Welcome to my freemium newsletter by me, King Williams. A documentary filmmaker, journalist, podcast host, and author based in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a newsletter covering the hidden connections of Atlanta to everything else.
Happy new year to all, may this year be better than the last and most definitely better than 2020.
My theme for 2022 is getting over myself
This month I’ve dedicated myself to releasing pieces of content that I did not put out for whatever reason in 2020 and 2021—mostly out of being so much of a perfectionist tbh. So every day this month there will be a piece of contact that will be available. I hope that you enjoy it some will be only for premium subscribers and some will be for general subscribers. I hope you enjoy them all and let me know what you think!
Amended* - The Last Black Mayor (DEEP DIVE)
Last Monday morning, an article accidentally went out that I was not intending to until later on today. That article was about Andre Dickens being potentially the last black mayor of Atlanta. I apologize for those people who read an incomplete post, the post has now been updated and is available to read here. I have also included an audio version of this so that you can listen along and hear what the post is if you do not want to read it.
You can read the original that was sent out last Monday here. Or you can read the amended version here.
New Podcast Alert: Steve Campbell
In today’s first official episode of The King Williams Podcast, I talk to University of California Poly Pamona professor and historian Stephen Campbell. In this interview, we talk about the creation of The Federal Reserve Bank (The Fed), the history of banking in the US, the role of slavery on banking, and even the parallels of crypto today to the 1800s varying forms of currency.
This interview is also available here on Substack, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts
Here are a few tidbits of these to get you through ahead of the week’s news!
Red Clay News
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Brian Kemp ahead of the 2022 gubernatorial election. And a rear move.
Governor Kemp has signed into law the state’s controversial gerrymandered maps, the maps enshrine GOP dominance despite the performances in 2018, 2020, and 2021. Lawsuits are being filed. But again court stacking by GOP, sigh.
Andre Dickens will be hosting his inauguration as mayor this week.
Fulton and DeKalb County Schools will be going to virtual schooling this week as new cases of covid-19 rage across the state.
Former Atlanta Falcons Coach Dan Reeves has died at 77.
More Red Clay News
1. Kemp & Co are giving $5 billion to Rivian, to build electric vehicles in Georgia
Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian has selected the state of Georgia to be its manufacturing hub for its electric vehicle. In the largest economic incentive in state history, Rivian will be receiving a $5 billion dollar subsidy to build a new electric vehicle plant in Social Circle, Georgia, a town in both Newton and Walton Counties, counties about an hour east of downtown Atlanta. Supporters of the deal say that it will bring about 7,500 jobs and new economic development to Social Circle.
The move is a pivot to Georgia becoming a hub for electric vehicles and energy sources. This includes current Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols, a Republican who’s been championing electric vehicles for years leading the charge. More potential could be unlocked more as the Vogtle nuclear power plant will open at some point in 2023.
2. Controversial Cobb restaurant Aunt Fanny’s Cabin is slated for demolition
A special task force in Cobb County has decided to continue with the demolition of Aunt Fanny’s Cabin in Smyrna. A restaurant that was attempting to gain historical status but was denied. The debate over keeping the restaurant as a historic site was not embraced. The restaurant was named after Fanny Williams, who was a servant of the Campbell family who owned the restaurant.
The once-popular restaurant like many American companies used stereotypical depictions of African Americans within the restaurant and caricatures of the docile mammy stereotype for decades to nearly exclusively all-white customers.
3. A Clarence Thomas statue is coming to Georgia
A new statue of Clarence Thomas is likely coming to the state of Georgia. This comes after all 34 state Republican senators have all signed on as sponsors of a bill that will go before the 2022 legislative session. The bill will give way to erecting a statue of controversial Supreme Court Justice on the grounds of the state capital.
