On Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, the mobile prostate cancer screening unit, which is 38 feet long and has an exam room and lab inside, took up some space inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
There will be more than an estimated 313,000 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States this year, according to data from the American Cancer Society. Of that estimation, nearly 36,000 men will die from prostate cancer.
With 1 in every 8 American men being diagnosed with prostate cancer, getting screened for prostate cancer early can save lives. Black men have even greater chances of having their lives saved if prostate cancer screenings are more available.
The mobile screening units would help make a difference for thousands of men who might or don’t want to make the appointments necessary to schedule screenings. The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation are taking steps to help with that with a new mobile screening clinic.
The PSA screenings can be done inside the mobile unit and can be completed in 30 minutes. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The mobile prostate cancer screening unit took up some space inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. It was on display for a media tour that morning.
Several physicians were scheduled to speak to the media about what was next in terms of where it was going to be in metro Atlanta. The 38-foot-long unit has an exam room and a lab inside. The screenings are free, do not require patients to have medical insurance, and take 30 minutes from start to finish. Patients get their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test results in the afternoon.
The mobile unit will make 15-20 scheduled stops around Atlanta, including in Piedmont Park and Emory University’s campus.
Dr. Kennard Hood is a family physician with Emory University, is the medical director for the prostate cancer screening unit. Hood, like many of the physicians and healthcare specialists that The Atlanta Voice talked to on Tuesday, believes PSA screenings and early detection will help saves lives. The mobile screening unit can make those screenings much easier.
“If you can detect prostate cancer early, there is a better chance of finding a cure,” Hood, who also works as a family physician at an Emory University clinic in Henry County, said.
The mobile unit has an exam room inside. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
“With this mobile screening unit, we can actually take this unit to the community,” Hood said.
Emory Healthcare and Winship Cancer Institute Lab Technician Andre Posey II said being ahead of the game and accessible to the Black community will make a big difference.
“We have to be proactive, not reactive,” Posey, a Chicago native, said.
Posey’s great-grandfather died from complications brought on by prostate cancer, and he believes that not getting screening and the misconceptions of prostate screenings with the Black community led to his great-grandfather being less prepared for the fight.
“I want the numbers to change for everybody, because it’s just a screening and not invasive,” Posey II said.
According to research done by the National Institute of Health, Black men are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer.
“Bringing prostate cancer screening directly into neighborhoods helps break down the barriers that too often keep men from getting tested,” said Martin Sanda, MD, Louis McDonald Orr Distinguished Professor of Urology at Emory University School of Medicine and director of Winship’s Prostate Cancer Program.
Sanda leads the team running the screening initiative and told The Atlanta Voice that making prostate cancer screenings more convenient and accessible, “We can find the disease earlier, when it’s most treatable, and ultimately save more lives.”
The Pinky Cole Foundation hosted its annual “Community Giveback” event inside the flagship Slutty Vegan location on Edgewood Avenue on Friday, August 29, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Pinky Cole, the founder, owner, and operator of the Slutty Vegan franchise, hugged one woman, then hugged another, and shook the hand of yet another. Cole stood in the dining room of the restaurant’s flagship store on Edgewood Avenue on Friday, Aug. 28, at the start of the annual Community Giveback event. Community members were given toiletries such as toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, canned goods, oatmeal, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.
Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Cynthia Bailey (rear, center) helped out at the annual “Community Giveback” event in Atlanta on Friday, August 29, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Cole told The Atlanta Voice that the Pinky Cole Foundation enjoys giving back to the people who have supported her businesses over the years.
The community giveback event occurred tonight from 3-7 p.m. or until supplies lasted. Boxes full of supplies ready to be distributed. Cole has been engulfed in news pertaining to her business dealings recently, but on Friday afternoon, she was dealing with the people.
“I just want to show the community all the ways I say thanks to them,” she said. “I want them to know that y’all show up for me and I’ll show up for y’all.”
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Live music was being played by DJay Amazin inside the Edgewood Slutty Vegan location, which was still open for business at the start of the event. Camera crews were making their way around the location, filming an episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. One of the longtime cast members of the show, Cynthia Bailey, could be seen helping out at a table, while a more recent addition to the cast, Kelli Ferrell, was at another table helping fill Slutty Vegan brown paper bags with giveaway goods.
Cole and her staff served hundreds of people.
“This is important because Slutty Vegan is rooted in the community,” Cole said. “The community always comes first.”
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Family photos of the aftermath that Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans in 2005. Photos courtesy of the Duncan family. Above: Photo of the photos by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Monday, August 29, 2005, at 6:10 a.m. marked the start of a moment that would be forever etched in history. Category 3 Hurricane Katrina had just made landfall on New Orleans, and the city would never be the same. Its aftereffects wiped out more than 80 percent of the city’s infrastructure.
The same streets where children played and brass bands once marched were unrecognizable, submerged in water. Homes, history, and culture vanished, erasing the soul of the predominantly Black city, similar to that of Oscarville. In parts of the city, water climbed 18 feet high, taking more than 1,300 lives.
Millions across the region learned through television, word of mouth, or firsthand experience that the homes and safe havens they once knew were gone. An estimated 1.2 million people evacuated from New Orleans during Katrina.
Among the cities people fled to, Atlanta was high on the list. Its historical Black presence and southern culture made it a natural choice for many New Orleans natives. Nearly two decades later, many of these natives still call Atlanta home. However, the path that brought them here is unique to each person.
“The pictures can give you some sense, but being there is actually different,” said Cheryl Corley, an NPR reporter who covered the aftermath of Katrina in September 2005. “I don’t know if I could compare that to anything I’ve gone through—tornadoes and the destruction of tornadoes, other floods, and even much smaller floods. But this was eerie because you saw all of this destruction all over the place, and there was just a lack of people.”
Months after Katrina, many people from New Orleans went without governmental support. “It took a while for all of those things to happen,” said Corley.
In remembrance of the 20 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, The Atlanta Voice sat down with New Orleanians who made Atlanta a home away from home.
Troy Lewis. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Troy Lewis, Age During Katrina: 35, 9th Ward
A Saints hat on his head, a Saints t-shirt on his back, black pants on his legs, and a pair of sneakers on his feet. That was Troy Lewis’ attire when he arrived in Atlanta in 2005.
“Of course, you all in Atlanta gave me a warm welcome,” laughed Lewis, reflecting on how he was suited head to toe in the gear of the Atlanta Falcons’ arch rival.
Troy Lewis had this Saints hat on his head when he first arrived in Atlanta following Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall 20 years ago in his native New Orleans. Lewis is still a diehard Saints fan. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Despite the light-heartedness he shows today, the reality is that the Saints gear on his back was the only possession he had when he got to Atlanta. At the time, evacuees like Lewis were often referred to as “refugees,” a term that felt heavy for someone still in his own country.
Lewis initially didn’t take Katrina seriously. He had grown up in New Orleans, and hurricane warnings seemed like a regular occurrence.
“We were going to try to stick it out because a lot of times hurricanes don’t hit New Orleans too hard,” he said.
But as he watched his older next-door neighbors evacuate, he grew more cautious. “They were leaving, and they normally don’t leave, so I figured we should get out of here.”
Lewis gathered his wife and two daughters, ages eight and six, and the four of them made their way west toward Metro Atlanta to stay with his wife’s friend.
In the days that followed, Lewis watched Katrina unfold in his hometown.
“It’s not like today, so communication was not easy,” he said. “We went a good little while, maybe a couple of weeks, not really knowing where most of our family was.”
