Grammy-nominated rapper, Atlanta native, and business owner Killer Mike performed at halftime of this year’s Atlanta Hawks MLK Day game. This wasn’t Killer Mike’s (neé Michael Render) first time performing in front of large crowds at a sporting event – the attendance for Monday’s MLK Day game was 17,447 – and it wasn’t his first time performing on MLK Day. It was however a unique opportunity for him to speak to a large swath of Georgia voters on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses.

“On a hyper-local level it’s very important that people stay engaged because hyper-locally is where the change happens,” Killer Mike said.

During his performance, Killer Mike prefaced his hit single, “Run”, by saying “Y’all better run to the polls this year.” Afterwards he used the example of the $40 million of federal funding that went towards metro Atlanta trade schools and how important that was to educating thousands of people as a reason for focussing on local politics.

“When you look at the $40 million coming down the pipeline for trade schools a few years ago, Atlanta would have gotten skipped had it not been for Vincent Fort,” he said. “If Vincent Fort wouldn’t have raised hell about it we wouldn’t have had the trade schools blossoming on Metropolitan Avenue like we have now.”

The turnout for recent local elections has been low in Georgia, particularly during non-presidential years. For example, There were just over 97,000 reported votes for the 2021 mayoral election. The subsequent runoff between Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore, both well-known members of Atlanta City Council at that time, saw 78,643 voters cast ballots.

“For me, it’s important on a hyper-local level,” Killer Mike explained. “I know it’s sexy to be arguing about who is going to be president, but it’s sexier to know who you are voting for judge, who your prosecutors are going to be, who your mayor is going to be, and who they are going to anoint as police chief.”

There are more than seven million registered voters in Georgia, with more than 750,000 of them registered to vote within Fulton County. “Get to know your city councilperson,” said Killer Mike, who added that he recently spoke with Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis. “I want to see more young legislators, I want to see more young people in city council, and I want to see more progressive mayors like the one we currently have.”

Killer Mike, whose latest album “Michael” has been nominated for multiple Grammy awards, wanted to further reiterate his points on the importance of voting and voter education.

“Whoever is going to be president is going to be a bigger argument, but hyper-locally you should care about who is going to be your mayor, who are your state representatives and who your governor is more than anything,” he said.

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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took a step away from the lectern inside the pulpit at Big Bethel AME Church and caught herself. She was in the middle of her testimony, a discussion she recently had with God, and was about to cry. Willis was invited to be the guest speaker for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial service at the historic 175-year-old church located in the heart of Auburn Avenue, and moments earlier told the congregation that this was going to be a different kind of interruption in service.

“Now I must warn you, if you are looking today to hear from a perfect person, well he was crucified and he died for your sins,” said Willis. “Today what God has brought you is his very flawed, hard-headed, and imperfect servant. So I pray for him to please use me this morning.”

Willis announced to the congregation that the theme being celebrated on the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is, “It starts with me.” She proclaimed that there has been and can continue to be a shift in the cultural climate through the study and practice of Dr. King’s non-violent philosophy. The current climate she said she was in was one of hatred, racism, sexism, violence, and constant death threats. As one of a very few female district attorneys of color in the United States, Willis already had a tough job to do in Atlanta’s largest and most populated county. Of the 50 district attorneys in the state of Georgia, only seven are Black women.

On Sunday, without having to mention the name of the former United States president currently dealing with indictments in Fulton County, she was clear that the weight of her lofty position had gotten much heavier following the charges levied against Donald J. Trump.

“This church is built on faith and resilience and this hard-headed, flawed, imperfect servant before you is built and is being constantly chiseled on faith and resilience,” Willis said. “I knew God was telling me I’m sending you where you need to be. God always brings you to that safe place where you need to be.”

Willis asked a question that felt more introspective than rhetorical. “How much are you presently willing to sacrifice for the greater good of His purpose?,” she said. “I want to talk to you today about what is required to be a soldier in warfare to shift the cultural climate.”

A mother of two adult daughters, Willis, 52, said, “I must reveal a secret, the journey is ugly, the journey is painful, the journey is full of pitfalls, but if you are one of His children you must answer the purpose, the call, and you must answer the mandate.”