Clarence Thomas was a selection that in many ways the antithesis of his predecessor Thurgood Marshall a man who did a lot to not only bring about laws and rights for African-Americans but for all people and marginalized groups across the United States. The selection of Thomas, an ardent Black conservative, whose 30 years on the Supreme Court actively worked against African Americans. His selection in many ways is a long history of white tokenism, anti-Black black positioning with the GOP, and Uncle Tom-ish political theater. Thomas has been used as a prop against Black issues including anti-civil rights laws and used as a culture shield to regurgitate racist white rhetoric against African Americans and their issues. The selection of Thomas 30 years ago in many ways was similar to Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 due to sexual allegations, and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, whose selection paralleled the selection of Marshall to Thomas as means of unding the political legacy of the prior judge (then-Ruth Bader Ginsburg).
You can read more about that problematic selection in my October 2020 article: New Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the end of American democracy as we know it
4. The Georgia Supreme Court rules guns must still be sold even if the background check is incomplete
A recent ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court has expanded access to guns. The ruling states that a person applying for a gun permit must still have it granted even if there may have incomplete information about an applicant’s criminal history. The ruling overturns a DeKalb County judge ruling and reflects how stacked at state GOP-approved court system, including the state Supreme Court is willing to go on gun rights. Note that the state-level courts including the State Supreme Court have been stacked heavily in the last 12 years under former governor Nathan Deal and current governor Brian Kemp.
5. State Republicans are running a full-court press of ‘culture wars’ for 2022
The state GOP is running a full culture war + flexing its legislative dominance for the 2022 elections. All of this hinges on using ‘Atlanta crime’ as the proxy for the GOP moving into a series of anti-Democrat attack ads and campaigns. This includes new laws for both Buckhead and City of DeKalb cityhood. Plus making a new law to ban critical race theory from being taught in any school pre-K-through-12 and also any colleges. As well as the immediate attacks by Kemp and Perdue towards Stacey Abrams. And Herschel Walker going across the metro Atlanta area on the stereotypical Black GOP ‘you’re not racist, the Dems are the real racist’ + race-neutral/dismissal stance of Black accommodationism + anti-cancel culture tours.
5. Deion Sanders pulled the #1 college football player in the country, from Gwinnett County to an HBCU in Mississippi
NFL Super Bowl champion and MLB hall of fame member Deion ‘Primetime’ Sanders shocked college football fans all over the country with his commitment from #1 high school recruit Travis Hunter to attend HBCU Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Sanders is a former Atlanta Brave and Atlanta Falcon player, who became a cultural figure in both sports in the 1990s. Sanders recruited the AJC’s Player of the Year Travis Hunter from Collins Hill High School in Gwinnett, Hunter was supposed to be a lock to go to Primetime’s alma mater Florida State University, before defecting for Jackson State. Florida State notably also passed Sanders on being the coach of Florida State years ago. The move pissed off many in college football including current Clemson University coach Dabo Sweeney who believes that Sanders must’ve done something illegal to get the Gwinnett recruit. Hunter selected Jackson State over powerhouses Florida State, Georgia, and Auburn.
You can read more about the business of college football in my October 2021 articles:
What does college football realignment mean for schools like Georgia State? - PART ONE
What does college football realignment mean for schools like Georgia State? - PART TWO
National News
Nevada Democratic senator Harry Reid has died at 82. He left office in 2017 at the end of the Obama administration.
Rest In Peace to Black feminist scholar Bell Hooks.
Rest In Peace to former NFL coach John Madden.
Several right-wing media personalities including Alex Jones are now upset at former President Trump for stating that vaccines are effective.
Moneybag Joe isn’t forgiving student loans.
A Contempt of Congress charge is being contemplated against Republican Mark Meadows. This comes as a January 6 commission is looking through all of Meadows's records including his emails. Meadows has not complied as the January 6 commission looks to be meeting next week in the US capital.
A Louisiana judge caught using N-word multiple times has now resigned.
Rest In Peace to Betty White who died yesterday at 99 years old. White was approaching her 100th birthday this month.
Betty White has been an icon for her decades in comedy. She has been best known for her various roles on-screen including her role as Rose Nyland on the 1980s sitcom The Golden Girls.
International News
Rest In Power to Bishop Desmond Tutu who passed over the holiday break.