Southside Atlanta Memories

Southside Atlanta -the most beautiful place in the world...

Or maybe the beach? Or maybe the mountains? OK, but look at this photo.

Taken in the vicinity of the McClures' place, (and that's all I'm going to give you) we were meandering a little on our way home from a quick trip to Atlanta last week. We saw a FLOCK of TURKEYS  in the MIDDLE of the ROAD! and just pulled over immediately and began shooting- with our cameras.

We didn't really get an Audubon shot of them, but when I looked at the pics later that day, riding down the highway in the middle of Alabama, I was astounded at the color and beauty.

Of course when we were there- cicadas- doing that slow thing they do, building to a crescendo and then- -halt- then starting over again.

Please don't move any more, friends! Don't pave any more of this place!

One of the folks I was so fortunate to meet in town the night before was Sandy Corley. She is an artist who is part  of this fascinating project, "Witness Trees."

You probably already knew this, but in case you're just out of it, like I was, I'll explain that *witness tree*  is the designation given to a tree that was living at the time of a particular event- that may have "witnessed" the event.

Many of these trees- many that we plowed down to build "gang wal -mart" and the empty Barnes and Noble that put our nice little book store that used to be over behind the Del Taco, near the game room out of business- these trees were carved on by native Americans, early travelers and settlers, and later, Civil War soldiers, and these scratchings and carvings are called arborglyphs.

Witness Trees are old trees that were alive when certain events were taking place. Some of these were marked, and now naturalists and historians call the markings arborglyphs. Get it? I know, I'm just slow that way...

Anyway, linked here is a GREAT page of links relating to Witness trees, arborglyphs, TRAIL trees, and more. If you are going to the mountains on vaycay, or just like tromping around in the woods (I DO!) this page will delight you.

Thanks so much to Sandy Corley for bringing this to my attention, and I can't wait to see the film! AND go check out some trails on my own!

Thanks, Atlanta Police Department- never know who might be helped...

I know a lot of folks, as an officer states in this piece, think of prostitution as a "victimless crime,"  but this sort of cheap streetwalking, "massage parlors" that are now sneaking in under the guise of massage therapy- (there is a REAL massage therapy that is legit- MAKE SURE you know who and what you are getting in to!) This is nowadays many times the direct result of kidnapping a young female and brainwashing her, transporting her to another location and making her "work off her debt."  In our meaner streets, little girls with no real parental supervision are lured in  by practiced older guys who befriend them, tell them they are beautiful and sexy-"just like Beyonce" - and give them candy and manicures, and then suddenly turn on them, - abusing their innate sense of "fair play" saying " you don't think you owe me just a little for all I've done for you?" "Just be nice to my friend."

Here the Atlanta PD does a little sting  on good old Cleveland Avenue. Ride with the officers and be glad it wasn't your husband bringing you home a gift that keeps on giving- or your wife, sneaking out on the side with some guy who rides up to Atlanta every once in a while for a little fun...from the ajc.com

Also, be sure to check out Michael Lister's Thunder Beach for a great read that tells all the seamy details of the "new" face of victimless crime.

Goodbye and a big thank you to CNN co- founder Wussler, and, Atlanta Child Murders, again

Death in the News- specifically Cable News Network-

Do we remember how exotic that sounded at first? "it'll never work..." they said, Well Ted and Emmy award winning Robert Wussler made it work, and changed the way we look at news, and changed the way we southsiders look at the future.

Before CNN, we tuned in to watch Johnny Beckman, Monica Kaufmann, Guy Sharpe, John Pruitt, or Jim Axel to find out what had transpired during the day. By 1980, each of the Big  Three network affiliates usually opened with a live shot from somewhere, and then of course "an update on your weather."

(Wow- I pegged it! Wish I could remember my keys like this- watch this clip of Action News on the day the Wayne Williams interrogation was breaking- not sure they even named him! And sorry I forgot Wes Sargenson!)

In 1980. the live shots were often at a street corner in our beloved southside, where many of our grandparents were still living. Street corner shots alternated with shots of empty playgrounds as the terror of what was becoming known as the Atlanta Child Murders began to take hold.

One effect this terror had on us was to instill the idea that we were not ever safe; but certainly not in Atlanta. Realize that most southside moms took a pretty dim view of Atlanta already, dreading the drive up, making sure to take the bypass on the way up to Cumberland or Lenox -we had no where else to shop until Morrow's Southlake opened in c.1978.