The more news and footage he saw, the more he realized he would be in Atlanta for a while.
“It was like sixteen of us living in a three-bedroom house,” he said, as his family relied on neighbors and community donations to make ends meet.
When he returned to his home in St. Bernard Parish in October 2005, it was clear that everything had changed.
“This looked like the end of the world,” Lewis said, reflecting on his drive through New Orleans and St. Bernard. “You could see the gray flood lines at the top of houses where the water had risen.”
With banks shut down and all of his possessions, clothes, vehicles, and keepsakes lost, Lewis realized he would be rebuilding his life from scratch.
“If you ever felt the feeling of being homeless, that’s what it felt like,” he said.
Two decades later, Lewis still calls metro Atlanta home.
“I love it here… can’t get me out of here now,” he laughed.
Eddie Duncan and his daughters, Kayla (right) and Alicia, all made the trip to Atlanta during Hurricane Katrina. About relocating to Atlanta during Katrina, Duncan said, “I wasn’t stressed. I just knew it was gonna be cool. You can’t show no stress when you got kids, then they gonna feel it.” Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
The Duncan Family
After Katrina, the Duncan family evacuated from New Orleans and came to Atlanta.
Eddie Duncan, 60, is a New Orleans native and remains a Saints fan. despite living in metro Atlanta since he and his family arrived in 2005. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Eddie Duncan, Age During Katrina: 35, Home: 6th Ward
“The strangest thing happened. It was like days before it came, it got quiet out there, like everything just—you see, no birds flying around, no chirping or nothing. It’s like they knew,” said Eddie Duncan with a tremor in his voice as he recalls the days leading up to Katrina.
Eddie had a decision to make. Watching television and seeing various news outlets warn residents of New Orleans to evacuate, he began to realize this storm wasn’t like any other he had experienced in his 35 years living in New Orleans. But for Eddie and his family of five, he felt like he would be left with no choice but to stay.
“We were almost going to stay because the transportation that we had wasn’t that reliable,” said Eddie. This would leave him, his three children, all under the age of ten, and his wife to tough through the toll Katrina was bound to take.
At the last minute, his mother called and told him to take her car, as she had evacuated days earlier. Taking her car, Eddie and his family made their way to Jackson, Mississippi. Initially, he thought they would be gone for just a couple of days.
Days after the storm hit New Orleans, Eddie had electricity back in Jackson. Watching TV, he realized Katrina was unlike anything anyone had experienced before.
Even today, when he hears of storms headed towards Georgia, he gets slightly triggered. “Just the thought of it, that it may be coming this way.”
After about three days in Jackson, Eddie and his family drove to Atlanta to stay with a family friend.
“We were just running around a lot those few days,” said Eddie.
With his home in New Orleans destroyed, his two children displaced from elementary school, and a toddler to care for, one would expect a sense of anxiety to take over Eddie.
“I wasn’t stressed. I just knew it was gonna be cool,” he said in the calmest tone with a slight smirk. “You can’t show no stress when you got kids, then they gonna feel it.”
The thought of going back and rebuilding in New Orleans initially crossed Eddie’s mind, “but it wasn’t about me.” With a school system struggling to rebuild, his decision was more about the betterment of his children. “The schools never came back up the way they need to be, still to this day,” said Eddie.
At 55 years old, Eddie still resides in Metro Atlanta. Two of his children have graduated from college, and another serves in the military.
They all turned out great to me. I’m proud of them,” he said.
Kayla Duncan. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Kayla Duncan, Age During Katrina: 10, Home: 7th & 9th Ward
“Oh, this is fun, we’re getting a break from school,” is what went through the mind of 10-year-old Kayla Duncan in August 2005 as she sat in a cramped two-bedroom apartment of a relative’s house with her two siblings and parents in Jackson, Mississippi.
Jackson was the first place Kayla and her family evacuated to when word broke that Katrina was headed to New Orleans. Having lived in New Orleans her whole life, she thought it would be like any other storm passing through. Her family didn’t evacuate until the last minute.
Katrina hit New Orleans on Monday, August 29, 2005, but on Friday, August 26, Kayla remembered, “We were outside playing in the street.”
The next day, the family evacuated.
It wasn’t until days after Katrina hit that Kayla truly grasped what had happened. Dealing with Mississippi’s own destruction from Katrina, Kayla and her family didn’t have power to watch television to see what was going on back home.
“And then when the power came back on, after it being off for a couple days, we turn on the TV and New Orleans is underwater,” said Kayla. At 10 years old, she was too young to fully grasp how this event would forever change her childhood, but old enough to know it was serious.
Just two weeks into her last year of elementary school, Kayla and her family were uprooted over 400 miles across the south to Atlanta to stay with her cousin, a city she knew nothing about except that her cousin lived there.
Kayla Duncan (far right) with younger siblings, Eddie Duncan, Jr., and Alicia Duncan, during their early years in Atlanta after Katrina. Photo provided by the Duncan family
Living with her aunt and uncle, who was an attorney in an affluent neighborhood in Gwinnett County, Kayla described it as a “culture shock” when she first attended school in Atlanta. She went from attending school in the 7th and 9th Wards of New Orleans, where she was among a class full of Black students, to being the only Black student in her suburban class in Atlanta.
“We had really young parents who weren’t really financially stable,” said Kayla. She recalled her family going to Goodwill to find clothes after all of them were lost in Katrina.
“And I remember it was like two pairs of shoes and maybe six or seven outfits that I would wear on rotation. So kids were kind of picking on me because of that.”
Kayla arrived in Atlanta in 2005 and never left. She finished high school at South Gwinnett High School, earned her degree from Georgia State, and, nearly 20 years later, still calls metro Atlanta home.
Her love for New Orleans is still there and comes out when she visits, but Kayla admits, “The city has just never been the same.”
Alicia Duncan. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Alicia Duncan, Age During Katrina: 3, Home: 7th & 9th Ward
The Saints shirt Alicia Duncan wears with pride might throw you off at first. She grew up in Atlanta nearly her whole life. Atlanta is where she learned to drive, went to her high school prom, and performed in her first fifth-grade play. Atlanta is home.
But the life she knows now could have been completely different.
She was three years old when her parents and two older siblings fled New Orleans because of Katrina. Most of her memories from that time are hazy, but one moment stands out.
“I remember we were all gathered around this really small TV in Mississippi, watching the news coverage. I remember distinctly,” she said. “There was a newscaster on TV, and he was literally getting blown away by the winds.”
Over the next few days and weeks, she went with her family from New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi, and then to Atlanta. She didn’t really understand the stress her parents and siblings were under.
“I was just a baby,” she said.
As Alicia got older, listening to her siblings and relatives share their anecdotes about Katrina brought a deep sadness. Watching archival news footage of New Orleans flooded and stripped of life, she said, “It’s really sickening and disheartening to see how America treated the city.”
Even now, at 23, when she hears her dad retell how he led their family of five through the evacuation, her face still shows shock and sadness. “I wish I kind of got the experience of childhood in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina,” she said.
There are pieces of childhood Alicia never got, like being close to her cousins and relatives, many of whom were scattered across the country after Katrina.
Thomas Dean. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Thomas Dean, Age: 35, Home: 9th Ward
Sitting in a Belmont Hilton lobby, where he and his family were staying to take shelter from Katrina, Thomas Dean thought to himself, “We going back home soon, right?” as he watched the news on TV. Usually, when he and his family evacuated to Beaumont for hurricane warnings, it was only for a day or two, but this time felt different.
