Downtown residents, business owners, and other stakeholders recently got a chance to meet with the developers of The Stitch — a greenspace that will cap highways downtown — during an open house.

The development will be breaking ground on the first of three phases next year, and the developers wanted to get feedback on how the project could work for the community.

“There are eight miles of street improvements that are part of the phase one project for local downtown streets,” said Jake Cede, Development Manager for Central Atlanta Progress and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District for The Stitch. “I think we want to get down to the level of whether somebody owns a business on one of these corridors, or someone lives on one of these corridors, [we want to] understand their day-to-day needs in front of their business or their home.” 

The Stitch will revitalize North Downtown through enhanced access to affordable housing, low-cost transportation, jobs, and community resources. Government grants and donors fund the estimated $713 million project. 

During phase one—estimated to be completed by 2030 – a 450-foot bridge will be constructed over Interstate 75/85 between Peachtree St. and Courtland St. bridges, filled with accessible parks, plazas, and pedestrian pathways. Additional street improvements will be made along West Peachtree St., Peachtree St., Cortland St., Piedmont Ave., Pine St., Currier St., and Ivan Allen/Ralph McGill Blvd.

The open house at the Georgia Department of Transportation had several renderings of phase one of the project, and officials were available to answer questions. 

Downtown resident Jennifer Brooks provided feedback on the project. She said she is concerned about how this development could impact people with disabilities. 

“I was an occupational therapist, so I always have a place in my heart for somebody who struggles,” Brooks said. “It seems to me that the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] community is the one always last on the list of priorities and are often left aside, they have no breath left to ask to be treated with consideration.”

A downtown resident since 2008, Brooks is also concerned about how the funds are being used to reconnect the residents of neighborhoods that were destroyed because of the Highways Act of 1956.  

Cede says they are working on support programming for residents who once lived in these communities.   

“After the public comment period closes, we will address the comments and publish them for the public record, and then incorporate that feedback into the project and hopefully move forward with advancing the design,” Cede said.

The feedback period is open until April, 16, and there are several ways to get involved with The Stitch project. To find out how you can fill out the survey and subscribe to their newsletter, visit their website. An ambassador program is scheduled to launch later this year.

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“The Cross, the Candle, and the Crown” tells the story of Morehouse, one of Atlanta’s historically Black colleges.

The book chronicles the history of the all-male institution, from its humble beginnings in a bedroom to the upper echelon of excellence located in the West End. 

Barksdale, a Morehouse graduate, was asked by former Morehouse president Robert Franklin to write the book in 2009 for the school’s sesquicentennial in 2017. 

The school’s last book was published in 1968, when “Candle in the Dark” was released. This book helped celebrate the college’s centennial.

Barksdale’s version of the history of Morehouse is a different read from the previous history book. 

“When you read my book, it’s a narrative,” Barksdale said. “It’s not just a book of facts or information. It is informational — no doubt about that — but it’s my voice you get in this book. As I say in my introduction, some of it is based on my lived experiences.”

Morehouse’s story begins in post-Civil War Augusta, Ga. The school was first named the Augusta Theological Institute, and its goal was to produce young Black preachers and teachers. 

The debate about whether the recently enslaved could be educated fostered the idea that black men can be educated for stewardship and service to their communities and the world. 

Some notable alumni in their fields are:

• Civil Rights:
  • Julian Bond
  • Maynard Jackson
  • John Wesley Dobbs
  • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Acting:
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Brian Tyree Henry 
  • John David Washington
• Social Reform:
  • David Satcher (U.S. Surgeon General and former president of Morehouse School of Medicine)
  • Raphael Warnock (U.S. Senator and first Democratic Black Senator elected in the South

Dorothy Cowser Yancy, president emerita of Shaw University and Johnson C. Smith University, reviewed the book who said, “Barksdale weaves a fresh and compelling story of how the small school became a major producer of Black male leadership.” 

