment options during checkout, encouraging shoppers to divide purchases into smaller payments.
For many consumers, the appeal is simple: smaller payments feel easier to manage than a single large charge.
But financial counselors warn that juggling several small installment plans at once can quickly add up. Multiple BNPL purchases — each with its own payment schedule — may strain household budgets.
Complaints about billing errors, refund delays, and late fees have also increased as the industry grows.
Without the standardized protections that apply to credit cards, some consumers may find it more difficult to dispute charges or resolve transaction problems.
How the CFPB Works
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by Congress in 2010 following the financial crisis to protect consumers in the financial marketplace.
The agency regulates products such as mortgages, credit cards, and student loans, and it has increasingly examined emerging financial tools like BNPL services.
Several features of the CFPB’s structure help explain how policy changes occur:
• Independent but Executive: The bureau operates independently but remains part of the executive branch. • Single Director: It is led by a director appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Seila Law LLC v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2020), the president can remove the director at will. • Independent Funding: The CFPB receives funding through the Federal Reserve System rather than through congressional appropriations. • Broad Authority: The agency enforces federal consumer financial laws and supervises both banks and non-bank lenders.
Because of this structure, the bureau’s regulatory priorities can shift when presidential administrations change.
What Consumers Should Know
Financial experts emphasize that BNPL services may feel different from traditional loans, but they still carry obligations.
Payments are typically scheduled automatically through debit cards or bank withdrawals. Missing a payment can trigger late fees, and some companies may report missed payments to credit bureaus.
For consumers already managing multiple subscriptions, credit cards, and bills, installment plans can create additional complexity.
With fewer federal guardrails in place, financial responsibility increasingly falls on the individual shopper.
TSJ will continue monitoring how federal regulators, lenders, and retailers shape the future of Buy Now, Pay Later financing — and what it means for families trying to stretch every dollar in an unpredictable economy.
Sidebar
Five Things Consumers Should Watch When Using BNPL
Missed or Late Payments BNPL apps often auto-debit accounts. If funds are not available, late fees can accumulate quickly.
Billing Disputes Resolving problems such as damaged goods or delayed refunds may take longer without standardized protections.
Unexpected Fees Some providers may introduce or increase fees if regulatory pressure decreases.
Credit Score Effects Not all BNPL companies report payments the same way. A missed payment could affect credit unexpectedly.
Multiple Plans at Once Several small “pay-in-four” loans can quickly become difficult to track and manage.
Valeria Howard Cunningham reflects on 42 years of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, preserving Black cowboy history while inspiring youth and building community nationwide.
The Legacy of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo: Valeria Howard Cunningham on History, Community, and the Future of Black Cowboys
Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | March 10, 2026
A little boy walked into the arena in Memphis dressed like a cowboy from head to toe, boots, jeans, a large buckle, a western shirt, and a hat. He was about seven years old.
Like many children entering a rodeo arena for the first time, he wrinkled his nose at the smell of the animals. Then he stepped closer to the arena rail. He stopped in his tracks. Hands on his hips, eyes wide, he stared at the riders preparing to compete. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “There are real Black cowboys and cowgirls.”
Standing nearby was Valeria Howard Cunningham, the longtime leader of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. She watched the moment unfold and felt tears come to her eyes. “For me,” she later said, “that moment spoke volumes.”
For more than four decades, moments like that have defined the mission of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo not simply as a sporting event, but as a place where history, culture, and community meet.
In a recent interview with The Truth Seekers Journal, Howard reflected on the journey from modest beginnings to sold-out arenas—and on the people and purpose that have sustained it for more than 42 years.
Overcoming Fear and Breaking Barriers
Cunningham does not pretend the journey was easy. Taking the reins of a national rodeo organization as a Black woman came with uncertainty and pressure. “You know, that was scary within itself,” Cunningham said. “Being a Black woman trying to run an African American rodeo association – were people ready for that?”
There were moments of doubt. But Cunningham said she was never alone. She remembers the circle of women who stood beside her, believing in the vision and pushing her forward when the responsibility felt overwhelming. “I had Black women surrounding me who had my back,” she said. “They assured me they would be standing beside me.” That support system became one of the foundations of the rodeo’s success. Howard quickly points out that the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo has always been a team effort.
Among those who helped shape the organization are longtime partners like national sponsorship director, Margo Wade-LaDrew, who is ready to step in and take the reins if need be, Acynthia Villery, Social Media Director, and the first African American female professional rodeo announcer, public relations director Michelle Johnson, and a network of coordinators, volunteers, and rodeo professionals across the country.