In spite of this, we never locked the side door of the house in Fayetteville; our neighbors were right there- wouldn't they call if there were some one in our driveway we needed to know about? We still had no qualms whatsoever about walking from Old Nat'l's Skatetowne to the Steak n Shake(not that our parents ever knew about this!) Yet all we heard for the next several years was that there was a mysterious killer, or killers, stalking children in Atlanta.

I left Fayetteville as quickly as I could upon graduation; it never occurred to me to try Atlanta;  it was already fixed in my mind that Atlanta was a creepy, cold, crime ridden place offering nothing for me. Precisely because of Fayette County's bucolic reputation, newcomers flooded the housing market, driving prices up so high that none of the home folks' kids that did want to stay in FC after college could afford to. SO. They moved to Coweta.

Now there's barely a pine nor an oak between Fort Mac and the Meriwether County Line.

The positive effect I can document only minimally, since I did leave and have not as of yet every returned to live full time. I can only give three examples, but I can attest that the effect is real. As much as I mourn the loss of our excellent local Big Three teams, I am  proud of CNN. We went from being the home of the Atlanta Child Murders to being the Home of CNN! Several of our own classmates Got Jobs At CNN! It never crossed my mind growing up in Kenwood that anyone I knew would work at a TV station, except Todd Landrum, whom I pegged for Johnny's eventual replacement, since he was the funniest and smartest kid I knew. 

But there was Cheryl Fowler, Susanne Black, Toby Blanton! My sister! Suddenly our horizons stretched far; our children's vistas. Never did my girls hear from me, "You'd better get a teaching certificate, just in case."

Thank you Robert Wussler, for opening up our world just a little bit. See his obit at the ajc.com, here.

Tonight, and Sunday night, you can see CNN and their take on the Atlanta Child Murders; go here for an overview and broadcast times. 

Look to your right along the book list and check out Bernard Headly's well researched take on the ACMs. I was amazed at his meticulous examination of the fiber evidence, for example.

If you have cable- enjoy! Can't wait to get ahold of the show somehow.

Panama City Beach is doing just fine-just likeThunder Beach!

Hi Southside friends!

Long time and all-finishing up another semester of school, all that good stuff- and yes very worried about this terrible oil explosion and continuing gusher currently in the Gulf of Mexico. AS OF NOW: It is fantastic here- pics taken Saturday, May 8th, 2010, near Ms. Newby's.

 

Looking toward the State Park

Looking west toward Pineapple Willy's

I didn't take any pics today, but I should have! I was down there reading all but the first couple of chapters, which I had read earlier at work (shhh.) The air was fresh, the water clear, and the beach white. I had my lunch and whipped through the most amazing beach book!

Michael Lister is an honest to God local of the Wewa variety, and a well known author to boot. his latest, "Thunder Beach" is a page-turning good read. A good looking out- of work journalist- (is there any other kind these days?), a hot, and yikes, I mean HOT love interest- (yes, I had to skip some sentences...) together on a nail biting crime mystery-

but the SETTING- is your favorite place! Panama City Beach! You'll feel like you're back in PCB as you go through the old Miracle Strip, hit La Vela on a party night, and yes, even get to hang out on the pavement at good old Ms Newby's!

Of course, what's PC with out a visit to Hunt's - it's here, too- heck, he outs (really) a lot of our cool spots I wish he'd left a secret!

What is amazingly coincidental- if you believe in that sort of thing- is that Lister's unemployed hero and stripper heroine are digging into the depths of the crime we all on the Southside of Atlanta so want to eradicate-
forced prostitution and slavery!

I know- when you walk down the beautiful beach, with all the beach beauties, it makes you wonder how the professionals manage to compete with the amateurs, but where there's a buck there's a creep waiting to exploit the one with the buck.  

"Thunder Beach" goes ahem, yeah, undercover (sorry) and takes the lid off Panama City Beach and takes you back to the places you've hung out at, and come back to, all your life.

While I was on the beach this morning, I spoke with the niece of one of our remaining Mom and Pops down here on the East End. She said some places were giving out free nights because of the panic over the oil mess and its possible effects on out beaches. Like I showed you, nothing but fantastic right now.

