Biden and Trump face off for what’s billed as a debate in my hometown, Atlanta. I know you are eager for the insider stuff from an Atlanta native. The debate comes from CNN’s Ted Turner Campus, what we used to call the Techwood Campus, a 30-acre facility in Midtown. CNN owner Warner Bros. renamed it…… Continue Reading
Maintaining the Dream
Sixty years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presented what has been dubbed the “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington. It moved a nation down the road to equality. He said: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and…… Continue Reading
New Zealand will make you love life
New Zealand is the only place I ever went to bed telling myself it can’t get any better than this, only to find the next day it can. And to think it started on a plane ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 2017 when an Australian banker said, “South Africa is the second most…… Continue Reading
Those influences that change your life
My mom worked at a five and dime lunch counter in Atlanta when such places in other towns didn’t allow Black folks to eat there. A Black woman customer took a liking to my mom and said they had an opening at the garment factory where she worked; it paid a little more. She…… Continue Reading
The path more rewarding than the destination
Along the path. How blessed I am to have seen a lot of the world, some alone, some with friends? Always the road traveled and new friends met are as good or better than the destination. In Africa last month, I met a guy who plays for Italy’s national soccer team. Before that, for Florence,…… Continue Reading
It took us to Jan. 6 like nothing before
When I was a kid, CBS had a show called “You Are There” hosted by Walter Cronkite. It featured historic events where key figures were interviewed by reporters as if TV existed then. I learned a lot of history. Was thinking about that during the Jan. 6 Committee hearing today. Nancy Pelosi’s daughter produces documentaries.…… Continue Reading
Betty White was hero of the news business too
In the Seattle bureau of the Associated Press there was an old black and white TV with a metal coat hanger for antenna. We rolled it out for special occasions. Saw Nixon resign on it. The Saturday night crew wheeled it in for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” a program about people in the news…… Continue Reading
9-11 way more than a news story
Twenty years ago. It might as well have been yesterday, events remain ever clear and vivid. Emotions so powerful. People often ask about news events I witnessed. The one that is most difficult to discuss is 9/11. So many connections beyond directing our news coverage. The pilot of one of the planes lived near me…… Continue Reading
Best part of Oscars was Tyler Perry
When I was a kid growing up in Atlanta we used to slip under the fence at Fort McPherson and explore until the Army MPs rounded us up and took us home. That sprawling former military location is now base for movie mogul Tyler Perry. I don’t know him but I have friends who do…… Continue Reading
Republican Georgia wanted to go first, time to send a loud and clear message
Republicans chose Georgia to launch their desperate attempt to hold on to power by passing anti-democratic legislation to suppress the vote. Other states are watching and ready to follow. It is incumbent on those who love democracy to make an example of Georgia. Hit the state hard economically. Tighten the screws. Make the Republicans who…… Continue Reading