“I was surrounded by incredibly talented women,” Cunningham said. “They guided me on the things I didn’t know.”
From Empty Seats to Sold-Out Arenas
When the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo first began touring, success looked very different. In the early days, simply filling a few seats felt like a victory. “We started just hoping to see some people in the seats,” Cunningham said. Today, many arenas are filled to capacity. The growth did not happen by accident. Cunningham credits the rodeo’s competitors, the cowboys and cowgirls who travel across the country. They compete in events that require extraordinary skill, discipline, and courage.
BPIR courtesy photo – Valeria Howard Cunningham, President and CEO of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
“The cowboys and cowgirls in the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo are professionals,” she said. “People come because they want to see great competition.” But competition alone is not enough.
Cunningham believes audiences deserve excellence when they buy a ticket. “If you’re going to produce a show,” she said, “you must respect your audience and make sure they get the best experience possible.”
The True Culture of Black Cowboys
Cunningham is passionate about correcting misunderstandings about Black cowboy culture. Too often, she says, people reduce the culture to modern trail rides or social gatherings. But the real tradition runs much deeper.
“Black cowboy culture is about people who love the animals, love the sport, and take pride in being the best at what they do,” she said. At a Bill Pickett rodeo, spectators see that culture up close.
They see barrel racers flying around the arena at full speed. They see bull riders climb onto two-ton animals. These animals can throw a rider in seconds. They see steer wrestlers launch themselves from horses in a test of strength and timing.
Every event carries risk. Every competitor carries pride. And every ride connects today’s riders to generations of Black cowboys who helped shape the American West.
The Business Behind the Show
Behind the excitement of the arena is a complex operation. Producing a rodeo requires moving livestock, equipment, competitors, and staff across multiple states. Venue decisions alone can determine whether an event is financially successful.
Cunningham remembers one expensive lesson from decades ago. During an indoor rodeo in Philadelphia, the organization paid $50,000 just to bring dirt into the arena and then remove it afterward. “That’s when I said we’re not in the dirt business,” Cunningham said. Experiences like that shaped the organization’s strategy.
Cunningham said she is careful to choose venues that allow the rodeo to keep ticket prices affordable. “Our community has to be able to participate,” she said. “That’s the reason we do what we do.”
Investing in the Next Generation
For Cunningham, the rodeo’s mission extends far beyond competition. She credits her upbringing for that outlook. “My mother raised me to believe that when people give to you, you must give back,” she said.
That philosophy led to the creation of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo Foundation, which provides scholarships, community programs, and youth outreach. Young riders are also part of the show itself.
The rodeo features Pee-Wee divisions for children as young as 5. There are also junior competitions that allow young riders to develop their skills. “These kids invest time and effort,” Cunningham said. “When they do something positive, we should showcase it.”
Rodeo for Kids’ Sake
One of the rodeo’s most impactful programs is called Rodeo for Kids’ Sake.
Each year in Memphis, thousands of elementary and middle school students attend a special Friday morning rodeo designed just for them. Before the competition begins, students receive a history lesson about Black cowboys and cowgirls who played important roles in the development of the American West. Teachers can also download curriculum workbooks. These workbooks connect rodeo history to lessons in reading, math, and art.
BPIR Courtesy photo – Valeria Howard Cunningham
About 4,000 students attend the Memphis program each year. For many of them, it is the first time they have ever heard about Black cowboys. Sometimes, it is the first time they have ever seen one. Cunningham still remembers the moment that little boy in Memphis stopped and stared at the arena. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “There are real Black cowboys and cowgirls,” Cunningham said. She could only stand there and cry. In that instant, she understood the true reach of the rodeo. “It means they see themselves,” she said.
A Legacy Built by Community
Cunningham experienced another powerful moment during the rodeo’s 40th anniversary celebration in Oakland. Standing at the top of the arena entrance, she watched families stream through the doors. Parents pushed strollers. Children held hands. Elderly guests arrived in wheelchairs. “It didn’t matter if you were a newborn or a senior,” she said. “Everyone was coming to share the experience.”
One man stopped her and shared his story. He had attended the rodeo every year since childhood. Now he was bringing his own children and his mother. “That’s when I realized the span of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo,” Cunningham said.
Looking Toward the Future
Now in its 42nd year, the rodeo continues to grow.
Alongside the competition, the organization has launched Soul Country Rodeo Weekend. This event pairs the rodeo with a national music competition to discover emerging country music talent. But Cunningham says the future of the rodeo ultimately belongs to the next generation. “We’re preparing the next school of leaders,” she said. These are leaders who will carry the Bill Pickett legacy forward—and make sure the next little boy who walks into a rodeo arena can still look out and say with wonder: “There are real Black cowboys and cowgirls.”