Why don't you gas up the car, get a copy of Michael Lister's "Thunder Beach" and have the laziest, most productive, most memory filled week (or weekend) of your life?

COME ON DOWN, the WATER'S FINE!

As Faulkner said...it ain't even past... Mary Shotwell Little/Diane Shields case

Well, believe it or not-

Here's a link to a page of the Tuscaloosa News.

On May 21, 1967, it was reported that Diane Shields was found dead in the trunk of her own car, going on to say the discovery may be linked to the disappearance of Mary Shotwell Little.  

My thanks to Cambria of Websleuths.com for this link! 

There's even a Facebook group called 'Let's find out who killed Mary Shotwell Little and Diane Shields.'

Keep comin' back, folks, and love to hear your comments!

Child prostitution, sex trade, Jesus, Saints...one of these things is not like the other..

SO-- blogroll. I was not going to do this; figured I had highlighted enough groups to get any of you started that might be so inclined to support folks involved in the skin trade.

My FC school mate Frank Mercer (now pastor at Rolling Hills Church, Southside) had this great post  featuring the Pocket Jesus. That link led to another, "I wish my wife still looked at porn. "  This linked to Victoria's Friends ,the site for a group that takes gift baskets to women working at clubs. At this point I'm in tears; I find this work really moving. But I was having a time trying to get any contact info to get a little more info on the VF group; totally understand the need for confidentiality; just wanted some bkgrnd. I think I may have succeeded in leaving a message, but still not sure.

So I go back on the social networking utility that sucks in so very much time, and there's Southside Runners with a link to Street GRACE, an Atlanta non denominational alliance with the mission to end sex ex of kids (CSEC) in Atlanta.

There was a project much like this in the early 20th century in Atlanta; very energized by young Atlantans wanting to change the city for the better; many churches were involved, and I can definitely see Linda on fire with the young Peter Marshall Presbyterians taking care of girls "in trouble" (she related some of this to me in rather guarded terms; I was a preteen and I suppose she did not want to shock me...) and getting together with scores of other young saints to plan their next foray. 

I'll try to find the old group- I believe it was affiliated with the 1920s Ivan Allen version of Forward Atlanta, sort of a civic clean up type thing that the Chamber of Commerce crowd wanted to see just enough to draw business, but not enough to draw blood; the church folks thought a little differently.

SO- If you were wanting more info on how to help kids -and adults- who are feeling hopeless today- here are some folks just like you to get together with. If you are at a time in your life when you just can't get out- aching joints, little kiddies biting your ankles, you can pray and/ or send a dollar.

Have a great Southside day!

Atlanta Child Murders, child prostitution in the news again (was there a connection?) Thanks also to some Southside Saints!

Just saw a nice Q&A on ajc.com with Jack Mallard, who has just published his account of the Wayne Williams trial. Wayne Williams was convicted of the main murders, but Mallard, who was the prosecutor who sent Williams to prison, says he considers some of the cases "open."

I went to Amazon.com and checked out as much of the book as I could, which was the isbn page, the table of contents (sigh), and Mr. Mallard's intro. The two customer reviews praise his trial narrative; too bad I didn't get to sample it. I for one am always thrilled to see a participant record his or her memories of an historic event and really look forward to reading the book.

I will say that in reading the ajc "conversation" and the book's introduction I did not learn anything I didn't already know from  Bernard Headley's exhaustive "The Atlanta Child Murders and the Politics of Race"  , published in  1999, eleven years ago, by Southern Illinois University Press. As you know, I've featured this book, which I stumbled upon in the old Panama City downtown library (BCPL) several years ago, on this blog on the right side of the page- feel free to click and order. If you have any interest in Atlanta in the '70s and '80s it is definitely worth your while.

Why were some of the other kids picked up? Did the ACMs teach us anything about our kids? Were some of the kids picked up for the purpose of making them into prostitutes? The Headley book brings up some of these questions. I mentioned in a recent post Moving in the Spirit, a non-profit that provides dance training to kids after school,, in hopes of helping them see their own worth, and keeping them out of harms way.