During her 30 minutes in the pulpit, Willis shared stories that her father, former defense attorney and member of the Black Panther Party, John C. Floyd III, shared with her of Dr. King. She said her father spent time with King and often told her stories about speaking with King and how tired the slain Civil Rights era leader was.

“I must confess to you, as a little girl I really didn’t think that Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream would still be just a work in progress. I thought by 2024 that us humans would have gotten it together. That the cultural shift would have already taken place. I thought by now we would all just be getting along. Boy was I wrong.”

She said now, as much as any time in history this country needs a cultural shift. She used the lack of respect for law enforcement and the racist, bigoted, and hateful rhetoric being shared on social media and in public as examples. “Americans have normalized cruelty, bigotry, and hate,” Willis said. “See they criticize me for who my Earthly father is and my Heavenly one.”

Floyd let his daughter know there is a big difference in how King is celebrated today versus when he was alive and one of the faces of a cultural change in America. Those lessons on perspective have not left Willis, who was uncharacteristically open and vulnerable during her time at Big Bethel. “Oh we’re going to tell the truth this morning,” she said. “This week at one point I became so in need of my source that I stopped and to tap in I penned a letter to my Heavenly father. I desperately needed to tap into that one source. God knows my heart, my joys, my pains, my sins, my faults.”

She prefaced that point by proclaiming, “In my life I have experienced things that taught me that Jesus is the only source I can rely on every time and all the time,” Willis said.

Willis shared that she still receives a steady diet of death and bomb threats. Through different means, King shared similar experiences of threats of violence to himself and his family during his journey from co-pastor under his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church and the first president of the Student Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to global icon and later civil rights martyr.

In a candid moment that drew a hush over the crowd, Willis shared that if she isn’t alerted of multiple death threats per week

On Christmas Day 2023 she was alerted of a shooting at her home only to learn that it was a cruel prank. She called it just another day when her joy was stolen while trying to celebrate God.

“God, I trust you, God, I thank you, God, I love you, I thank you for every attack that makes me stronger,” she said. “See, I sit here with a peace that passes all understanding.” The latter statement brought the congregation to its feet.

United States Representative Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga, 14th District) and Fulton County Commissioner Bridget Thorne were mentioned during Willis’ testimony. “God, I don’t want to be like those who attack me. I don’t want to be like a Marjorie Taylor Greene,” said Willis. “How is this woman who has the honor of being a leader in my state, how is it that she has not reached out to me? She can tell me I don’t agree with anything that you’re doing, but I do not agree with people threatening your life or the life of your family.”

She said God asked her to pray for Greene, Thorne, and others who have ill intentions or thoughts about her and her family.

During the reading of her letter to God, Willis also shared with the congregation that she sometimes feels unworthy of the position she currently holds. She read: “Lord, even right now I continue to feel unworthy of the honor. A divorced single mom who doesn’t belong to the right social groups, that doesn’t necessarily come from the right family, and doesn’t have the right pedigree, the assignment was just too high for lowly me.”

Willis shared that she “struggled the entire time” raising her children following her divorce from their father, but obeyed God and carried on to eventually become the first ever female Fulton County District Attorney. “It will always be one of my greatest honors. I worked so hard for it for so long, but I still humbly realize that only one percent of the district attorneys in this country are women of color.”

Carla Morrison, chair of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worship service, said to Willis, “Sister Willis, Big Bethel pulled out all the stops for you this morning.”

Willis was presented with a plaque and some gifts by church leaders, including senior pastor Rev. Dr. John Foster and Presiding Prelate, Sixth Episcopal District AME Church Bishop Reginald T. Jackson who said of Willis during his introduction of her as the guest speaker, “She’s prepared for the job for which she was elected. I want Fulton County to know that this is one of the best things you’ve done. I am so proud of our speaker this morning.”

Willis closed with her time in church with some homework for the congregation: “Please find a way to do your God-given assignment to make this world a better place for all people.” 

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The pews inside historic Ebenezer Baptist Church were filling fast as the rain fell outside Friday, Jan. 12. The crowd assembled inside was there for the 3 p.m. “Church Talk,” a discussion about the history of the church and the men and women that helped build it.