Country Roots, Diverse Beats: Celebrating the Rich Tapestry of Soul in Country Music.
Upcoming in the TSJ series – Inside the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Part 2 — Margo Wade LaDrew: Building the Rodeo Brand Part 3 — Kirk Jay: The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 4 — Nathaniel Dansby (Mr. Bowleggs) : The Sound of Country Soul at the Rodeo Part 5 — Rodeo for Kids’ Sake and the Next Generation
By Florita Bell Griffin, Ph.D | Houston, TX | March 10, 2026
Optimization promises improvement. It offers clarity, efficiency, and measurable gain. When systems are optimized, waste is reduced, processes are streamlined, and performance improves against defined criteria. Optimization feels rational. It feels responsible. It feels like progress. But optimization carries a hidden cost.
Optimization requires a target. Something must be selected, measured, and prioritized. In choosing what to optimize, systems also choose what to ignore. Over time, this selection shapes behavior more powerfully than intent. What is measured survives. What is not measured fades. This is how meaning begins to erode.
Meaning lives in relationships, context, and purpose. It is not always efficient. It does not always scale cleanly. It often resists precise measurement. When systems optimize aggressively, they tend to simplify these complexities into proxies. Performance indicators replace judgment. Metrics replace understanding. Outputs replace outcomes.
At first, the change appears beneficial. Systems become faster. Costs decrease. Variability narrows. Success becomes easier to demonstrate. Reports look better. Decision-making feels more confident. The system appears healthier. Yet beneath this surface improvement, something subtle is lost.
Consider a system designed to serve people. Early on, success is defined broadly. Outcomes are evaluated qualitatively. Context matters. Judgment is valued. As the system grows, leaders seek consistency and accountability. Metrics are introduced to track performance. Targets are set. Optimization follows.
Gradually, behavior shifts. People begin to optimize for the metric rather than the mission. Effort is redirected toward what is counted. What cannot be counted receives less attention. The system becomes very good at hitting targets while becoming less effective at fulfilling its original purpose. This is not corruption. It is adaptation.
Optimization teaches systems how to behave. When incentives are clear, systems respond accordingly. Meaning erodes not because it is rejected, but because it is no longer reinforced.
This pattern appears across domains. In education, standardized testing optimizes for measurable outcomes. Teaching adapts to the test. Learning narrows. Curiosity declines. Students succeed according to the metric while missing deeper understanding. The system performs well while failing its broader purpose.
In technology, optimization often prioritizes engagement, speed, or scale. Interfaces are refined to reduce friction. Algorithms are tuned to maximize response. Over time, systems become excellent at capturing attention while losing sight of user well-being. Meaningful interaction gives way to optimized interaction.
Optimization also affects how systems interpret success. When performance improves, questioning stops. Metrics validate decisions. Confidence grows. Yet the system’s definition of success may have drifted far from its original intent. Because optimization reinforces itself, this drift is rarely noticed until consequences appear.
People with experience recognize this dynamic. They have seen systems optimized into irrelevance. They have watched institutions become efficient at producing outputs no longer aligned with reality. Their skepticism is not opposition to improvement. It is awareness of how easily optimization replaces understanding.
Optimization narrows vision. It rewards repeatable behavior. It discourages exploration. Over time, systems lose their ability to recognize signals outside their optimization frame. They become blind to emerging conditions. They respond well to what they expect and poorly to what they do not.
This loss of perception is critical. Systems optimized for known conditions struggle when environments change. Because meaning has been reduced to metrics, adaptation becomes difficult. The system does not know what to preserve when conditions shift. It knows only how to optimize.
Consider a public service optimized for efficiency. Processing times decrease. Costs are controlled. Success is defined narrowly. Yet people with complex needs struggle to receive help. Exceptions become burdens. The system achieves its efficiency goals while failing those it was meant to serve.
Meaning erodes quietly because optimization does not announce its tradeoffs. Each improvement appears justified. Each metric seems reasonable. The cumulative effect is rarely examined. Only later does it become clear that the system no longer reflects its purpose.
This erosion affects trust. When people sense that systems are optimized rather than aligned, they disengage. They comply without commitment. They learn how to navigate rules rather than participate meaningfully. The system functions, but connection dissolves.