Moments later, the reporters on the news made a statement that left Dean and many others in the lobby in shock.
“We were watching the news, and they said, well, this is a direct hit. Make plans to stay wherever you are in the country. We’re not going to open the city back up for residents to come back home for 90 days,” said Dean, reflecting on the day in late August 2005.
“Our eyes and mouths were wide open. We were like, 90 days? What the hell we gonna do for 90 days?”
Dean, his family, and a couple of friends began brainstorming on a long-term place to stay. “It was between Dallas and Atlanta.”
So they embarked on an 18-hour trip to Atlanta. For Dean, he really didn’t expect the stay to be long. He thought in a couple of months, he would return to running his flooring business back home and go back to normal.
His house sat in the Garden District of New Orleans, an area not usually prone to flooding. He even got word from his Uncle Cyril, who had stayed through the storm, that the house was fine immediately after Katrina.
“Bo, your house is good. I’m standing in front of your house. Your work van is not underwater,” said Uncle Cyril.
However, as the day passed, he received another call from his uncle.
“I heard an explosion,” Dean remembers his Uncle Cyril saying. “Man, something strange happened. Now they’re talking about levees breaking, the water’s rising. I got to get out of here.”
When Dean returned to New Orleans a few months after Katrina, much of what he knew was gone.
“So as you were driving down the street, reading these damn Xs on these houses, it was very telling,” said Dean.
Dean grew frustrated with the government’s lack of urgency in rebuilding the city.
“Bush was in office. They didn’t care about other Black folk. So I got mad.”
That anger eventually led him to decide to keep his family in Metro Atlanta. Dean admits his adjustment wasn’t as hard as it was for many others. A family in Stone Mountain allowed him and his family to live in a five-bedroom rental rent-free for a year while they saved up.
During that time, Dean and his wife saved enough to purchase a new home a little over a year after Katrina.
Nearly two decades later, Dean still lives in Metro Atlanta and is a successful business owner. He owns Premier Flooring Group, one of the very few Black-owned flooring companies in the area.
“I’ve been really fortunate to have some success in business,” he said.
Although New Orleans will always live in Dean’s heart, he admits that moving to Atlanta opened his eyes in ways he hadn’t experienced before.
“You know, I’ve met more millionaires in person since I’ve lived here than I ever had in my whole life,” Dean said.
Chef Nikki Ford (center) and her partner PBD Grey are the owners and visionaries behind Vegan House of Pancakes, a plant-based breakfast restaurant in East Point. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Think buttery, fluffy, and flavorful stacks of pancakes on an early weekend morning — but make it vegan. That’s exactly what chef Nikki Ford, also known as Chef Nikki in The Mix, is doing at Vegan House of Pancakes (VHOP). On the corner of Cleveland Avenue in East Point sits a bubble-gum pink house where home-cooked comfort food meets plant-based breakfast for everyone.
When Ford adopted a vegan lifestyle in 2016, she had no idea it would lead to entrepreneurship. A stay-at-home mom of two girls, flipping pancakes and whipping up breakfast, began in the comfort of her kitchen. It wasn’t until her partner, who goes by PBD Grey, encouraged her to sell what he called “the best pancakes I’ve ever had,” that the idea of more began to flourish. Ford was skeptical about people wanting to buy a pancake mix, but Grey knew that breakfast lovers would be in the market for another way to make the breakfast staple with ease. The duo soon got the ball rolling with a tentative game plan. Grey designed the logo, and Ford created enough mix for just 100 bags. In March 2020, the pancake mix named Nikki’s Fat A** Cakes went live on Ford’s website, and she old out in less than 25 minutes.
Over the years, that light bulb idea continued to shine and build into pop-ups around Atlanta. When Grey came across a house and commercial kitchen for lease in East Point one day in October of 2024, the mention of a possible restaurant named Vegan House of Pancakes became reality. Through fundraising and support from the community and vegan celebrities such as Tabitha Brown, VHOP became East Point’s go-to for vegan breakfast four months later.
VHOP’s menu, curated by chef Nikki Ford (above) and her culinary partner, chef Chelsea, features flavorful pancake stacks made with Ford’s vegan pancake mix. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
“I wasn’t trying to create healthy pancakes. I was just creating a vegan pancake that felt like home, and everybody enjoyed it, vegan or not. They don’t say, ‘Oh, these are vegan.’ They’re like, ‘These are the best pancakes,’” Ford said. “That’s how I created it, and he pushed me to sell it, and here we are, five years later. I definitely wouldn’t be doing it without Grey, because I didn’t want to do it. But, he saw the vision, so I’ve just been riding it, trusting him, and it’s been working.”
The team is small, comprised of just Ford, Grey, and Ford’s culinary partner chef, Chelsea. As of now, the restaurant is only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., making their total operating day less than 60. But the labor of love has been made even sweeter by family and plant-based ingredients. Together, they’ve been able to navigate the obstacles and unfamiliarity of running a business, but have shone in their community-driven approach. So much so that people often sit in the parking lot as early as 9 a.m. to be first in line when they open at 10 a.m.
“It feels good. I knew that we had a good product. When I tasted those pancakes, I knew I wasn’t gonna be the only one to love them, but the fact that other people got to experience it, and just how it caught on and the support we got, it was a little bit of a surprise,” Grey said.
“That’s the part that’s still shocking to me,” Ford added. “That people actually get up early enough to come sit in the parking lot to be here when we open. They really want it. The people come faithfully. When names pop up on the screen, I’m starting to know the people.”
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
The pancakes are stacked high and smothered in toppings such as blueberry compote, chocolate chips, strawberries, peaches, and cream. Customers can order the pancakes from a side window behind the house with sides such as jalapeno grits — a chef Chelsea specialty— tofu scramble, cheesy potato casserole, and vegan sausage. Ford’s mix is also sold in-house for purchase.
Ford and Grey said they’re excited to see the restaurant’s growth, from more locations and operating days to opening a small diner, but they are focused on maintaining the quality of the food and service.
“We’re weekends only, but we’re building the foundation. The process is to be able to scale. And when we do, we don’t want to compromise on the food or the customer service,” Grey said. “We absolutely see this as an across-the-US type of thing. In the short term, we want to open up more days. That’s the next goal: to go from two days to possibly six days a week. And then, different states, different locations.”
But amid those plans, prioritizing their two daughters is also a big focus for them as they continue to navigate the demands of the restaurant industry.
“I homeschool my kids, and it was really important for me not to miss out on them. And it was like, why be an entrepreneur if you feel like you’re working a nine-to-five every day or longer and you don’t see your kids,” Ford said. “From what I hear, I know the restaurant world can be like that. So, this is just working out for our family.”
The duo said they hope that VHOP can become a staple for vegans and non-vegans alike. When people eat their food, they want them to walk away feeling like they ate good food.
“Be excited to eat it because it’s delicious. And if you like delicious food, you would like Vegan House of Pancakes. That’s what I wanted people to feel. And when the reviews were coming in, people were saying, ‘These are the best pancakes I’ve had,’ Or ‘I don’t even eat tofu. This tofu is so good.’ That’s what I want you to feel like,” Ford said. “You don’t have to be vegan for 20 years; you can be vegan on the weekend and come eat with us.”
