Mayor Andre Dickens, Stacey Abrams is running again, RIP Virgil Abloh, Barbados, and other top news
The Update - 12/1/2021
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1. Andre Dickens is the 61st mayor of Atlanta
Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens is the 61st mayor of Atlanta. Dickens defeated Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore. Dickens come from behind victory this year is one of the most surprising in recent memory. Dickens will replace former Mayor Keshia Lance Bottoms, who in May decided to not run for re-election. Dickens becomes the seventh Black mayor in Atlanta’s history, a streak that has lasted since 1973, becoming the longest in US history for any major American city. More on Atlanta’s Black mayors Friday.
Dickens first arrived on city council eight years ago in 2013, as he ousted incumbent H. Lamar Willis from the Post-3 At-Large position. In this win tonight, Dickens now has wins over an incumbent councilman in H. Lamar Willis, a former mayor in Kasim Reed, and a sitting city council president in Felicia Moore. More on this tomorrow.
Other races
City Council President: Doug Shipman over Natalyn Archibong with 54% of the vote.
District 1: Jason Winston is projected to defeat Nathan Clubb with 52% of the vote.
District 3: Byron Amos is projected to defeat Erika Estrada with 51% of the vote.
District 4: Jason Dozier is projected to defeat Cleta Winslow with 62% of the vote.
District 5: Liliana Bakhtiari is projected to defeat Mandy Mahoney with 62% of votes.
Post-3 At-Large: Keisha Waites is projected to defeat Jacki Labat with 52% of the vote.
District 12: Antonio Lewis is projected to defeat Joyce Shepherd with 60% of the vote.
School Board District 2: Aretta Baldon defeats Keisha Carey with 51% of votes.
School Board D7 At-Large: Tamara Jones defeats Kanesha Venning at 67% of votes.
Other Georgia races of note:
Warner Robbins: LaRhonda Patrick is the first Black, female, and POC mayor.
South Fulton: Khalid Kamau ousted incumbent Bill Edwards
Brunswick: Cosby Brunswick is the 60th mayor beating Republican Ivan Figueroa.
Forest Park: Angelyne Butler is the new mayor in a race of extremely low turnout.
2. Stacey Abrams is running for Governor again in 2022
Today Stacey Abrams has announced that she would be running once again for the governor of Georgia. Abrams is expected to be in a very tight race next year.
Abrams 2018 run against now Governor Brian Kemp pushed Georgia into the national conversation regarding fair elections and voter suppression. All eyes will once again be on Georgia as it looks to have some of the most top-to-bottom high-profile elections in the US. Abrams would be on a Democratic ticket that includes Reverend Raphael Warnock seeking to retain his US Senate seat, the race for Lieutenant Governor with Jen Jordan, Secretary of State with Bee Nguyen, Public Service Commissioner, and Buckhead cityhood. And they’re wasting no time Governor Kemp has already come out on Twitter against Abrams, he’s blaming her ‘woke politics'. More on this, this weekend.
3. Swinging Richards’s is closing for good in January
Today in an Instagram post swinging Richards, Atlantis famous gay strip club has announced that it will be closing on January 15, 2022. The establishment said that has no plans for reopening. The club has been an Atlanta LGBTQ+ staple for over 30 years. The club had filed for bankruptcy in 2019, now it’s claiming the pandemic as the reason for closing.
4. The Supreme Court is deciding whether or not to keep abortion rights
Many are expecting the end of legal abortion in the US. Today the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Roe v. Wade. It is expected with a 6-3 Republican majority on the court will lead to it being struck down. What has been a 50 year battle for reproductive rights looks to be the icing on the cake. Because of the controversial fast-tracking appointment of Amy Coney Barrett last year during the presidential election, in combination with the Trump era of selecting 1/4 of all federal judges. Add in the GOP adding three Supreme Court justices to take the majority on the Supreme Court.
I suggest you read my October 2020 newsletter on Amy Coney Barrett: New Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the end of American democracy as we know it
4. Jack Dorsey is stepping down as the CEO of Twitter
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is stepping down as CEO. His replacement CTO Parag Agrawal has been named his successor, he will start immediately. Twitter is one of the most influential companies of the 21st century, the service is the pr newswire of the world. And is one of the biggest amplification engines in the history of the world. Since his return to CEO in 2015, Twitter has grown in importance but not in meaningful revenue or overall company valuation. The incoming CEO must deal with ongoing problems of misinformation, harassment, and bad actors. Twitter has recently launched Twitter Blue, a new premium product for the company, alongside a newsletter service, Revue. All products aimed at the company attempting to reach an aggressive goal of double revenues by the end of 2023.
6. Kevin Strickland is released after 43 years for a crime he didn’t commit, but the state of Missouri deems him ineligible for financial restitution
Kevin Strickland of Missouri has been released from prison after 43 years for a crime he did not commit. He found out about his release from television. He was found guilty by an all-white jury in 1979. The release comes after a witness recanted her statement. Due to Missouri law, Strickland is not able to receive compensation from unlawful imprisonment, as a result, a GoFundMe has been started, it raised over $1.7 million dollars.
7. Two Black coaches, Mel Tucker and James Franklin are two of the highest-paid coaches in all of sports
Michigan State’s Mel Tucker and Penn State’s James Franklin have both been awarded 10-year, $95 million dollar deals. They are the highest-paid Black college coaches in history, with both temporarily tied as the #2 highest-paid coaches in college football. The deals also make them both tied for 8th on the highest-paid coaches of any American sport, college or pro. The deals are part of a shifting college sports landscape, with an expanding college football playoff, conference realignments, and new revenue streams that have made it more lucrative than ever to be a college football coach. Even if you’re fired, coaches are still compensated well, to the tune of at least half of a billion dollars still being paid out to fired coaches. Pay the players.