Optimization also alters decision-making. When success is defined numerically, leaders rely on dashboards rather than dialogue. Models replace conversation. Confidence increases while understanding decreases. Decisions become harder to challenge because they are backed by data, even when the data reflects a narrowed view.
Meaning cannot be optimized directly. It must be carried. It requires systems to preserve context, intent, and relationship as they evolve. This preservation demands restraint. It requires resisting the urge to reduce everything to what can be measured.
This does not mean rejecting optimization. Optimization has value. It improves execution. It reduces waste. It supports scale. The danger lies in allowing optimization to become the governing principle rather than a supporting one.
Systems that endure treat optimization as a tool, not a compass. They ask not only whether performance has improved, but whether purpose remains intact. They examine what has been lost alongside what has been gained.
People sense when systems have crossed this line. They feel processed rather than served. They experience efficiency without care. They notice when interactions feel hollow despite being smooth. These reactions are signals, not resistance.
Meaning returns when systems re-anchor to intent. When they explain themselves. When they allow judgment to complement metrics. When they remember why they exist, not just how they operate.
Optimization erases meaning when it becomes the goal rather than the method. Systems remain functional, sometimes impressively so, while becoming increasingly empty. Recognizing this pattern allows correction before purpose disappears entirely.
Systems that preserve meaning do not abandon optimization. They place it in context. They ensure that efficiency serves understanding rather than replacing it. In doing so, they remain capable of change without losing themselves.
Meaning is what allows systems to endure beyond their metrics.
One of my main passions in Negro League baseball research is endeavoring to assist the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum to have better representation of Negro League “players” in their plaque gallery. Currently there are 28 Negro League “players” inducted in the Hall of Fame and 137 players inducted who had played in the traditional Major Leagues (as defined by MLB as “major” in 1969) prior to April 15, 1947. (I should note that only 125 of those players fully earned their plaques during MLB’s Segregated Era, 1876-1946)
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a 501(c)3 not‑for‑profit educational institution, dedicated to preserving history, honoring excellence, and connecting generations. The question becomes does a 5 to one ratio properly “preserve (the) history” of baseball prior to 1947. Does having only 18% of all players prior to ’47 adequately educate the public on the National Pastime’s history?
Consider the following background facts:
Oral history is full of Major League players, including Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Honus Wagner (the first three inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame), who extoled the talents of Negro League players.
Despite Commissioner Landis doing his best to ban Major League teams from playing Negro League teams … hundreds of games between “so called “Major League and “so called” Negro League teams were played and, as historians and accountants will do, records were kept. I have seen a half dozen or so such composite accounts and the Negro League teams have the edge in every one of them.
On December 16, 2020, “Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. announced that Major League Baseball is correcting a longtime oversight in the game’s history by officially elevating the Negro Leagues to “Major League” status.” Designating 7 Negro Leagues – Negro National League, Eastern Colored League, American Negro League, East-West League, Negro Southern League, Negro National League II, Negro American League – as Major.
On May 29, 2024, MLB officially absorbed select Negro League records. Amazingly and interestingly, they show virtually identical slash lines for the two sides of the ML color line. Now, this would not have a lot of probative value if not for the other supportive facts in this litany.
Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella were the first two players inducted in the Hall of Fame having debuted in the NL/AL after ’46. Including that pair, just about 41% of all Hall of Famers debuting in either the AL or NL since then are players who would not have been permitted to play prior to the reintegration of the game.
In 2025, just under 41% of major league opening day rosters were players who would not have been permitted to play prior to the integration of the game. Keep in mind, unlike pre 1947 a significant amount of baseball talent is siphoned off by the National Football League or National Basketball Association.
As for the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum it also has done spectacular work in telling both the history (and quality) of the Negro Leagues in every corner of the museum except the plaque gallery. In 2024, a Black baseball initiative was unveiled which included a new exhibit ‘The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball’; unveiling of a new Hank Aaron statue titled “Keep Swinging”; creation of a webpage called ‘We Play’ geared to 8 to 12 year olds which tells the story of Black baseball and its role in the Civil Rights movement; in addition additional educational outreach programs for older students are delivered to classrooms across the country; the Hall of Fame East-West Classic: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues All-Star Game (sadly this spectacular event was not continued annually – it is never too late; during ’24 the Hall began a collaboration with Dr. Geral Early, Washington University of Saint Louis, on a book published in 2025 “Play Harder” which sheds light on the early Black influence on baseball … for me, the year was capped when the Hall of Fame invited SABR’s Negro League Research Committee to hold its annual Jerry Malloy Conference in the Hall of Fame.
Surely, Negro League players must have made up more than 18% of the best players prior to 1947.