Donald Williams Jr., owner of D’Juan’s New Orleans Bistro and Blake’s Oyster Bar (back row, center), with his staff. Photo by Laura Nwogu/The Atlanta Voice
New Orleans native Donald Williams Jr. is adamant about bringing a taste of The Big Easy to Atlanta. Williams owns D’Juans New Orleans Bistro in Smyrna, and the restaurateur is slated to open Blake’s Oyster Bar in September at 510 Fairburn Rd SW, Suite 200.
The seafood and Creole restaurant transports guests to the swamps of New Orleans. Upon entering the space, guests are welcomed with a big oak tree sprouting from the bar area, alligator heads holding up light fixtures within their jaws, and vertical sliding windows bringing in rays of sunshine, leading to patio seating. From the menu to the restaurant design, Williams wants to create family through food.
Photo by Laura Nwogu/The Atlanta Voice
The Atlanta Voice: Why was now the perfect time for you to open up a sister restaurant to D’Juans New Orleans Bistro?
Donald Williams Jr.: “It’s needed in this area. Everyone loves D’Juans, but we need something on the south side. They need something like an upscale restaurant, because most people overlook and ignore this area.”
AV: What made you fall in love with the restaurant industry?
DW: “The people make you fall in love. There are different people with different personalities and different experiences. You have some that just come, and I’ll be a counselor, talking to them, giving them advice. But there’s also the joy that people drive over an hour or something to be there. It’s just the fellowship, mainly.”
AV: Can you tell me a bit about the name, Blake’s Oyster Bar? I know it’s named after a special 10-year-old boy.
DW: “Yes, it’s named after my godson, Blake. He’s amazing, so I wanted to give him something and start him at a young age of entrepreneurship.”
AV: And when curating the menu, what can people expect that’s different from D’Juans?
DW: “Blake’s is more seafood. We’re going to elevate with pastas. We’re going to elevate with more different types of po-boys. We’re going to bring more of the alligators here. We’re going to step it up to give them the swamp feel. We’re going to have more crab claw fingers. Blake’s is a more authentic, swampy-feeling type of restaurant.”
AV: As a New Orleans native, what does it take to bring a taste of New Orleans to Atlanta?
DW: “One, patience. One, understanding. One, knowledge of the culture. But what it really takes is passion and love. And you have to love your city, and you have to want to bring it here and make them really feel it. At every turn, you have to make it feel like they’re stepping inside [New Orleans].”
Photo by Laura Nwogu/ The Atlanta Voice
AV: What makes New Orleans cuisine so special?
DW: “Seasoning.”
AV: What are you most excited for people to experience when they come to Blake’s Oyster Bar?
DW: “Good food, customer service, and to feel that they are a family, they’re seen, and they’re not a number.
AV: D’Juans is relocating to a new location in Smyrna, and then you also have Blake’s opening. How does it feel for you to be able to expand the brand this much because the community has responded so well to what you’ve been able to build here?
DW: “It’s a feeling that is so real. I’m more emotional. I don’t want to say sad, but I always want to cry because it’s unbelievable. I started D’Juans two years ago, and I’m actually expanding it to a bigger location, and I’m opening up a sister restaurant. With that, I feel so blessed that God has favored me.
I look forward to coming to them, and if there’s anything they feel we’re missing here, I’m all ears to talk. I want them to feel welcome. I want them to feel like they’re part of the family.
Photo by Laura Nwogu/The Atlanta Voice
AV: When Blake opens, what do you hope it adds to the Atlanta food scene?
DW: “I hope it adds a place that people can call home.”
Stay tuned to Blake’s Oyster Bar socials for updated information on its grand opening in September.
TheCuppabrew is a one-of-a-kind coffee bean distributor specializing in Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. The company was founded by husband-and-wife team Travis and Danielle Pinnock (above), Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Each year, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and philanthropists come together in Atlanta to create a unique synergy. The event, known globally as Invest Fest, has become a cultural hub for both emerging and established business owners.
This year, The Atlanta Voice learned the stories behind some of the unique businesses at Invest Fest 2025.
The Financial Rewire
TheFinancial Rewire is a learning-focused company that creates tools to teach children financial literacy. Founder Rome Jones came up with the concept after being deployed to Iraq in the early 2000s.
“Having to leave my pregnant wife to serve in the war, I knew I wanted to find a way to teach my child about financial literacy,” Jones said. “I wanted to teach him 100 financial words to help him avoid the mistakes I made.”
Jones and his wife, Tiffany, raised their child using flashcards with terms such as EBITDA, capital gain, and credit building. The idea did not become a business concept until nearly 20 years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a friend encouraged Jones to expand it. Since then, Financial Rewire has been supported by middle schools across the Southeast.
“The idea is to help kids avoid being victims to things like getting an expensive car note because of a lack of financial understanding,” Jones said.
BlackBalled Golf
BlackBalled Golf is a unique golf apparel company blending golf wear with streetwear. The brand’s name nods to the word “blackball,” which Merriam-Webster defines as “to exclude socially.”
Founders Matt Daniels and Jordan Griffin started the brand after noticing a lack of apparel that appealed to their style and representation in the golf world.
“We felt that we were not socially accepted in the golf space,” said Jabari Marshall, who has served as head of marketing since the brand’s early days.
The inspiration also came from Daniels’ grandfather, William “Buddha Boy” Owens Jr., a pro-am golfer who often spoke about the discrimination he faced at country clubs.
BlackBalled Golf, the founders said, is their way of addressing the lack of inclusivity in golf. The team includes five former Division I football athletes: Daniels, Griffin, Marshall, Johnny Williams as creative director, Barack Little as director of events, and Brandon Boykin.
“We can teach anyone how to double dutch in less than a minute,” said co-owner Michelle Clark.
I tested the claim, and as someone who did not know how to double-dutch initially, I learned very quickly. Double Dutch Aerobics was started by husband-and-wife team Michelle and Sean Clark. The idea came about when Michelle, a world double-dutch champion, realized there was no fitness class that used the sport as a workout.
For 13 years, Double Dutch Aerobics has traveled the world teaching people—from movie actors to prison systems to local school programs—the sport of double dutch.
The Cuppabrew Coffee
TheCuppabrew is a one-of-a-kind coffee bean distributor specializing in Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee. The company was founded by husband-and-wife team Travis and Danielle Pinnock, both born in Jamaica.
“Cuppabrew Coffee is not your run-of-the-mill coffee bean you would find at Starbucks or your chain coffee shop,” Travis said. “It is an experience. You might just drink our coffee once a week on a special occasion.”
The inspiration came when Travis visited Jamaica’s Blue Mountain region for his birthday. “We learned the ugly truth about the coffee industry in Jamaica,” he said. Many coffee farmers, he discovered, were shortchanged by large distributors and were not paid livable wages.
Travis and Danielle decided to change that, partnering with farmers and paying fair wages. Travis’s environmental science background and Danielle’s technology background helped make Cuppabrew a forward-thinking, sustainable business.
“We started a business that ties back to supporting farmers in our homeland,” Danielle said.
Michael Hyacinthe (above) launched the Wimage app, which later led to the creation of Wimee, a colorful robot built from recycled parts to show kids that imagination can turn anything into something new. Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Wimee and Wimage
Michael Hyacinthe, a Navy veteran and former combat engineer, wanted to create something positive after leaving the military. In 2016, he launched the Wimage app, which later led to the creation of Wimee, a colorful robot built from recycled parts to show kids that imagination can turn anything into something new.
“Wimee teaches kids to dream big,” Hyacinthe said. “If they can see me, a person of color and a veteran, create a character that ends up on TV, they will know they can do it too.”