Hosting that afternoon’s talk was National Park Service park ranger Doug Coyle. Having worked there for the past 21 years Coyle was well versed in the history of the church, which is part of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site.

During the talk, which ended with guests asking questions and taking photos, Coyle told stories about the pastors of Ebenezer, including the first two pastoral leaders of the church, reverends John A. Parker and A.D. Williams.

A chronological history of the church includes the installation of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr., who’s image is forever part of the church by way of a stain glass window. King, Sr., the father of Civil Rights era icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., allowed a 17-year-old Martin to deliver a trial sermon from the very pulpit inside the church today. Upon learning this fact many of the people inside for the “Church Talk” whipped out their phones to get pictures of the wooden pulpit with the tithe box in front (as seen below). The news that Dr. King, the younger, had never been senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and was solely a co-pastor, elicited looks of wonder from a couple of the people in the pews. King was well on his way to becoming a national figure for his work as the first president of the Student Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) while his brother A.D. Williams King was co-pastoring alongside their father.

“Dr. King did not just happen in a vacuum, history just builds and builds upon itself,” said Coyle while explaining the King family lineage within the church.

Asked why he enjoys giving these talks the past two decades, Coyle said, “Because people need to know history. You know what they say about history. If you don’t know you are doomed to repeat it.”

Ebenezer was finished being built in 1922 and was the church home for many Atlantans for 76 years until the new church was built across the street in 1999. The new building seats 1,700, nearly three times as much as the original.

Looking around at the crowd following his talk, Coyle quipped, “This is as close as we get to a service these days.”

The “Church Talks” were free and are a part of the tours given throughout the year at the King Center.

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“Aladdin”, the hit Broadway musical of the Disney classic film, is at The Fox Theatre this week from Jan. 11-14 and for one of the cast members the trip to Atlanta is much more than a tour stop. It’s a homecoming.

“I grew up here,” said actress and dancer Taylor Mackenzie Smith, who is in the ensemble for the production, and made many trips to The Fox asa kid, whether on school field trips or with her family. “It’s truly full circle.”

“Aladdin” stars actors Adi Roy as the title character, Marcus M. Martin as “Genie”, and Senzel Ahmady as “Jasmine”, but for Smith’s family, friends and mentors this is week-long production taking place just miles from where she grew up in the Cascade neighborhood is a true start turn. Her parents have already seen the show, and there are plans for her former dance teacher, Djana Bell to come see her Friday.

“It’s been just a blend all through the week,” said Smith about how many family and friends have come to The Fox to see the show. She is looking forward to seeing Bell, who taught her the art of dance at Norma’s Academy of Dance on Jonesboro Rd. in Fairburn beginning when she was three years old.

“She really helped me learn my love for musical theater,” said Smith of Bell, who she remains in contact with today. “She really got me from point A to point B.”

Atlanta is home for Smith, who attended the Children’s School and Woodward Academy before matriculating to Spelman College where she majored in Drama and minored in dance. Both skills would serve her well following graduation when she moved to New York to pursue a career on stage. The inspirations that stoked the fires of that dream started at Norma’s, but also from the seats of a production of “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway in 1998. There a young Smith saw Grammy Award-winning singer Toni Braxton play “Belle” and knew she wanted to be on stage one day. Braxton was the first Black actress to lead a Disney Broadway production.

“It meant the world to me to see that,” Smith remembers. “My parents were adamant about getting us to that show. I can remember just being overwhelmed with emotion.”

The moment remains so vivid in Smith’s memory that she can recall what she had on that night. She wore a yellow gown with a tiara. “The Disney world has been a part of my life forever,” said Smith.

Asked what Atlanta means to her, Smith, who wore a navy blazer with a Spelman crest on it, said, “It means home, nostalgia, community, support and an appreciation of the arts.”

Her parents still live in Cascade and she recently visited home during the Christmas holiday. Before that however, trips home have been infrequent due to the busy schedule a production like “Aladdin” commands. Smith has been a part of the ensemble since August 2022, and in February there was a layover that turned into a flight delay long enough for her to return to her childhood home to see her parents.