In the same post, I was highlighting Jim Garroway's Political Insider blog in the ajc.com mentioning Renee Unterman's curious opposition: her former peers in the Republican aisles. Unterman does not want children picked up in child prostitution cases arrested and handcuffed; she sees them as victims who need treatment and help. The column says that the Georgia Baptist Convention is siding with her opposition. In the "Comments" on the ajc.com column, a commenter states the belief that GBC has reexamined the bill and rescinded its support.  I wrote the GPC and got a VERY prompt- especially for a late Friday afternoon- reply from the AA, and Rev. H. Ray Newman, Sr., Specialist- yes, that's his job title, in the Convention's  Ethics and Public Affairs department. The administrative assistant (read woman who does everything and knows how those grey boxes with wires and typewriters on the front work) and Pastor Newman both informed me of a ministry that I'm thrilled to know exists,

Wellspring Living. This group is reaching out to and assisting victims of the sex trade, and was started by a handful of SOUTHSIDE women! Oh yeah!

I'm still waiting to find out whether the GBC is supporting the bill or not, but I will tell you I really appreciated Newman's graciousness in getting back so quickly, and in spite of my fairly accurate remark about secretaries -I mean Administrative Assistants- doing all the work- I believe Pastor Newman wrote his letter himself.

Please check out Wellspring Living, and let me know about any other groups you'd like to know more about. Do something for these women and kids- and the deluded men as well who are being chained up like a beat down pit bull by this selfish mess.

And check out the new Mallard book- but by all means - get Bernard Hadley's book, as well.  

Do children pimp themselves? Renee Unterman -politician, takes a stand.

In an unsettling turn of events, some Georgia legislators  have decided to ostracize their fellow, or should I say -sister- member of the Georgia Assembly for her stand for the victims of child prostitution. I would think the sheer rarity of seeing any politician actually taking a stand for anything would be enough to silence the body, but evidently that is not the case .

Please check out this piece in today's ajc.com to get the particulars on why some Republicans are slamming Unterman, (R,Buford) as soft on crime. Unterman maintains that since in the state of Georgia a person under 16 can not legally consent to sex, it stands to reason a person under the age of 16 cannot legally consent to prostitution, and therefore should not be prosecuted and sent to jail. She and most post Dikensian child and family advocates  have seen child prostitutes as victims of coercion and urged therapy. Even from a hard law and order point of view, these young witnesses can give prosecutors information about the workings behind the scenes if they are not scared into silence by handcuffs.

Check out the comments; as usual, some are silly, but there are some that are thoughtful.

According to the commentary, there are some groups supporting Senator Unterman . While not at all directly related to child prostitution, good old  Fayette Presbyterian supports a group in Glenwood that I enjoy hearing about; you are close enough to go check them out-

Moving in the Spirit is a non profit group that teaches dance to students who otherwise might not have a chance to be involved in after school lessons.  See if you are led to support this group or research other groups that do work for children that need to know what they are worth.

An Eastern philosopher from the first century said any person that harms a child, or causes a child to be harmed, should wish to be thrown into the sea with a giant rock tied around his or her neck, rather than the fate that might be visited upon him or her by an angry god.

I hope you, and your legislator are all aware of child prostitution in our Southside. It's not a pleasant subject, at all, but there's another ancient maxim that says if we have the power to do something good, but do not, then we are at fault. You can look here on this blog for some stories on this sick mess. 

Greenbriar in the news again

Yay for Greenbriar Mall and a Merry Christmas to all! I hope everyone is picking up some gifts at Greenbriar, and having some Chick-Fil-A at their first mall location! See this ajc article for more!

Hurricane Ida weakens; Waffle House still serving, situation normal!

Wow folks, there's been a lot of fun and exciting Southside news but according to the nationals our number one story is Hurricane Ida!

Except it's not. The ajc picked up this report and as they noted, the storm has, Thank you, God, weakened!

Everyone I spoke with this morning seems to be echoing Bay Point's Steve Arndt's sentiments: "..my gut tells me it probably won't be that bad..."  Bay Point is on the beach, btw. Since we are unincorporated, everyone up to the Beach city limits has a Panama City address. I think. I am thinking about exploring some of these little details online...Whatcha think? 

But lots of thanks to everyone sending good wishes and prayers our way!

In other SSAM news:  Yellow signs at restaurants  on 138? Sound familiar? Well, at least the Waffle House is  open! Shooting or not- the hash browns must be slung! Yum yum! Click here for a slide show from WSB-TV .