What started as workshops during ArtPrize Education Days grew into programs in every preschool and Head Start classroom in Kent County. When schools went virtual, the team launched Wimee’s Words, a PBS show co-produced with Kent District Library. The brand has since expanded into books, toys, and lessons covering social-emotional skills, colors, vehicles, and even money basics.
“Our goal is to be the next Sesame Street for the digital age,” Hyacinthe said.
Dominique M. Williams is the owner of Inspiring and Empowering Ladies, a book publishing company that focuses on self-help books for Black girls and women, encouraging them to walk confidently in their purpose.
Williams became inspired to start her journey as an author when her daughter was born.
“When I got pregnant with her, I decided to pick up my passion for writing,” she said. “I wanted to show her what it was like to go after your dreams.”
Toshia Tiller (left), and her younger sister, and Cornbread Sisters co-founder Sheila Tiller-Tooks, at the WAREhouse Studios on Friday, August 15, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Atlanta traffic, notorious for being some of the worst in the country, might be the only thing that can keep the Cornbread Sisters apart. A scheduled appointment in the WAREhouse Studios on the campus of The Atlanta Voice was temporarily delayed due to Friday morning traffic, but when they got on the same page, there was something special about their connection.
Toshia Tiller, 57, and her sister Shelia Tiller-Tooks, 55, are the Cornbread Sisters, the founders and owners of the brand of the same name. When they are in the same room they tend to finish each other’s sentences. Having grown up with three other sisters in Atlanta’s East Lake Meadows houisng projects, Tiller and Tiller-Tooks were forever going to be family, but the Cornbread Sisters business makes them even much more than that. They are partners.
Wearing different green Cornbread Sisters-branded T-shirts and matching white jeans, Tiller and Tiller-Tooks started their business alongside childhood friend Judy. Tiller-Tooks’ daughters, Kristin and Cydnee, also help out from time to time. The Cornbread Sisters is a family business.
“We are representing all women,” Tiller said, owning their own business.
When asked if they planned to wear the branded T-shirts to the interview, they said no, but it never hurts to advertise the business whenever possible.
“It’s loud. Having the t-shirts on, people always ask us about our business,” Tiller-Tooks said. “Having the shirts on starts conversations.”
Metro Atlanta leads the country with nearly 14,000 Black-owned businesses. The Cornbread Sisters are one of the many led by women. Their late mother, Catherine Tiller, inspired the business, and East Lake Foundation’s Start: Me program was the catalyst for bringing that family recipe for cornbread to the masses.
The Start: Me program serves Atlanta’s Westside, Southside, the city of Clakston, and the East Lake neighborhood. The latter was once one of Atlanta’s oldest Black neighborhoods. Tiller and Tiller-Tooks grew up there and spoke to The Atlanta Voice about
“I knew it was going to be serious and beneficial to us,” Tiller said about the Start: Me program.
The Cornbread Sisters (above) say they represent all women entrepreneurs. “It’s important to have a place where we are able to carve out something of our own,” Sheila Tiller-Tooks (left) said. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Tiller-Tooks said she was excited about the program because, “we were going to be around other entrepreneurs. To see how other people were moving, see what things we were doing right, and what things we could tweak a bit.”
“I was all in because I knew it was going to be serious and we were smart enough to know what we didn’t know,” Tiller said.
The program offered the Cornbread Sisters the opportunity to spend time with other business owners who had gone through the Start: Me program. Tiller said it was life-changing.
“It was like a living library for me,” Tiller said. “Literally, you could talk things through in real time.”
Tiller-Tooks said the Start: Me program continues well past their completion.
“Even right now, we are able to pick up the phone and have someone answer our call,” she said. “We know their name and they know us as well.”
That education and enlightenment helped improve the business that is the Cornbread Sisters. The product has always been good; learning how to better get the product out to customers has improved.
A day in the life of the Cornbread Sisters begins with music. Legendary singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder has always been a family favorite, says Tiller, who had moved to Los Angeles before moving back home to Atlanta. Working out of a commercial kitchen space to reduce overhead, the Tiller, Tiller-Tooks, and Judy get started on orders early in the morning.
Tiller-Tooks starts her days by answering emails, checking the status of orders, and taking or returning phone calls. Tiller books the kitchen for the day, goes to the grocery store to get ingredients for the orders, and touches base with customers. Judy, who both sisters describe as a cornerstone of the business and a do-it-all employee, is the general manager. She too, wears a lot of hats for the Cornbread Sisters business.
“She’s absolutely irreplaceable,” Tiller said of Judy. “Her dedication is quiet, but forceful.”
Tiller added, “It feels like all three of us are sisters.”
“We’re everything, ” Tiller said of the five-woman crew. “We are the cooks, maintenance, and the social media managers. It’s important for us to learn all aspects of the business.”
Being a women-owned business was important to the sisters as well. Being a Black-owned and operated business run entirely by women makes the Cornbread Sisters even more of a special enterprise.
“To have a place where we are able to carve out something of our own, that’s important,” Tiller-Tooks said.
“People need more of us,” Tiller said of small businesses run by Black women. “We have the ability to be the boss and a nurturer. Women are needed in all spaces.”
The Cornbread Sisters’ motto for their cornbread, which is sold in 32-ounce batter buckets and as orders of a dozen bite-sized pieces, is “Not just a side piece. Eat with anything. Anytime. Anywhere!”
The words “anytime” and “anywhere” mean something different to the Cornbread Sisters from East Lake Meadows.
“When you come from where we come from, they have already written your story,” Tiller said. “But we were brought up in a family that raised us to go forward.”
“When you come from not having a lot, I always felt like I had to find my own way,” Tiller-Tooks said.
These days, Toshia and Sheila have something that honors the memory of their mother and goes well with a bowl of chilli or your morning coffee.
Looking down at her t-shirt, Tiller said it was about more than just having a successful business.
“It’s important that Black faces are shown,” she said. “We want to represent our people.”
Downie (left) is a three-sport athlete at Drew Charter School and wants to work in broadcast journalism. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Destiny Downie stands out amongst the thousands of people making their way around East Lake Golf Club on a busy Friday morning. A native of Jamaica, Downie, 17, is wearing a black polo and pleated khaki skirt. Not exactly golf attire, especially during one of the biggest tournaments of the year, the TOUR Championship.
Downie is a senior at nearby Drew Charter School, and like so very few before her, she was selected to be in a group of students that shadowed journalists during the tournament. Downie wants to be a broadcaster when she’s done with her busy scholastic life. She plays three sports at Drew: basketball, volleyball, and her favorite of them all, tennis. She has been playing tennis since she was a little girl.
Asked what she enjoys most about the opportunity to work as a Drew Charter School media correspondent, Downie said it was the people.
“We get to cover different people and go around the course with them,” Downie, who has been in the United States since she was a baby, explained. “I get to shake hands and meet people.”
Downie (right) is a Drew Charter School Media Correspondent for the week of the TOUR Championship. On Friday she shadowed a professional journalist for a couple hours during day two of the tournament. Photo submitted
The media correspondent program is made possible by the East Lake Foundation and the TOUR Championship. Upperclassmen at Drew Charter will spend the entire tournament covering it in various ways and then writing a blog post about their day. On Friday, Downie shadowed The Atlanta Voice for her post, but it was she who was the story in many ways.