Smith says Atlanta will always be home no matter where her career takes her. “This is why we go on tour, to play our hometowns,” said Smith. “To be able to be down the street from where I grew up and went to school is truly full circle.”

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The search for a CEO for Atlanta’s 86-year-old housing governing body is now down to one.

Terri Lee, who has served as Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) COO since 2020, is the sole finalist for its next CEO, according to sources familiar with the organization. Lee was the first Chief Housing Officer for AHA and was responsible for spearheading the One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan, which was to mobilize $1 billion from private and public sources to create and preserve affordable housing throughout the city.

The search for a CEO began in October 2023 following the resignation of former CEO Eugene Jones, who joined the organization in 2019. Jones, who submitted his resignation in September 2023 remained in the position until December 31.

Lee is expected to bring vast amounts of experience to the position, having worked in Jackson, Mississippi for the city’s housing and development authority. She earned a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Jackson State University following her graduation from Grambling State University.

A resolution confirming Lee as the sole finalist will be on the agenda during the Atlanta Housing Authority meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 24.

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A group of people that made their way on foot from the At-Promise Center on Cameron Madison Alexander Blvd. up Griffin Street had many things in common. They were from two major southern cities, some were business owners while others were involved in local government. They also were on the same page about making their homes, Atlanta and Memphis, two of the safest cities in America.

On Friday, Jan. 5, a contingent of Memphians, including members of the Greater Memphis Chamber and a representative of newly elected Memphis Mayor Paul Young’s office, traveled to Atlanta to better understand how the Atlanta Police Foundation has worked with community-focused organizations and with local businesses to create a safer city. A day earlier Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum announced drops in major crimes throughout Atlanta on a year-to-year basis. Like many large cities during the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Memphis has gone through bouts of crime and population loss. Part of the group of people from Memphis were Black small business owners who have a direct stake in the city’s future. 

A better, safer Memphis would not only be good for them as citizens but also as business owners, said Michael Hooks, Jr., owner and operator of Allworld Project Management, a project and program management services firm in Memphis. 

“I think the state of crime in Memphis is starting to have a negative effect on our ability to recruit and retain talent,” said Hooks, Jr. “If we don’t come together and form a response we’re all going to see a decline in growth and profitability.” 

The visit to Atlanta included a tour of police housing that is made possible by the Atlanta Police Foundation, which began in 2003 and includes programs such as the At-Promise initiative, the Atlanta Police Leadership Institute, and Connect Atlanta Operation Shield among others. The housing program allows Atlanta police officers to secure housing where they work. It is also used as a recruiting and retention tool. During the crime reduction statistics press conference on Thursday, the recruiting of future Atlanta Police Department officers was high on the 2024 wish list for both Dickens and Shierbaum. Housing incentives could help the Memphis Police Department with recruitment and retention. Other topics of discussion during a two-hour open forum included juvenile crime reduction, funding for public safety programs, youth initiatives, and fostering relationships between law enforcement and the community.

Asked why she made the trip to Atlanta, Alandas Dobbins, the president of Oteka Technologies, a low-voltage cabling company in Memphis, said, “This is my attempt at being a small part of that change.” 

Both of her adult children work at Oteka, which makes it a family business, said Dobbins, who once lived in Atlanta. “My office is in the inner city and I’m going to stay, but it’s important to us business owners to make this work,” she said.

The two cities, Atlanta and Memphis, have more in common than differences. 

“Memphis is not unique regarding public safety issues, but Memphis is uniquely situated to solve them,” said Greg Duckett, Chairman of the Greater Memphis Chamber Board. “What the Atlanta Police Foundation is doing is being a resource across the spectrum.”

Duckett said looking at what is taking place in Atlanta and the success that comes from it doesn’t have to be exactly duplicated in Memphis. “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but how we can bring that to Memphis is why we are here,” he said.

Newly elected Memphis City Councilwoman Janika White was also in attendance. She said she made the trip to Atlanta to bring back “information” and “what’s working and what’s not.”

“The Atlanta Police Foundation seems to be really beneficial to this city, and I believe this is a great model to look at,” said White, who is also an attorney.