Extensive research from archival institutions like the Rockefeller Archive in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., and the Robert Woodruff Library in the Atlanta University Center debunked the oral tradition passed down from generation to generation. 

Through extensive research, Barksdale was able to dispel some commonly accepted myths about the institution. For one, it was not founded in the basement of Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta. 

The bedroom, with a warm fire lit in the fireplace, was surrounded by 37 students who became the school’s first class.

“The classes were held at Springfield, but not in a basement,” Barksdale said. “They were held in the sanctuary and the balcony of the church at night.”

Now that the origin story has been corrected, Barksdale thinks his book should be required reading for future students at Morehouse. 

“The Cross, The Candle, and The Crown” is published by Mercer University Press and is on sale now.

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Georgia’s workforce will look much different in 2025.

That was the message at last month’s Future of Talent and Workforce Preparedness Summit, hosted by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE). The summit gave a perspective on what the state’s workforce would look like 25 years from now and what stakeholders need to do to prepare for the new changes.

Chamber members, business leaders, educators, human resource administrators, and healthcare professionals gathered at the Rialto Theatre to discuss how they can reimagine education and talent development to prepare the workforce by 2050.

Chris Clark, the chamber’s president and CEO, said his goal for the summit was for business and education leaders to start a dialogue about how to prepare future generations for the workforce. 

Clark said the No. 1 issue Chamber members face is ensuring their businesses have the talent and workforce they need. 

Topics regarding pre-K education, adequate childcare for working parents, statewide solutions for the K-12 education system, and innovations in technical education were among some of the issues discussed to improve workforce development. 

Clark said that children born this year will be entering the workforce in the next 25 years, and there will be a much different talent pool than the one that currently exists today. 

“When we think about 25 years from now, the kids born today are just going to be entering the workforce,” Clark said. “That workforce is going to be the most diverse workforce in the history of the world. It’s also going to be the most internationally and globally connected. Hispanic growth in Georgia is at 50 percent, Asian growth, Indian American growth, mixed race growth is at 40 percent, and African American growth is at almost 20 percent.” 

Dana Rickman, president and CEO of GPEE, agreed with Clark, saying the relationship between education and workforce development can be more collaborative.

“Georgia is going to add about 2.5 million more people to our state by 2050,” Clark said. “That number is much lower than we had expected, primarily because American birth rates have declined, and we’re now at the same rate as in 1976.”

Clark said that for the workforce to be prepared soon, children today will need post-secondary education no matter their chosen field.

“If I get that two-year or four-year degree, my ability to not live in poverty and to not be unemployed grows exponentially,” Clark said. “This is the kind of message we have to make sure that we’re getting to middle schoolers so they’re starting to think [about their future careers].”

Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, and Russell Keen, president of Augusta University, focused on what innovations are needed to prepare young people for successful careers. 

“I think one of the things that I’m proud of is that you have a very changing university system that has become very attuned to workforce and industry needs,” Perdue said. “That’s the virtuous cycle of economic development.”

Perdue said the 26 institutions within the University System of Georgia will be equipped to meet the needs of the state’s future workforce. 

“I think we’re building a culture of innovation, exploration, and thinking about what research is all about – looking at issues that have not been solved – and creating better ideas,” Perdue said. “But almost everything changed, and the knowledge created rapidly within the last two or three years changed the jobs we see out here today, which wasn’t even thought about 10 years ago. If we prepare students to figure it out, they’ll figure it out, but it won’t be the same as today, preparing them to solve problems tomorrow.”

Clark says that we need to ensure that the future workforce has the skills they need to succeed in whatever might come their way, which is different from how he and Generation X were brought up when they entered the workforce. 

“We are going to be a very different workforce, and we need to prepare students for that type of workforce today,” Clark said. “We might know some of the fields that are going to be out there – we don’t have any idea what the jobs of the future are going to be – we just go to make sure that the kids have got the skills they need to be successful for whatever might come at them. I think that is what is imperative right now.”

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Morehouse launched its 158th anniversary weekend with a groundbreaking of its new residence hall on Friday.