She wants to be a broadcast journalism and has plans to study in Statesboro at Georgia Southern University. She doesn’t have any particular broadcasters she looks up to, but is following a trajectory similar to the one former Univeristy of Georgia volleyball standout and current NBC Sports on-air talent Maria Taylor has taken. When Downie was told of this, she quickly jotted the name “Maria Taylor” down into the notebook she carried around throughout the day.
Brian Harman (above) prepares to put at the 5th hole at East Lake Golf Club during the 2025 TOUR Championship on Friday, August 22, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
During the day, Downie got to watch several PGA golfers hit from the tee box and put, including St. Simons Island native Brian Harman. She also took part in a radio segment on local sports station, 680 The Fan.
She was taking full advantage of a unique opportunity to be a journalist at one of the most important golf tournaments in the sport.
“I want to build up my leadership skills so I can get into broadcasting,” she said with a broad smile.
Asked where she sees herself in five years, Downie said she’ll be finished with college, Bachelor’s degree in journalism in hand and on to the next stage of her career.
“I want to get an internship somewhere and start working towards my career goals,” she said.
The Atlanta Voice has stood as a pillar of truth, empowerment, and advocacy in Metro Atlanta for six decades. As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, we invite you to invest in independent journalism that serves YOU. Every dollar fuels our mission to keep our stories alive.
The Atlanta community pauses to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Alyce Martin Ware, who passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. She was the beloved wife of the late J. Lowell Ware, co-founder of The Atlanta Voice, and the devoted mother of Publisher Janis L. Ware and Dr. Rhonda Ware.
Dr. Alyce Martin WareCredit: Ware Family
A woman of extraordinary grace, compassion, and resilience, Dr. Ware devoted her life to nurturing her family, uplifting those around her, and serving as a source of wisdom and strength to all who knew her.
A Life Dedicated to Education
Education was both her calling and her gift. Dr. Ware taught in DeKalb County Schools and Atlanta Public Schoolsfor more than 40 years, shaping generations of students with her patience, knowledge, and care. She served as a homebound instructor, bringing education into the homes of children who were unable to attend school due to illness or other circumstances, ensuring that every child had the opportunity to learn.
Her academic journey reflected her lifelong commitment to excellence. She graduated from Alabama A&M University in 1951 with a degree in English, earned a Master’s degree from Columbia University, and later achieved her Doctorate in Education from Atlanta University—a testament to her determination and passion for learning.
Leadership and Service
Beyond the classroom, Dr. Ware was a committed leader whose service extended across civic, professional, and faith-based organizations. She held numerous offices throughout her life, including:
National President, National Association of Media Women
President, Atlanta Chapter of Media Women
President, Homebound/Hospital Association
President, Summech Development Corporation, Inc.
Secretary and Public Relations Chairperson, Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC)
Her leadership in these organizations reflected her deep commitment to education, media, community development, and faith.
A Legacy of Love and Faith
Her warmth was matched only by her unwavering faith and lifelong devotion to community. To her children, she was a guiding light whose love shaped their paths and inspired their own leadership and service. To friends and neighbors, she was a steady presence of kindness, generosity, and encouragement—someone whose words and actions left a lasting imprint.
Dr. Ware’s impact extends far beyond her immediate family. As the matriarch of a family devoted to truth, service, and community empowerment, her legacy of love, dignity, and perseverance will continue to live on in the many lives she touched and in the institution she helped strengthen.
TheAtlanta Voice family extends its deepest sympathies and prayers to Rhonda, Janis, and the entire Ware family. Dr. Alyce Ware’s memory will remain a blessing, and her spirit will continue to guide and inspire all who were fortunate to know her.
The Atlanta Voice maintains full authority over editorial content to protect journalistic and business interests. We ensure a clear separation between news coverage decisions and revenue sources. Accepting financial support does not imply endorsement of donors or their products, services, or viewpoints. While we welcome contributions, grants, and sponsorships to support our work, our editorial decisions remain independent and unaltered by donor support. We may accept paid sponsored content from advertisers for specific subjects, but we maintain editorial control over such coverage. The Atlanta Voice retains the right to review, change, or modify editorial content, and does not permit unauthorized distribution of such material. When applicable, we disclose our donors and stakeholders in an editor’s note or within the report.
Three years have passed since the tragic death of Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia mother. A year has passed since Candi Miller, also a mother, lost her life. Both women lost their lives due to Georgia’s extreme abortion ban.
Amber’s mother, Shannette Williams, and Candi’s sister, Turiya Tomlin-Randall, joined alongside Free&Just, community members, and local leaders for a vigil at Free & Just’s mural in Atlanta to mark the third anniversary of Amber’s passing and demand justice for all those impacted by abortion bans.
Details included in reports from Georgia’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which investigates pregnancy-related deaths in the state, confirm both women’s deaths were preventable and the result of limited access to prompt medical care.
Williams only learned of the details of her daughter’s passing after ProPublica’s investigation surfaced previously withheld information. In response to ProPublica’s reporting, officials in Georgia dismissed all members of the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which investigates the deaths of pregnant women across the state.
Instead of working to keep Georgia women safe or addressing the state’s alarmingly high maternal mortality rate among Black women, Georgia health authorities are being called out for circling the wagons and attempting to make it more difficult to understand how and why pregnant women across Georgia are suffering poor pregnancy outcomes and even preventable deaths.
Abortion bans are killing women across the country, and instead of working to expand access to care, Trump and extremists in Congress have jammed through dangerous cuts that will strip millions of people from health care, leaving more lives at risk.
Williams also says her grief turned into a fight when she learned the truth about her daughter’s death.
“The discovery of what happened to Amber is what made my grief turn into a fight, not to harm, but an advocacy for rights,” she said.
Amber Nicole Thurman’s mother, Shannette Williams (in yellow), and Candi Miller’s sister, Turiya Tomlin-Randall (left), joined alongside Free&Just, community members, and local leaders for a vigil at Free & Just’s mural in Atlanta to mark the third anniversary of Amber’s passing and demand justice for all those impacted by abortion bans. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta Voice
Williams says she is at a loss for words and has mixed emotions, but it doesn’t stop the fight.
“I am just taken by the fact that I must go to the cemetery to visit my baby. Amber’s death was preventable, and the fact that I hear crickets now, considering the President and Vice President acknowledged her death was preventable. Yet, they are not doing anything to save the other women,” she said.
She adds that the Trump administration is trying to strip women of everything that could save them. Williams also says her daughter Amber was affected as other women are being affected now, and that it’s her earthly purpose, goal, and breath she takes to make sure she fights for justice for Amber and all the other women who have been affected or lost their lives.
“Bringing other women together by my strength empowers me to keep going. I don’t have a ‘give up’ bone in my body because our family has suffered a tremendous loss,” she said. “When my grandson expresses how much he misses his mom and breaks out in tears, and we cannot console him… do you know what it means to be a grandmother to go to all lengths and measures to ensure her grandchildren are happy? I can’t quit.”
She also said this is what happens when the community allows politicians to have a voice and sends a message to Georgia politicians and the Trump administration to “get the h—out of our business.”
“Can anyone tell me, as a man, what I’m going through at this point? The relationship between me and my physician has been tainted because I don’t trust them anymore, and that’s a profession I’ve been in over half my life,” she said.
With experience in the healthcare field, Williams says she, without a doubt, knows women may have the same symptoms, but each woman is different, and their body is not the same.
“We don’t even trust the people that took the oath to say, ‘we’re not going to do any harm, but we’ll do whatever it takes to save lives,’ that statement has been tainted,” she said.