On their way to one of the homes the Atlanta Police Foundation built for officers, the group marched up the street in a formation similar to the ones that Civil Rights leaders took during the 1950’s and 60’s.

An African proverb on teamwork reads as follows: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Memphis and Atlanta were together Friday morning. 

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Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Police Department Chief Darin Schierbaum, and representatives from community outreach programs such as Next Level Engagement Center (formerly Next Level Boys Academy), the Offender Alumni Association, Soccer in the Streets, Blueprint 58, and Raising Expectations took part in a press conference on crime reduction Thursday morning inside Salem Bible Church.

Crimes against people, which include homicides and aggravated assaults, are down 17%, according to the data provided by the City of Atlanta. Property crimes, which include robbery and burglary, are down 7% year to year as well. 

The mayor and police chief took the opportunity to announce that overall crime in Atlanta is down across the board. “Public safety has been a top priority of my administration since day one,” Dickens said. “We ended the year with citywide major crimes against people down more than 15%. I don’t put an s on my chest and say I’m going to solve this all by myself. This is a group project.” 

During his presentation of the data, Schierbaum mentioned the city will be hosting the College Football Championship in (January) 2025 and a stage of the 2026 World Cup so there will need to be an uptick in police activity around the city. According to Schierbaum 37,000 cameras around the city are on the Connect Atlanta network. 

“Every fifth day of the year (2023) you have shut down a drug operation,” Schierbaum, who said he meets with the mayor at least five times per week, said while giving credit to his fellow Atlanta Police Department officers, detectives, and units. “I want the citizens to know that we are going to stay and fight.” 

Not all of the data that was shared that morning was on the positive side of the ledger, however. Motor vehicle theft is up 61% from 2022 to 2023, according to the data. Shoplifting is also up 22% from 2022 to 2023. Dickens and Schierbaum both say more patrols are crucial to further dropping crime numbers. Accelerated efforts to hire more officers and 911 operators are underway, according to Schierbuam.

Along with Dickens and Schierbaum, Dr. Joseph L. Williams, senior pastor at Salem Bible Church, took the stage and spoke of how the neighborhood around the church has become much safer through collaboration and communication with the police department.

“I’ve never seen a mayor, police chief and administration work together like this,” said Williams who added that he has been in the ministry in the area for the past 25 years. “I’ve never felt like an adequate partner like we are now.” 

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On a cold Tuesday afternoon, a group of 15 people walked up to the front window of the Madam C.J. Walker Museum. Located on Hilliard Street, just a block down Auburn Avenue from Ebenezer Baptist Church, the museum is a regular stop on tours through the historic Sweet Auburn District. Those tours don’t always mean business for the museum though. 

“Here comes another parasite tour,” exclaimed Ricci de Forest, the owner and operator of the museum. “That’s what I’m dealing with.”

The tour guide, a youngish white female, pointed at the window and mouthed something that seemed satisfactory to her guests before moving the group of Asian and white people back onto Auburn Avenue and down the street. 

According to the retired hairstylist, curating and managing the Madam C.J. Walker Museum, which was opened by de Forest in 1999, wasn’t part of the plan. 

“That was not in my wheelhouse,” said de Forest about opening a museum in honor of one of America’s first Black female millionaires and a Black hair care pioneer. Born in Delta, Louisiana, Walker, whose birth name was Sarah Breedlove, passed away in New York in 1919. And though she never lived in Atlanta, de Forest felt like her legacy should have a home in one of the city’s Black meccas. The museum was once a Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Shoppe, a type of franchise that Walker allowed to be built across the country in her name in order to sell and use her hair care products. The shop once served Black women in the Sweet Auburn District, now for a $7 entry fee the space serves a different need, according to de Forest.

“This place is the pinnacle of Black excellence and the promotion of female empowerment,” said de Forest. “The whole foundation of our success as businessmen and women was built on Black women like Walker. I stand in complete gratitude to these women.”

de Forest, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, told the story of how he came about leasing the space that now houses the museum. It was empty the first time he drove by in 1999 when he noticed the name on the front window. “I immediately pulled over and got out of my car in order to take a closer look,” de Forest recalled. 