It is time for Hall to answer Major League Baseball’s action of ’20 and ’24 by bringing the Hall of Honor UpToDate by inducting all deserving Negro League baseball players with all deliberate speed. Not two this year, none the next, and then another, then another two … already most of the players are gone and at such pace even the historians and ancestors will be gone.
Last week’s Shadow Ball Significa question: Submitted by Shadow Ball fan, Will Clark): The 1969 New York Mets had a player (a key one at that) whose stepfather played in the Negro Leagues. Name the player and the Negro Leaguer who was his stepfather. The 1969 New York Mets player was Donn Clendenon. He was a key contributor and 1969 World Series MVP. Clendenon’s stepfather was Nish Williams Nish Williams raised him, mentored him, and shaped his athletic discipline. Clendenon often credited Williams with instilling the work ethic that carried him through his MLB career and ultimately helped power the Miracle Mets to their championship. Both Clendenon (2005) and Williams (1968) are deceased.
The Shadow ball Significa Question of the Week: What manager has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame for Negro League performance? Send your answer and any comments on this issue’s Shadow Ball to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
Ted Knorr
Ted Knorr is a Negro League baseball historian, longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research’s Negro League Committee, and founder of the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference and several local Negro League Commemorative Nights in central Pennsylvania. You can send questions for Knorr on Negro League topics as well as your answers to the week’s Significa question to shadowball@truthseekersjournal.com or Shadow Ball, 3904 N Druid Hills Rd, Ste 179, Decatur, GA 30033
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America faces deep-rooted addictions to racism, violence, misogyny, inequality, and greed. True greatness demands an honest national intervention, structural reform, and a courageous commitment to truth and justice.
By Lola Renegade | March 10, 2026
America will never be great until (S)he checks itself into rehab.
For generations, this nation has wrapped itself in the language of exceptionalism—the land of opportunity, the beacon of freedom, the greatest country in the world, blah, blah, blah, etc. But myths are powerful narcotics. They dull the pain of truth. They allow a nation to avoid confronting the damage it has done and continues to do—to others and to itself.
Strip away the mythology and the reality becomes unavoidable: America is a nation struggling with longstanding addictions—racism, violence, misogyny, inequality, and greed. These are not temporary lapses in judgment. They are structural and systemic habits, embedded in institutions, culture, and political life since the country’s violent and genocidal birth.
Like every addiction, these habits have consequences. And like every addiction, they will persist until the addict admits there is a problem.
America has experienced moments of greatness but has never been genuinely great. There have been flashes of moral clarity—Reconstruction, the New Deal, the Civil Rights Movement, notable first-time elections of President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and other people of color—periods when the country briefly attempted to live up to its highest ideals. But those moments have often been followed by backlash, denial, retreat, and violence.
The truth is uncomfortable but unavoidable: greatness has never been America’s permanent condition. At best, it has been an aspiration.
Now the country stands at another crossroads.
The rise of Trumpism and his cult of MAGA (Make America Great Again) did not invent America’s demons; it exposed them. It pulled the curtain back on forces that had always existed but were often somewhat politely ignored, especially by the so-called mainstream media. Racial resentment, authoritarian impulses, contempt for democratic norms, and an open hostility toward women, immigrants, countries of color, and marginalized communities were no longer whispered—they were amplified from podiums and television screens.
Trumpism became less a political movement than a mirror reflecting unresolved truths about the nation itself.
And the reflection is not flattering, it is downright ugly as homemade sin because that is what it is.
To understand the depth of America’s addiction, one must begin with its historical foundation. The nation was born through the displacement and destruction of Indigenous peoples and built in large part through the forced labor of enslaved Africans. The Confederacy—an armed rebellion fought to preserve slavery—lost the Civil War but never fully lost the violent cultural war that followed.
Its symbols remain scattered across the American landscape: statues, flags, and monuments that celebrate a rebellion against democracy itself. These artifacts are not simply relics of history. They are declarations of whose history matters and whose suffering can be ignored.
Trumpism breathed new life into these symbols. The refusal to unequivocally condemn white supremacists, the defense of Confederate monuments, and the rhetorical flirtation with authoritarian nationalism revealed how unfinished America’s reckoning with its past truly remains.
But acknowledging the past is only the first step. Recovery requires transformation. In the language of addiction recovery, healing begins with admission.
Step One: Admit the problem. America must acknowledge that racism, misogyny, inequality, and greed are not isolated incidents—they are systemic and structural forces woven into the nation’s political and economic fabric. This is best explained by Professor Tricia Rose, Ph.D. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3KsVRkbnn4
Step Two: Educate honestly.
