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GOP state senator sponsors resolution expressing remorse for slavery

Similar measures have been introduced in the Georgia General Assembly before, but none have passed.  Senate Resolution 28, sponsored by Sen. Barry Loudermilk (R-Cassville) and others, stops short of apologizing for slavery. According to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constituion, “Loudermilk believes it’s not realistic for the current Legislature to apologize for acts of past lawmakers.” Here’s the text of the resolution, which notes the colony of Georgia’s orginal ban on slavery (that didn’t last long. In fact, Savannah was built by slaves before the official ban was lifted in 1751). By: Senators Loudermilk of the 14th, Ligon, Jr. of the 3rd, Heath of the 31st, Crane of the 28th, Hill of the 32nd and others A RESOLUTION Expressing remorse for the state’s past…

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Brambleman’s story begins on Dec. 26

The eReader version is only 99 cents! Chapter One In the silence between the clatter of dishes and the waitress’s barked order, Charlie Sherman heard himself dripping. He counted tiny splashes on the laminated menu: one, two, three. Waving to get the server’s attention accelerated the patter. Interesting. It was late on the night after Christmas, and less than an hour before, Charlie had been a semi-respectable stay-at-home suburban father, failing novelist, and not-so-loving husband. Now he was homeless, and he looked the part, in a torn blue nylon bomber jacket, tattered beige Henley shirt, paint-spattered gray sweat pants, and holey black basketball shoes. To top off his grungy appearance, he wore basketball goggles—a necessity after he’d broken his tortoise-shell frames during a…

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Forsyth County embezzler is going to … probation

Update: Guilty of stealing $32,000 from PTO; 15 years’ probation and restitution.  See story.  She also claims she made a “mistake.” Rarely do I get hold of a story that fits both my blogs: Chain Gang Elementary and  Brambleman, but this one does. It’s a case of PTO embezzlement coming out of Forsyth County, Geeorgia–the setting of Brambleman.  One of my readers tipped me off to the case of Jamie Garfield, who is expected to plead guilty to charges of embezzling $8,000 from the Cumming Elementary School PTO, which she served (and I use that term loosely) as treasurer. This case has been knocking around for a couple of years. According to the reports I’m hearing, other parents are outraged that she…

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Georgia’s most famous runaway slaves: William and Ellen Craft

I remain appalled at the “content” (or rather, the lack thereof) taught in Georgia’s 8th grade classrooms about the state’s history—and especially the short shrift its deep and rich African-American history receives. Of course, the same can be said for the nation’s classrooms during Black History Month. (Why February? Comedian Chris Rock once said, “Because it’s the shortest month.”) There would be no need for such a thing as Black History Month if African Americans’ story had been told properly and effectively all along, but that didn’t—and hasn’t happened—so here we are. Well, here’s something. When I worked on my father’s book, this story—which I’d never heard before—jumped off  the page at me. I was so enthralled by it that I later…

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Secession? Not again!

Maybe Obama is like Lincoln, after all.  I hope they don’t adopt this flag. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Following President Barack Obama’s re-election, residents of more than 30 states have signed petitions asking to secede from the union. Georgia, with one notable secession under its belt, is among them. By Wednesday, the Georgia petition online at whitehouse.gov soared past the 25,000 signatures needed to prompt an official White House response. The petition asks that the onetime 13th colony be allowed to create its “own new government.” Ah, Carumba. Read more.  

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