Tomlin-Randall said she doesn’t go a day without thinking about her sister, and, unfortunately, she and Shannette had to meet under these circumstances.
“Meeting Shannette has been one of the greatest blessings I’ve had because she gave me courage to come forward on behalf of Candi. Who would be if I wasn’t her voice?” she said. “Adriana, Candice, Amber, and all of the other women we don’t know about, no one should have to do this.”
She continues saying Candi’s name was not a talking point, and not just a memory, because when everyone stopped saying their names, their loved ones had to wake up every day facing it.
“The biggest loss is for her children who would never get to see their mother again, especially her then-three-year-old, who was in the bed with her when she passed because she was too afraid to go to the hospital because Georgia law said if she took an abortion pill, she would be in prison,” she said. “It’s unthinkable, and the worst part is I didn’t even know for a, almost two years, year and a half the real cause of her death; Clayton County waited almost six months to give me an autopsy, to make it make sense.”
Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta Voice
Senator Jon Ossoff also made an appearance to speak a few words and said it’s hard to believe it’s been three years since the death of Amber. He also said he has reflected on parenthood over the last few months as he and his wife introduced their second child, a baby girl, into the world recently.
“You pour everything into your child. There is nothing more precious in your life, there’s no relationship or possession that can rival the irreplaceable value of a child,” he said. “To lose a child in an unnecessary death because of decisions made by selfish, foolish politicians, it’s a burden that both Shannette and Turiya have borne with such tremendous grace, strength, and tenacity.”
He also says to both Shannette and Turiya, the community, himself, people across the country and state are determined to do whatever they can to support them as they continue to bear their losses.
Additionally, Williams says she wants to bombard the Trump administration and the Supreme Court because they are the ones responsible for overturning Roe V. Wade.
“Why aren’t we in their faces? Why is it so hard to get to them? Half of my family is ripped apart because my daughter is gone, and we were once a strong, solid family,” she said. “I’m beyond standing on the podium, I want to see politicians face to face. I want to see change now.”
As for advice, Williams says she wants every mother who is experiencing loss and thinks they do not have a voice, or has just buriedd thinks their child is forgotten, to muster the strength to make the world remember thei their child, anr child.
“You must muster up the strength to make the world remember your child. We went through nine months of connection and how old your child is before death,” she said. “Why would you quit? Why would you not fight? Why would you let your child’s name and memories be forgotten and buried with them? You must fight as a mother, it’s what we do.”
Furthermore, Williams said this fight is not just about her and her family, but she stands on the strength of God to bring change for every woman.
“A ‘no’ to me doesn’t mean a thing. Looking at what’s going on at the White House, I could care less because my God is the President and he made a promise and he will not break his promise,” she said. “Together we stand, and we will get through it, and we’re going to get change.”
Overstreet (center) is a native of Atlanta and an alumnus of Atlanta Public Schools. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta Voice
In a press conference on the steps of City Hall, Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Collier Overstreet announced she is running for City Council president. Overstrteet, an Atlanta native, represents District 11.
“I am so excited to be your next president in Atlanta because I am exactly what the city needs right now,” she said. “We’re doing the work and I’ll be the only one on the ballot that is ready. Ready is important in the city of Atlanta. Our mayor said he needs a partner ready to go on day one and that’s me.”
A supporter of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens on the steps of Atlanta city Hall on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta Voice
The qualifying period for mayoral candidates in Atlanta is Aug. 19-22. However, individuals raising funds to run for office are required to declare their candidacy earlier. As of now, seven candidates had officially declared their intention to run, including Andre Dickens (incumbent), Helmut Domagalski, Kalema Jackson, Marcus Lamar, Eddie Meredith, Walter Reeves, and Larmetria Trammell.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has also formally qualified to seek a second term as Mayor of the City of Atlanta. Dickens said he filed his official paperwork at the City of Atlanta Municipal Clerk’s Office.
The next Atlanta mayoral election is scheduled for Nov. 4. If necessary, a run-off election will be held on Dec. 2.
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Born and raised in Stockbridge, GA, Isaiah always knew he wanted to become a voice for the voiceless. He graduated from Savannah State University in 2019, and since then, he’s worked for The Marietta Daily…
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A native of College Park, Turbo (above) has worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Photo submitted
Chances are, even if you’re not an avid hip-hop listener, you’ve heard the distinctive tagline: “Run dat back, Turbo.” Whether at the start of a chart-topping song, on the car radio, or in your Spotify or Apple Music rotation, the phrase has likely crossed your ears.
Grammy-nominated producer Turbo has worked with some of the industry’s biggest names, such as Gunna, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, and more. At just 31 years old, he’s already achieved milestones many never reach in their entire careers, from certified diamond hits to multi-platinum albums. His name resonates far beyond Atlanta and across the globe.
Yet despite the accolades, the College Park, GA native hasn’t forgotten where it all started. Speaking with The Atlanta Voice was a full-circle moment for him.
“Crazy story about The Atlanta Voice: a really close family friend who actually raised me used to work for The Atlanta Voice, and I used to come to their office all the time,” reflected Turbo at the very beginning of the interview.
Fresh off executive producing Gunna’s The Last Wun, released this month, Turbo spoke with The Atlanta Voice about the album, the inspiration that drives him, the humbling setbacks he faced in his career, and his perspective on Atlanta’s hip-hop scene today.
Atlanta Voice (AV): Turbo, you’ve accomplished a lot in your career so far, but was there ever a time when you had doubts starting out?
Turbo: Yeah, I mean, it got to a point where I was trying to get on with so many different artists around the city and just failing. You know what I mean? I was still putting my all into everything, but I just got used to the failure. I’ve always been confident in what I did and put everything into it.
But it got to a place where I didn’t have anything else because I went all in on music. I didn’t go to college. I graduated from high school, and all my friends went to college. I was kind of looked at as the failure.
I remember that feeling, and now just to look at where I am today, I’m thankful I kept going.
AV: How did you get into producing?
Turbo: My older cousin is the one who gave me FL Studio, the same program I use today. At that time, a lot of the teenage groups were going around like the rich kids and all of the futuristic stuff. So I just kind of fell into producing.
AV: You always pay respect to your formative days spent at LoudHouse Studios, back when it was on Moreland. What was that like for you working there in 2016-2017?
Turbo: Just think of the scariest building you can imagine. Leaks in the ceiling, some lights don’t work, and you’ve got to walk through a 10,000-square-foot building just to get to a unit in the back. All that just to make beats or record people, trying to make some type of money, out on Moreland, the east side, where I wasn’t from and didn’t know anybody.
I met the owner, who’s still one of my great friends today, and he needed help running his sessions. It was just an opportunity for me to go and work.
That kind of became my safe place. At that time, I was homeless, going from couch to couch. So it was like, okay, I can at least come here and spend a couple of hours before I go find another couch to crash on.
AV: Who was the first big-name artist you worked with?
Turbo: The first big-name artist I got introduced to was Tip (T.I.) and Dro (Young Dro).
AV: How did you and Gunna meet?
Turbo: Just being in different studios. We always had mutual friends because we were from the same side, but we never officially met.
In Atlanta, the studios are almost like the club. You always see people in there. I used to always see Gunna and his best friend Nechie.
That was the first time we brushed shoulders. I saw what he could do, he saw what I could do, and we just gravitated to each other.
AV: Was this before his first Drip Season album?
Turbo: Yeah, way before that. Like 2014. We got in the studio around 2016. I produced something on every Drip Season, from the first one to the green one (Drip Season 3). But Drip Season 3 is when we really locked in, and I started working with him every day.