“This is a historic moment for the college and, quite frankly, for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) here in Atlanta and around the country because it will be a model of what is possible,” said David Thomas, president of Morehouse. 

This project is the first new construction at the all-male institution in more than two decades 2003. 

Hodan Hassan, the Vice President of the Office of Institutional Advancement, said during the groundbreaking ceremony that part of the Campus of the Future Capital Campaign – a pillar of their Making Men of Consequence Campaign – which allows Morehouse to modernize and expand the campus and elevate its student experience to remain competitive among other top national liberal arts colleges. The school is raising $500 million for the campaign to drive investment in student scholarships and athletics and, innovative academic programs, faculty recruitment, and research.

Thomas said over $320 has been raised, and since the residence hall will be $170 of those funds, he was nervous that he would not make the goal. 

“We overcame it in the same way at Morehouse’s inception,” Thomas said. “There was doubt whether a college for formerly enslaved men was innovative or was possible or could be funded. We’re basically showing that Morehouse still swims in the same stream of boldness and opportunity to educate young Black men.” 

The living facility will be a five-story, 324-bed housing structure spanning over 88,000 square feet, with accommodations such as a green space, lounge area, technology room and labs, and welcome center. 

Last week, the Woodruff Foundation gave Morehouse a $20 million grant which will go towards Morehouse’s next construction project, a 58,0000-square-foot Campus Center that will house a new dining hall, rooftop plaza, and a place where students, faculty and alums can gather.

READ MORE: “Morehouse College raise $322 million of its $500 million campaign”

“We still need $28 million to begin breaking ground,” Thomas said. “We hope that our community of support will continue to invest in building the campus of the future so that we can provide more state-of-the-are spaces and places for our scholars to live and learn and grow into the men of distinction and consequence that they are destined to be.”

Hassan says that the students deserve a leading learning environment that’s exceptional as they are and where they can develop their talents and fuel their passions to become leaders, entrepreneurs, public servants and innovators. 

Thomas says he is counting on the generosity of alums, parents, partners and friends to help invest in Morehouse’s next phase of construction.

Click here to learn more about the Campus of the Future and donate to the Making Men of Consequence fund. 

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The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is performing its annual visit to Fox Theatre, featuring a special salute to former Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, who passed away last year. 

From Feb. 12 to 16, the company will pirouette across the stage with a performance celebrating the 25th anniversary of Choreographer Roland K. Brown’s “Grace.”

A fan favorite, the piece features music from Duke Ellington, Kevin Everett, and Fela Kuti. Silvia Waters, the Ailey II’s Artistic Director Emerita, said Jamison introduced the piece to the repertory. 

Jamison started with the theatre as a dancer in the mid-1960s before becoming the Artistic Director for over 20 years. She was honored at the Kennedy Center for her contributions to the arts.

She was considered a muse for Alvin Ailey, the choreographer and founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, until his death in 1989.

“Special is not special enough a word [to explain Jamison],” Waters said. “She was absolutely unique. As a curator, she was brilliant in choosing works for the company. And when Mr. Ailey passed away, she was ready to take over.”

The tribute will feature a performance from Ailey’s piece “Cry,” which was a dedication to his mother.

“She was someone who had tremendous energy and poise simultaneously,” Waters said. “She was very generous, very intuitive, very smart, and very focused on the abilities of the dancer. She always believed that she was given a special gift and that she was using it to the best of her ability. The stage for her was like a temple or an altar in that spiritual way.”

New pieces produced by choreographers Jamar Roberts, Pope Boykin, Lar Lubovitch, and Elizabeth Rojas will be performed at different shows happening in Atlanta.  

Waters hopes that the theatergoers will see a reflection of themselves on stage and see the human spirit that pervades the work.

“I think when you see the Ailey company, it’s really a celebration of life,” Waters said. “And I think that is what the audience will take away with such diverse music and dance styles.”

Click here to purchase tickets. 

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