I suggest that you read my deep dive on college sports:
What does college football realignment mean for schools like Georgia State? - Pt. One
What does college football realignment mean for schools like Georgia State? - Pt. Two
8. Barbados removes the Queen of England as Head of State
The Caribbean nation of Barbados is removing the Queen of England as the head of state, declaring itself a fully independent country. Barbados has decided that after 400 years of colonization, to completely remove ties from the UK. The country has been working on this for years, but now it’s final. The move was inspired by the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the summer 2020 protests, a move towards reparations, and a rising anti-colonization movement. Prime Minister Mia Mottley has stayed the course, promising last year that the country would be free of the crown by its 55th Independence Day anniversary, of November 29th, 2021.
9. RIP Virgil Abloh, famous streetwear founder and Louis Vuitton creative director
Yesterday was the passing of famous streetwear designer, entrepreneur, and Louis Vuitton Creative Director Virgil Abloh. Abloh since 2019 has privately been suffering from a rare form of cancer. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. He was 41 years old.
Kanye West brought Abloh to the world
It was Abloh who helped transition Kanye from a famous rapper with fashion aspirations into a true, fashion powerhouse. Abloh was the son of Ghanian immigrant parents who raised him in Rockford, Illinois. Abloh would graduate with a civil engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s from Illinois Institute of Technology.
While studying, he became more involved in fashion, eventually working in a Chicago t-shirt print shop, where he would eventually meet collaborator Kanye West. Since that meeting, Abloh has been a trusted artistic director for West during his most creative periods of 2008-13. A period of Kanye’s most critical and cultural successes of launching the DONDA creative agency with West. He also oversaw the creative direction of West during his 808’s & Heartbreaks, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Watch The Throne, and Yeezus, albums/eras.
In the later years of his time collaborating with West, he launched small clothing endeavors Been Trill, then Pyrex Vision. Post-his departure from West, Abloh rose to international prominence over the last 10 years due to his high-profile collaborations with brands such as Nike, IKEA, and the Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami.
Abloh was the spiritual successor to Dapper Dan and Supreme
Abloh, like Dapper Dan nearly 30 years prior, changed high-end fashion by remixing it. While Dapper Dan introduced logomania, gaudy fashions, and customizing high-end brands with low-end wears. In Pyrex Vision, Abloh took the upper-middle-class Americana fashion/iconography of Ralph Lauren and remixed it with goth + hip hop. He then took the bargain basement sportswear Champion brand, remixed it, with a Helvetica font + high-end fashion’s minimalism, to redefine the streetwear market as Supreme did in the 1990s.
From my August 28th, 2021 newsletter: Butter.ATL’s takeover of Krystals is the evolution of branded content
The hip hop streetwear scene was pioneered by black tailors, bootleggers, and young hip hop fans who wanted higher end fashions but on limited budgets. The Harlem-based tailor Daniel Day, bka Dapper Dan is the person is most associated with the expansion of the ideas around street fashion, in particular a style known as logomania. A style which is defined by having too many designed logos, clashing design patterns, or re-contextualizing high end fashion for the non-high end audience.
Abloh became for Millennials and Gen Z, the de facto leader of the new school of street fashion. His name, his use of quotation marks + irony, and stark minimalism have become defining traits of the 2020’s fashion era.
Off-White and LVMH
Abloh’s collaborations with West made him (West) a cult of personality, it gave Abloh influence and access to the highest levels of fashion.
This influence would be seen in Paris Fashion Week, runways across the US, and the launch of his own luxury streetwear brand, Off-White. Off-White is a boutique fashion brand that combines streetwear with high-end fashion. From Off-White, Abloh became an immediate success, implementing the hype + low inventory strategy as defined by Supreme, et al.
More from my August 28th, 2021 newsletter: Butter.ATL’s takeover of Krystals is the evolution of branded content
1d. The business of collabs, drops, and pop-ups
Collabs: All successful collabs work at the business axis of scarcity and uniqueness. These work most successfully when they are two clearly identifiable brands working together. Ex: Disney and McDonalds together for the Happy Meal
Scarcity: Supreme works because it limits the number of certified pieces in the marketplace. Scarcity could also be time, location, or both. Ex: Pop-up museums, haunted houses, public art shows, or escape rooms.
Uniqueness: Supreme ensures that both its standard item such as T-shirts, and its outrageous items such as a $50 brick, all offer some form of uniqueness not seen in a typical retailer. Ex: Supreme selling customized caskets
Drops: How this all comes together and what’s known as a ‘drop’. A drop is when a product is made available for consumption all at once. It often relies on a first come first serve basis model with early adopters being both court customers and evangelists for the drop.
Pop-Ups: These are temporary exhibitions with the purpose of selling out of inventory. Inventory can be physical or digital. The inventory could also be access to a space.
Abloh’s success at Off-White led him to sell off a majority stake in the company to LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury retail and fashion conglomerate. Abloh also was named creative director of the company, with the task of making LVMH cool to a consumer base who were willing to spend luxury on streetwear but not ‘traditional’ luxury. Abloh for many has become a source of inspiration as prior to his death, was one of the most open and accessible designers of the high fashion world. He also has given several talks to students and interviews, breaking down the walls of access to the fashion industry.
The rapid rise of Abloh was solidified in his traveling museum exhibit Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech. Which included a stop at the High Museum of Atlanta in 2019-20. I’ve included below a speech from Abloh at The High Museum in March of 2020.
Deep dives and new podcasts coming tomorrow, good night!