AV: Let’s dive into this new project you worked on, The Last Wun. You and Gunna know each other’s process fairly well. What was the creative process like for this album?
Turbo: We’re both creatives. We both put our all into the art. More than anything, we communicate. Through this process, we learned to communicate with each other way better.
From that, it spills into the music. Like with Satisfaction, we had a long, deep conversation in Saudi Arabia right before he recorded it. That conversation inspired him to do the song.
That’s kind of our process. I’ll be making music, he’ll be chilling and vibing, and he’ll say something that makes me want to get up and create something off what he just said.
AV: Speaking of Satisfaction, that was one of my favorites on the album. I really liked the feature from Asake and the touch it added to the song. Was he originally planned to be on the song, or did y’all reach out to him later?
Turbo: Yeah, Asake has turned into our Nigerian brother, you know what I mean? We hang out a lot outside of music, too. He actually heard that song one day in the studio and wanted to jump on it. And of course, it’s Gunna and Asake — why not? So we just did it like that.
AV: One of the things I found interesting when listening to the album is that every track sounds different. What inspires how you make beats for Gunna?
Turbo: I mean, I just wake up and feel different every day. That’s the best way I can describe it. Music has gotten really analytical for a lot of people, but for us, the process is just straight inspiration. If I’m feeling good, I make a beat that feels good. If I’m feeling mellow, I make a mellow beat.
Right now, just talking about my aunt and The Atlanta Voice and thinking about back in the day makes me want to go make five beats that remind me of my childhood or just being in Summerhill when I was a kid.
AV: So this album has twenty-five tracks, and One of Wun had twenty tracks. Some might say both projects had a bit too much for a rap album. What made y’all put so many songs on here? You could’ve saved some for another project.
Turbo: We just wanted to feed the fans. At first, we thought, “You can’t put 25 songs on one project.” But then it was like, why not? Whatever felt good deserved to come out. The fans deserved to hear it.
AV: Was there any song on the album that you didn’t think would get as much traction as they did?
Turbo: Nah, I always knew this was some of the best work we’ve made. I was super confident in what we had. Even some of the songs that didn’t make the album, I’m still super confident about those. Whatever comes next, we’ve just been in that vibe lately.
AV: I’m curious. Where did the tagline “Run dat back, Turbo” come from? It wasn’t in your earlier work in 2017 with Hustle Gang.
Turbo: That came in late 2018 or 2019. Everybody always called me Turbo, that was my name. I was recording a friend, and he just said, “Run dat back, Turbo.”
I put it to the side for a few months, then used it on a random beat that Gunna jumped on, and it went crazy. It was really just God, I guess.
AV: You know this month alone, we’ve seen a lot of projects from Atlanta-based rap artists. What are some things you have to say about Atlanta’s rap scene right now?
Turbo: I just want to bring back that unity. I feel like it’s been lacking, and nobody really knows why. But if you know Atlanta rap, it’s always been about unity. I’d say let’s get back to that feeling.
AV: Do you think we’re headed in the right direction?
Turbo: I feel like we’ll eventually get there, yeah.
AV: Are there any projects that we can expect from you in the near future?
Turbo: Yeah, I got a lot of stuff coming out this year with different artists. I don’t want to mess up their rollouts, but there’s plenty coming. And of course, the Turbo album.
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Statue of Carter on the grounds of the Carter Center. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The entrance of the theater on the grounds of The Carter Center was packed early Tuesday morning. Dozens of people were dressed in suits and ties, dresses, and skirts for what was going to be a very special day. The Carter Center, and for that matter the entire state of Georgia, is celebrating the 100th birthday of former United States President and Georgia native Jimmy Carter. But that wasn’t what the people were crowded outside of the theater for. They were there for a naturalization ceremony scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. with a voter registration to follow. What better way to celebrate Carter’s century on Earth and decades as a humanitarian than to have newly decorated American citizens registering to vote. The last day to register to vote in Georgia is Oct. 7.
The Atlanta Voice asked Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander what it means to have Carter, who has been in hospice for months, live to turn 100 years old? She said, “He has such an amazing legacy and the fact that he has spent a centennial now, giving back to the American public and giving back to the world is something we are so proud of.”
The Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander outside of The Carter Center theater on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
For Georgia, Carter remains an example of a leader and hometown hero similar to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Congressman John Lewis, and Major League Baseball legend Hank Aaron.
“He’s our hometown guy, so to know he gave in public service to the state, to the country, and then spent 4 0 years giving to the world is a legacy that we all wish we could have,” Alexander said of Carter’s legacy.
The Carter Center library is just $1 (100 cents) to enter today in honor of Carter’s birthday. There is also a digital
The idea that you can see how a small-town boy in Plains, Georgia became President of the United States and a global humanitarian is a trajectory that is really exciting,” Alexander said.
“I would rather see Kamala Harris just keep campaigning, and I don’t want to see a mudslinging competition. I’d rather see them double down or whatever they believe in this campaign and do it straightforwardly. Because I don’t think there is a point to a mudslinging contest. We already know who each person is. We know the bad and the good. And now I’m just worried about the policies and what they will do when they get into office.”
Credit: Vincent Christie / The Atlanta Voice
Marvin Nesbitt
Stone Mountain
“What I think she needs to do now because she’s not going to probably not want to get another debate, I think it’s important for her to continue to put herself out there as much as possible with one-on-one interviews so that the American public get a chance to hear who she is and learn more about her, understand the position on policies. I think that, for the most part, most people have already decided who they’re going to vote for. But a small fraction of Americans are still trying to decide. I think for those individuals, it’s important that she continues to educate them on who she is, what she’s all about, and what her policies are… The margins are so small right now, and every little vote will count.”
Credit: Vincent Christie / The Atlanta Voice
Promised Gourdet
Atlanta
“Kamala has to have town hall meetings. She must put herself one-on-one with undecided people. I don’t think she has to worry about people who have decided too much. But those who are undecided have questions about her policies, her record, and what she did in California. She should be able to answer those questions for those people. They want to talk about her work in California. I know a lot of people are on the fence about her incarceration policies out in California. People would like to know her policies, in general, outside of Joe Biden and the Biden administration; how she will step forth as a president and be a leader instead of a supporter.”
Credit: Vincent Christie / The Atlanta Voice
Robert Ross
Atlanta
“I think Vice President Harris should continue doing what she is doing now, which I’m not saying anything and I believe that it’s important to do that because unlike President Trump, who can say whatever he wants to say, he still has the same people behind him, the people backing him. He can even go further into creating things, and they’ll support him. Vice President Harris, right now, has the advantage of having a unified party. By not saying anything, she’s not alienating anyone; therefore, everyone can continue to be behind her. We should start seeing specific things. She can run the risk of splitting the party, which we don’t need right now. That’s it.”
Credit: Vincent Christie / The Atlanta Voice
Lavashoin Lowery
Atlanta
“I think Kamala should keep doing what she’s doing. She should stay away from being polarizing. She should address everybody and keep smiling. It makes her more inviting. Another debate is warranted. She sounded very poised. She’s not polarizing and making sure the party is unified. She’s a spectacular candidate because she’s very inclusive. Like I said, I know the media, from the other standpoint, is trying to make her seem facetious because she smiles and laughs a lot. But it, to me, is very inviting and allows many people to come in. And she should do it. She will keep her statements non-polarizing and ensure the party is unified.”