A nation cannot heal from a history it refuses to teach. Honest education about slavery, colonialism, and structural inequality is not divisive—it is necessary.
Step Three: Demand accountability. Policies that target vulnerable populations—such as the so-called Muslim ban, family separations at the border, attacks on diversity initiatives, and efforts to erase the contributions of people of color from public narratives—illustrate how political power can be used to reinforce inequality.
Step Four: Confront the mythology. Confederate symbols and historical distortions must be confronted, not romanticized. Nations mature when they confront their past honestly.
Step Five: Rebuild empathy. Democracy cannot function without the ability to recognize one another’s humanity.
Step Six: Reform institutions. Systems that perpetuate racial and gender inequality—from criminal justice to economic policy—must be fundamentally reexamined.
Step Seven: Address economic inequality. Extreme disparities of wealth undermine democracy itself. When policy consistently favors the affluent, the social contract begins to collapse.
Step Eight: Restore public trust. Trust cannot be demanded; it must be earned through transparency, fairness, and accountability.
Step Nine: Build coalitions for justice. Progress has always required alliances across race, gender, and class.
Step Ten: Elevate art, culture, and truth. Artistic expression and cultural dialogue help societies confront their deepest wounds.
Step Eleven: Reengage with the world responsibly. Isolationism and militarized nationalism weaken moral leadership. Global cooperation strengthens it.
Step Twelve: Commit to vigilance. Recovery is never permanent. It requires continuous effort and moral courage.
None of this will be easy. Addicts resist intervention. They deny the severity of their condition. They lash out at those who attempt to help them confront it. Nations behave no differently.
But the alternative to intervention is decline.
When societies refuse to confront injustice, inequality deepens. When greed overrides the common good, democracy erodes. When violence becomes normalized, the social fabric begins to rot.
America stands at a moment that demands honesty. The nation can continue clinging to comforting myths about its past, or it can finally confront the contradictions that have haunted it since its founding.
Rehabilitation is possible. But only if the country is willing to do the hardest thing of all: Tell the truth about itself. Until then, the slogan of greatness will remain just that—a slogan.
Because greatness is not something a nation proclaims. It is something a nation proves.
Georgia farmers who suffered devastating losses during Hurricane Helene are set to receive more than $531 million in federal disaster relief, according to an announcement from U.S. Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
The funding will be distributed through the Georgia Hurricane Helene Block Grant Program, a federal relief initiative designed to help farmers, ranchers, and foresters recover from one of the most destructive storms to hit Georgia’s agricultural economy in recent history.
The relief comes nearly two years after Hurricane Helene tore across large portions of South and East-Central Georgia, leaving widespread destruction across farms, forests, and rural infrastructure.
“This announcement is welcome news for the Georgia producers and farmers that have been forced to wait far too long for this desperately needed relief,” Warnock said. “I’m glad to see that the application for these block grants will open in the coming weeks.”
Ossoff emphasized that Congress approved disaster funding shortly after the storm but said the process of getting the money to farmers has taken longer than expected.
“Less than 90 days after Hurricane Helene devastated Georgia agriculture, Senator Warnock and I passed disaster funding for Georgia farmers,” Ossoff said. “Now, over a year late, USDA is finally getting those funds to Georgia farmers. I am glad Georgia farmers are getting the help they’ve long deserved.”
Billions in Agricultural Losses
Hurricane Helene inflicted massive damage across Georgia’s agriculture and forestry sectors.
According to state and federal estimates:
Roughly one-third of Georgia’s pecan and cotton crops were destroyed
More than 100 poultry houses were damaged or wiped out
Approximately 1.5 million acres of timber were damaged or destroyed
Altogether, the storm caused an estimated $5.5 billion in total agricultural losses, making it one of the costliest disasters in Georgia farming history.
Beyond the economic devastation, the human toll was also severe. More than 250 people lost their lives nationwide, including 37 Georgians, as the storm moved through the region.
Who Can Apply for the Relief
The block grant program will help producers recover losses across a wide range of agricultural operations.
Eligible producers may seek assistance for damages affecting:
Timber
Farm infrastructure
Poultry operations
Beef and dairy cattle
Milk and dairy feed losses
Pecans and blueberries
Citrus crops
Nursery operations
Plasticulture systems
Bare ground farming practices
Applications will be administered through the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
The application window will open March 16, 2026, and remain available for six weeks, closing April 27, 2026.
Bipartisan Push for Relief
Warnock and Ossoff both credited bipartisan advocacy for helping secure the funding.
