Welcome back to As Told To where Georgia has always been the center of the universe. I took a break from publishing last week because if I, a reporter, needed a break from the influx of things being published, I can only assume you did, too.
With the presidential election behind us I would love to tell y’all we’re done with politics for the foreseeable future, but that would be a lie. Senate runoffs are coming up in January here in Georgia and the races will have an impact on a national level. As we spend the next few months analyzing how Georgia turned blue and looking ahead to the runoffs, please remember that there are reporters here who have been covering Georgia politics all along before you boost flimsy stories from reporters who parachuted in from elsewhere. My good friend Fiza took the liberty of putting together a handy list of must-follow political reporters last week:
If you need a reminder of the work these awesome reporters have been doing to produce timely, accurate election news without falling into reductive stereotypes about the south, Black voters, etc.:
There’s a generational divide between Black Democrats. How will that play out at the polls—and at home? for Atlanta by Raisa Habersham
Black Voters at the Polls in Georgia: “Everybody We Know Is Ready for Trump to Get Out” for The New Yorker by Charles Bethea
‘It Needs To Be Done’: Local Journalist Runs Clayton Crescent, Brings Election News To County for WABE by Jim Burress
What I’m Watching:
Reruns of The Crown (Netflix) only, respectfully.
Aside from this really amazing episode of Louder than a Riot, which looks at the raid on DJ Drama’s studio in 2007 and how it changed rap music, I’m really only consuming content about the British royals right now. Sorry, not sorry. We’re less than a week away from season 4 of The Crown being uploaded to Netflix (!!!!) so I won’t be commenting on anything else for the foreseeable future.
I absolutely plan to rewatch my favorite episodes from the series so far, as well as rewatching the films Diana and The Queen. Anyone else trying to escape American political news through the British monarchy should also listen to the five episodes “You’re Wrong About” recently released about Princess Diana.
Fun Fact: In case you’re wondering when my obsession with the ridiculousness of this family started, please know I spent a phase in my childhood introducing myself to people as “Princess Diana.”
Recent Reads:
I admittedly haven’t done much reading in the past week because, well, I was trying to escape the news. I couldn’t even bring myself to open up one of several nonfiction books on my nightstand. I just haven’t wanted to consume any new information, OK?!
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Biden’s Win, House Losses, and What’s Next for the Left for The New York Times by Astead W. Herndon
This is an amazing Q&A with AOC as a whole, but this section in particular really stuck with me. I’d argue it’s a sentiment that many women (especially women of color) feel across various industries.
Is there a universe in which they’re hostile enough that we’re talking about a Senate run in a couple years?
I genuinely don’t know. I don’t even know if I want to be in politics. You know, for real, in the first six months of my term, I didn’t even know if I was going to run for re-election this year.
Really? Why?
It’s the incoming. It’s the stress. It’s the violence. It’s the lack of support from your own party. It’s your own party thinking you’re the enemy. When your own colleagues talk anonymously in the press and then turn around and say you’re bad because you actually append your name to your opinion.
I chose to run for re-election because I felt like I had to prove that this is real. That this movement was real. That I wasn’t a fluke. That people really want guaranteed health care and that people really want the Democratic Party to fight for them.
But I’m serious when I tell people the odds of me running for higher office and the odds of me just going off trying to start a homestead somewhere — they’re probably the same.
Released a year before 9/11, Outkast’s hit single Stankonia “B.O.B.” was cultural commentary misinterpreted as outright patriotism for Okayplayer by Christina Lee
My fav. Christina Lee did some work commemorating the 20th anniversary of Stankonia and this piece in particular was an enlightening look back at the single “B.O.B.” in particular.