May 2021
Features
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60 Voices: Dominique Wilkins and Trae Young on leading the Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins and current star point guard Trae Young talk about the game, Atlanta, and the toll of the pandemic.
60 Voices: Sam Massell and Andre Dickens on city government
During his term as Atlanta mayor from 1970 to 1974, the city’s first Jewish mayor, Sam Massell, oversaw the campaign to create MARTA; began construction of the Omni, the city’s first enclosed sports coliseum; increased contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses; and appointed the first woman member of the Atlanta City Council. Since defeating a three-term incumbent to join the Atlanta City Council in 2013, Andre Dickens has become one of the legislative body’s most vocal champions of affordable housing, transit improvement, and equity.
60 Voices: 8 of Atlanta’s essential workers on what the past year taught them about the city
Essential workers kept us going in 2020. Eight of them tell us how they survived last year and what it taught them about our city.
60 Voices: Susan Bridges and Monica Campana on art in Atlanta
Whitespace gallery owner Susan Bridges and Living Walls founder Monica Campana on what Atlanta’s artists’ community needs and what the future holds.
60 Voices: Jim Galloway and Greg Bluestein on covering Georgia politics
AJC legend Jim Galloway and AJC chief political reporter Greg Bluestein on national political superstars, the state’s shift to purple, and why “Georgia is the nexus now.”
60 Voices: Charles Black and Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis on the fight for civil rights
Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis is executive director and a professor of human rights at Freedom University, an underground school for undocumented students in Atlanta. Charles Black is a living legend of the Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta.
60 Voices: Helen Kim Ho and Daniela Rodriguez on immigrants’ growing influence in Atlanta
Daniela Rodriguez organized the Savannah Undocumented Youth Alliance has twice been named one of the 50 Most Influential Latinos in Georgia. Helen Kim Ho founded the Southeast’s first Asian American civil rights nonprofit, now known as Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta.
60 Voices: 2021 graduates of all ages on what they think of Atlanta—and their hopes for the future
We talked to graduates—from kindergarten to graduate school—to see what they think of the city now and their hopes for our future
60 Voices: Eddie Hernandez and Maricela Vega on the state of restaurants
Maricela Vega of Chicomecóatl and Taqueria del Sol founder Eddie Hernandez discuss how Covid-19 impacted Atlanta’s restaurant scene and where we will go from here.
60 Voices: Atlanta’s rising creative class is gaining new recognition on the national scene
Atlanta’s rising creative community—from film producers to choreographers to painters—is gaining new recognition on the national scene. Here, six of these artists discuss what’s next.
60 Voices: Bill Bolling, Rohit Malhotra, and Latresa McLawhorn Ryan on the future of nonprofits
Bill Bolling founded and was executive director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank for more than three decades. Rohit Malhotra is founder and executive director of the Center for Civic Innovation. Latresa McLawhorn Ryan is an attorney and the inaugural executive director of the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative.
60 Voices: Jalaiah Harmon and Sean Bankhead on going viral
“Renegade” dance creator Jalaiah Harmon and choreographer and dancer Sean Bankhead talk about viral fame, the pandemic’s effect on the dance industry, and young creativity.
60 Voices: Dr. Regina N. Bradley, Christina Lee, and Brian ‘B High’ Hightower on how hip-hop is evolving
Researcher, author, and professor Dr. Regina N. Bradley, music journalist Christina Lee, and Hot 107.9 on-air personality and professor Brian ‘B High’ Hightower discuss hip-hop’s evolution in Atlanta.
60 Voices: 5 questions for the Atlanta’s new guard
We asked young leaders in fields from business to transportation about the future of Atlanta
60 Voices: Nothing demonstrates Atlanta’s potential like its thriving entrepreneurial scene
In sectors from technology to food service, entrepreneurs are making it work. Here, five of them, including Bem Joiner of Atlanta Influences Everything and Pinky Cole of Slutty Vegan, discuss what’s next for Atlanta.
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The Connector
Atlanta’s Cross-Pollination Art Lab encourages collaboration and experimentation
Currently located at Uptown Atlanta (formerly Lindbergh City Center), the Art Lab is a gallery and studio space spread across four connected buildings totaling 18,000 square feet.
Why do private, profitable companies get public funds?
For decades, local development authorities and state economic officials have handed out hundreds of millions of dollars to help build high-rises, subsidize warehouses, and woo out-of-state businesses. Why should private companies and well-financed property developers get a cut of public funds?
Wrestling announcer Tony Schiavone reflects on being the voice of your childhood
“I was shocked to find that there were people out there that wanted to hear me again. I hear it all the time: ‘You’re the voice of my childhood.’ I’m flattered. I never expected that.”
The Bite
Find great griyo and other tastes of Haiti at Jojo Fritay in Kennesaw
“Griyo is the identity of any Haitian restaurant,” says Francois Nau. Sometimes spelled griot, the word refers to pork that’s been marinated in fresh herbs and sour orange, boiled until fork-tender, then fried—and it’s the centerpiece at Jojo Fritay, the Kennesaw restaurant Nau runs with his wife, Edith, and daughter Jo.
“The survival instinct kicked in.” During the pandemic, these Atlantans found a lifeline in food
In the best of times, running a food business can be risky, expensive, and demanding. But when these Atlantans lost work during the pandemic, it was also an opportunity.
The Goods
A South Fulton mom draws national attention with her upcycled clothing brand, Jabella Fleur
Mom of six Alissa Bertrand was frustrated with the clothing options available for her three youngest daughters. The home sewer started creating dresses, jumpsuits, and separates for her girls using curtains, bedsheets, and other thrifted textiles sourced from Etsy and shops around the city.
Room Envy: This burnt orange bedroom stands out
How interior-design and lifestyle blogger Jess Cathell put together her master bedroom
My Style: Anna Zietz and Erica Tankesley, owners of Glad & Young Studio
Anna Zietz and Erica Tankesley wanted to inject a little fun and whimsy into a handmade leather goods market that was mostly utilitarian.
