In 5 years, Courtwatch clocks 1000 hours, bonds out 51 people

The all-volunteer Athens Area Courtwatch Project is completing its fifth year of observing criminal proceedings in the Athens-Clarke County courts. 

By the end of 2023, volunteers will have logged nearly 1,000 hours in courtrooms, observing hundreds of hearings, providing moral support to families of defendants and encouragement to defendants’ lawyers. More than 100 unique individuals have volunteered in 2023.

The … Read the rest

Come see work on racial justice at GMOA

OSUMC Racial Justice Task Force invites you to an Evening at the Museum on Thursday, July 28, 2022 at the Georgia Museum of Art. We will be viewing, experiencing and reflecting on two specific exhibits at the museum, “Carrie Mae Weems: The Usual Suspects” and “Call and Response,” a collection of works by African American artists. After, we’ll gather for … Read the rest

Linnentown activist and Athens Reparations Action table at Methodist Annual Conference

Familiar stories will be featured at the Classic Center starting Thursday at Annual Conference when United Methodist clergy and lay delegates from the North Georgia Conference gather in Athens for three days of worship and decision-making. Hattie Thomas Whitehead, consultant to Oconee Street UMC and local author, will have a table featuring her memoir “Giving Voice to Linnentown” … Read the rest

Bearing Witness

by John Vodicka

“In most places, when people hear about or see something that is a symbol or representation or evidence of slavery or the slave trade or lynching, the instinct is to cover it up, to get rid of it, to destroy it.” 

Bryan Stevenson 

I’ve decided to step back from the rigorous courtwatching I’ve been doing these … Read the rest