A student of hair cair, de Forest’s career has seen his hair and makeup work in the pages of Essence, Shop Talk, and Professional Salon magazines. He also owned a popular salon in Atlanta before retiring. When he saw the shop he said he knew what he had to do next. He went to the barbershop next door and asked about who the owner might be. The Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Shoppe had seen better days and people said it would need a lot of interior work done in order to have a beauty salon up and running again. De Forest had other ideas.

“Immediately it was for personal reasons,” de Forest said when asked why he started renting the spade. “The highlight of my career was to work in an original Walker property.” 

That work would become more collection and curation, and less combs and curls.

When you walk into the Madam C.J. Waker Museum you are transported into a Black space. The black-and-white photos of musical luminaries such as Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Tupac Shakur, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Chaka Khan immediately command your visual attention. The photos are on the ceiling and the walls. Other photos of de Forest’s mother, mentors, and inspirations sit on tables stationed around the room. de Forest says he asks visitors if they can name 20 of the people in the more than 50 black-and-white photographs around the room. If they succeed he allows them to pick a vintage 45-inch record from a box.

There are walls of records -jazz, funk, soul, classical- aligning the walls of the museum as well. Though a large portion of the records are de Forest’s, there are many that belong to the late father of a friend, Chatel Mullen. The collection of vinyl belonged to Isaac Mullen and Chantel believed it would be best to donate the records to de Forest and the museum rather than to a record store, for example. When we arrived to interview de Forest that Tuesday afternoon, Sam Cooke’s 1960 classic “A Change Is Gonna Come” played over the loudspeakers, which also were donated to the museum.

“That’s how the community can help a museum, by donating,” de Forest said. “As a community, you have to pitch in. When I started preserving this place the community started to bring me stuff.”   

To generate funding for the museum, which de Forest said he financed himself, there are Black books and vintage albums for sale, and of course, there are the tours. Visitors will get a look at some of the tools of the trade, including Madam C.J. Walker-branded products in their original containers and tins. Hot combs and curlers in the displays at the center of the room are also originals that de Forest found inside the shop. He cleaned them up and immediately put them for all to see.

“I had a very small budget, but I was hell-bent on preserving this place,” de Forest said. He recalled telling his wife about his plans to convert the former hair salon into a museum/gift shop and remembers her using a couple of four-letter words during her response to his asking what she thought.

de Forest also credits women such as Annie Turnbo Malone and Sarah Spencer Washington, a pair of Black beauty pioneers and successful businesswomen in their own right. Photos of both are on display inside the museum. 

“This museum is important for me, but it is also humbling,” de Forest said. “I am completely guided and driven by artistic excellence. I just answered the message my ancestors sent me.”  

Local business owner Dwaine Go dropped by later that afternoon. A frequent visitor to the museum, Go said the first thing that comes to mind when he thinks of the museum is “home.”

“This museum is the preservation of the values that we have as a people,” he said. 

de Forest added, “I’d like for the legacy and some of the fiber of Auburn Avenue to remain.”

As Stevie Wonder’s 1973 hit “Higher Ground” played in the background, de Forest added, “This place is a legacy, it’s larger than life.”

For old Atlanta and new Atlanta alike, the Madam C.J. Walker Museum can be seen as higher ground in a way.

The Madam C.J. Walker Museum is located at 54 Hilliard Street, N.E. is open Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 3 p.m.

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The Clark Atlanta Panthers and Morehouse College Maroon Tigers will begin the new year on the road. Both programs will play a pair of games in Kentucky and Ohio to begin the second half of the 2023-24 season.

On Thursday, Jan. 4 Morehouse (7-4 overall) will take its undefeated conference record (5-0) to Central State University, while Clark Atlanta (7-3 overall, 1-3 conference) will look to move closer to .500 in conference play at Kentucky State University. 

On Saturday, Jan. 6 the Atlanta teams will switch opponents. Morehouse will play at Kentucky State while rival Clark Atlanta will play at Central State. 

The Panthers (2-2 on the road) lost their past two road games at Spring Hill College and Tuskegee in early December. Morehouse is 2-1 on the road this season. 