In March 2025, Warnock led a bipartisan group of lawmakers urging the United States Department of Agriculture to accelerate disaster assistance for Georgia farmers. Members of the Georgia congressional delegation joined the effort as pressure mounted from agricultural groups and rural communities still recovering from the storm.
Warnock, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee, has repeatedly pushed for stronger federal support for farmers dealing with extreme weather events.
Georgia’s agricultural sector — one of the state’s largest economic engines — continues to face increasing risks from hurricanes, drought, and other climate-driven disasters that can wipe out crops and infrastructure in a single season.
A Long Road to Recovery
For many farmers, the new funding represents a critical step toward rebuilding operations damaged during Helene.
Farmers across South Georgia reported losing entire orchards, poultry facilities, and timber stands that took decades to grow.
While the new federal relief will not fully replace the estimated billions lost, agricultural leaders say it will provide much-needed capital to help farmers stabilize their operations and prepare for future planting seasons.
For rural communities whose economies depend on agriculture and forestry, the funding could also help preserve jobs, stabilize local businesses, and keep family farms operating after one of the most damaging storms in recent memory.
SIDEBAR: Hurricane Helene’s Impact on Georgia Agriculture
When Hurricane Helene swept through Georgia, it left one of the most damaging agricultural disasters in the state’s modern history.
The storm’s powerful winds, heavy rain, and flooding devastated farms, forests, and rural infrastructure across South and East-Central Georgia, regions where agriculture is the backbone of many local economies.
State and federal assessments estimate that the storm caused approximately $5.5 billion in total agricultural losses across Georgia.
Key Impacts
Crop Destruction Helene wiped out or severely damaged large portions of Georgia’s specialty crops. Nearly one-third of the state’s pecan and cotton crops were destroyed, while blueberry and citrus growers also reported widespread losses.
Timber Losses Georgia is the nation’s leading timber-producing state, and the storm struck some of its most heavily forested regions. Roughly 1.5 million acres of timber were damaged or destroyed, representing years — and in many cases decades — of lost growth.
Poultry Industry Damage The storm also hit Georgia’s massive poultry sector. More than 100 poultry houses were damaged or destroyed, disrupting one of the state’s most important agricultural industries.
Farm Infrastructure Beyond crops and livestock, farmers reported losses to irrigation systems, fencing, barns, tractors, storage buildings, and other critical infrastructure needed to operate their farms.
Long-Term Effects
Agricultural disasters can take years to recover from. Unlike row crops that can be replanted quickly, pecan orchards and timber stands may take decades to fully recover.
The federal block grant program announced by Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff aims to help farmers rebuild operations and stabilize rural economies that depend on agriculture.
For many Georgia producers, the funding represents a critical step toward recovery after one of the most destructive storms to hit the state’s farming sector.
Georgia lawmakers passed property tax, data center, and stand-your-ground legislation on Crossover Day while voting down election changes and advancing new campaign finance rules.
Milton Kirby | Atlanta, GA | March 8, 2026
Inside the Georgia Capitol, the final hours before midnight on Friday looked exactly like what longtime observers expect from Crossover Day: crowded chambers, hurried negotiations, and lawmakers racing the clock to keep their legislation alive.
By the time the gavel fell, Georgia lawmakers had advanced bills affecting property taxes, data centers, self-defense law, campaign finance rules, and oversight of local prosecutors, while several high-profile proposals — including a plan to overhaul the state’s voting system — failed to survive the deadline.
Crossover Day marks the most consequential point in Georgia’s 40-day legislative session. Bills must pass out of their chamber of origin — the House or Senate — to remain eligible for final passage. Measures that fail to cross over are typically considered dead for the year unless revived through amendments attached to surviving legislation.
This year’s deadline produced a mix of major policy decisions, contentious debate, and unfinished business, with potential consequences for homeowners, voters, prosecutors, businesses, and electricity customers across the state.
PROPERTY TAXES
✔ PASSED: Scaled-Back Property Tax Cap (HB 1116) Vote: 98–68 in the House Status: Moves to the Senate Sponsor: Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R–Bonaire)
One of the most closely watched measures of the session was House Bill 1116, a proposal aimed at limiting rising property tax bills.
Earlier in the week, lawmakers abandoned a more aggressive plan that would have eliminated homestead property taxes entirely by 2032. Critics warned that proposal could have created major funding gaps for schools and local governments.
Instead, lawmakers revived a scaled-back version on Crossover Day.
The revised bill caps annual property tax increases at the greater of 3 percent or the federal inflation rate measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Why it matters
• Homeowners could see more predictable property tax increases, particularly in fast-growing counties where assessments have surged. • Local governments and school districts warn that caps could limit revenue needed for services and infrastructure. • Renters may not see relief because landlords are not required to pass tax savings along.
DATA CENTERS
✔ PASSED: Repeal of New Data Center Tax Breaks (SB 410) Vote: 32–21 in the Senate Status: Moves to the House
The Senate also addressed the rapid expansion of data centers, which power cloud computing and artificial intelligence but require enormous amounts of electricity.
Under Senate Bill 410, companies would no longer receive certain sales tax exemptions for data center equipment and would be required to pay the cost of major electrical infrastructure upgrades tied to their projects.
Old vs. New Rules Under SB 410
Issue
Old Way
New Way (SB 410)
Power upgrades
Often shared by electricity customers
Data centers pay additional costs
Equipment taxes
Sales tax exemptions
Standard sales tax applies
Existing incentives
Active
Grandfathered in
Why it matters
• Georgia has become a national hub for data center development, particularly in metro Atlanta. • Supporters say the bill protects ratepayers from subsidizing energy infrastructure for tech companies. • Critics argue the measure may not fully shield customers from rising electricity costs.
SELF-DEFENSE & PUBLIC SAFETY
✔ PASSED: Expanded “Stand Your Ground” Immunity (SB 572) Vote: 30–23 in the Senate Status: Moves to the House
One of the most controversial measures to pass Friday expands Georgia’s stand-your-ground self-defense law.
Senate Bill 572 would allow defendants to claim immunity earlier in the legal process. Charges could be dismissed unless prosecutors provide clear and convincing evidence that a crime occurred.
Why it matters
Democrats warned the bill could make violent crimes harder to prosecute.
During debate, Sen. Kim Jackson (D–Stone Mountain) referenced the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man chased and shot while jogging in Brunswick.
“If this bill had been law, it would have made it very difficult to prosecute those who are the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery,” Jackson said.
Republicans argued the legislation strengthens the rights of Georgians to defend themselves during dangerous confrontations.
PROSECUTOR OVERSIGHT
✔ PASSED: Expanded Authority to Discipline Local Prosecutors Vote: Passed in the Senate Status: Moves to the House
Republican lawmakers also advanced legislation SB 605 expanding the authority of a prosecutorial oversight commission created in 2024.
The commission can investigate and discipline elected district attorneys and solicitors general.
Debate around the proposal has been influenced by the controversy surrounding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose 2023 election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others was dismissed after courts ruled her office had an “appearance of impropriety.”
Why it matters
• Supporters say the measure ensures accountability for prosecutors who refuse to enforce the law. • Critics argue it could become a political tool aimed at elected prosecutors in large urban counties. • The bill may face tougher scrutiny in the House, which is considered less partisan than the Senate.
ELECTIONS
✘ FAILED: Hand-Marked Paper Ballots for 2026 Elections Vote: 27–21 in the Senate (two votes short) Status: Dead for the year
SB 568 a proposal to require hand-marked paper ballots instead of voting machines failed in the Senate after warnings it could create logistical problems ahead of the November elections.
Seven senators skipped the vote.
Why it matters
• Georgia must still comply with a two-year-old law requiring the removal of QR codes from ballots. • Lawmakers now face pressure to find another solution for modifying Georgia’s voting system before the next election cycle.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
✔ PASSED: Limits on Out-of-State Campaign Contributions Vote: Passed in the Senate Status: Moves to the House
Another Senate bill SB 423 would prohibit candidates from raising more than 50 percent of their campaign funds from donors outside Georgia.
Why it matters
• Supporters say the measure keeps Georgia elections focused on Georgia voters. • Democrats argue it disadvantages candidates in high-profile races that attract national fundraising support.
WHAT DIDN’T MAKE IT
Several proposals stalled before reaching the floor, including:
• A ban on car booting – SB 541 • A proposal to make lemon pepper the official wing flavor of Georgia – HB 1013 • Legislation expanding access to gun silencers – HB 1324 / SB 499
THE BIG PICTURE
Crossover Day 2026 revealed sharp divides inside the Georgia General Assembly over tax policy, criminal justice, elections, and prosecutorial power.
With Sine Die scheduled for April 2, lawmakers now have less than a month to negotiate final versions of these bills as they move through the opposite chamber.
For Georgia residents, the outcome could influence property tax bills, voting procedures, prosecutorial oversight, and the pace of the state’s booming data center industry.
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