The Panthers are led in scoring and assists by graduate student Chris Martin, who is averaging 24.4 points and 2.7 assists per game. Sophomore forward Shemani Fuller (12.9 points per game) leads the team with a 6.6 rebounds per game average. Graduate student guard Andrew Stewart averages 11.3 points per game off the bench and leads the team in three-point percentage at .426%.

The Maroon Tigers largely get its scoring from a transfer, Keshawh Pegues. A transfer from Talladega College, Pegues, who has started nine of the team’s 11 games this season, is averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Damion Mitchell (10 points per game), is leading the team with a total of 32 assists. 

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If it’s not the eyes of the young men with the crowns on their heads that get your attention as soon as you walk in the door at Buckhead Art Company, then maybe it’s the familiar face of award-winning actress and talk show host Whoopi Goldgerg.

In celebration of the 2023 remake of “The Color Purple,” the Buckhead Art Company is now featuring its latest exhibition, “Shades of Purple”. Inspired by the 1985 film and 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, “Shades of Purple” brought mixed media and traditional pieces of art to Atlanta for a limited time. 

The “Shades of Purple” exhibit will be on display through January 2 and is free to enter. 

The exhibit was curated by LaMont Zeno Russell, the gallery’s events and marketing manager, in collaboration with the gallery curator Talyn Hohneke. “We wanted to do something in conjunction with the release of the musical, so we decided to highlight purple pieces from our represented artists with specific depictions from the 1985 movie,” said Russell. 

Originally from Chicago, Russell cites the film as having had a profound and personal impact on his life. “The gallery owner S. Karimah McFarlane made the suggestion and I was all on board because “The Color Purple” is a movie deeply rooted in my family,” Russell explained.

A call was then sent to the approximately 25 artists for pieces to be submitted based on themes of strength, power, and royalty. The color purple is universally associated with royalty, wealth, power, and nobility. 

Some of the pieces within the exhibit depict positive images of young Black men with crowns, women surrounded by the color purple, characters from “The Color Purple”, and of course the late musician and global icon Prince. 

“Purple One” by Jerrell Gantt depicts Prince with white doves to his left and right, with a deep purple background. The mixed media piece gives off a 3-D appearance and includes a bejeweled purple ring on Prince’s left ring finger. 

On either side of “Purple One” are nods to Black excellence and youth. “Boy and the Beast” by Gantt combines an image of a young Black man with a gold crown on his head and a white tiger cub in his hands. The 48 x 36 inch mixed media piece also includes the image of a purple sun and in the background. “Crowned,” also by Gantt, combines another young Black man with a crown being placed upon his head, an African safari as the backdrop. Purple stones are embedded into the crown and around the lower half of the piece. 

Another contributing artist to the exhibition is Dean Beresford, a musician and artist from Hayfield, GA. “One of the pictures I have is the moment when Celie and Nettie were embracing each other right before they separated. That piece, “Us Never Part” is made up of  a combination of charcoal and colored pencil to bring to life one of the film’s impactful moments. The piece is stationed near the front door of the gallery and drew a small crowd the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 23.

 “I felt a certain way because that’s one point in my life. I have two brothers. I was living in LA, one was living in New York, and one was still living in Atlanta and I was separated from them,” he said. Beresford further cited how he wanted to make his work stand out, adding details such as quotes from the movie into his work. 

Raised in a middle-class family, Beresford discovered his passion for art as a means of obtaining things he couldn’t have growing up. “Drawing was a way for me to have those things,” Beresford explained. “I would draw the watches, I would draw the shoes, and I would draw the toys. I would draw everything.” 

Though Beresford has a number of pieces in the exhibit, “God Is Trying To Tell You Something” does the best job of combining multiple parts of the film into one full-functioning piece. He used charcoal, colored pencil, and pink silk flowers to portray Celie with an unbothered look on her face.

Brittany Barr’s painting, “Smile”, depicts Goldberg’s character and one of film’s heroines, Celie, surrounded by splotches of purple, red, white and blue. In the painting Celie rests her chin in her hands and grins. 

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