Emoji Monday
July 17 โ Ever wonder why the calendar emoji is 📅? It’s because today is World Emoji Day, so feel free to liberally use your favorites in all your texts today 🤯!
🌞 Sunny and 94ยฐ today.
🚨 Andre Longmore, the man suspected of killing four people Saturday during a shooting rampage in Hampton, GA was killed by police officers yesterday after a 24-hour manhunt. Two officers were injured.
🔎 Gov. Brian Kemp named Chris Hosey as the GBI’s new director on Saturday following a unanimous vote by the Board of Public Safety.
⚖️ The founders of The Gathering Spot, an Atlanta-based private networking club aimed at Black entrepreneurs, are suing the fintech company that acquired it last year (subscription may be required).
🔮 Kim Jones has stepped down as CEO of Spanx. According to The Atlanta Business Chronicle, Jones will move into a role with founder Sara Blakely’s family office.
🙏🏽 A memorial service was held for Christine King Farris on Friday at the State Capitol, where she was lying in state.
🕖 Today’s newsletter is โฃ stories.
โข Hammonds House Museum
โข Sally Bethea’s book debut
โข Global Headlines
AND
โข Look & Listen
Have a good day,
Collin & Sammie
💕ย Meetย Hatched Dating, the free and fun dating app redefining the swipe by making it less โshow meโ and more โknow me.โ Exclusively available in Atlanta, Hatched is changing the digital dating game by diving deeper into values, attitudes, personality, and interests to help users discover more meaningful matches.ย Check it out here!ย
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1.ย Hammonds House Museum exhibits works by Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carriรฉ
🎨 Widely considered to be one of the most important contemporary Haitian artists, Edouard Duval-Carriรฉ is an award-winning artist whose work examines the culture and history of Haiti, prompting viewers to rethink their preconceived notions and the Western canon.
The Hammonds House Museum is pleased to present Histories and Others, an exhibition featuring an array of works from various periods of Duval-Carriรฉโs long career. By utilizing a variety of translucent and reflective media including glitter, glass, and resin, Duval-Carriรฉโs work embodies the multilayered complexities of his artistic vision in both concept and execution.
In his artwork, Duval-Carriรฉ is not afraid to incorporate political and religious topics as he addresses the complexities of the Caribbean and its diaspora.
✨ย For more about Duval-Carriรฉ, click here.
Remember the Legacy
SPONSORED BY ATLANTA DOWNTOWN
❤️ Reimagine the Legacy: Honoring Congressman John Lewisย is an annual memorial initiative in Atlanta that celebrates the life and legacy of the late civil rights leader.
Activities take place from July 17-30, culminating in a moment of reflection with the ringing of bells on July 30.
🔔 Free handbells can be picked up at various locations. Featured programs include a civil rights cemetery tour, stamp dedication ceremony, and guided walking tour.
Visitors are encouraged to take action by registering to vote, reading Lewis’ essays and books, and supporting charitable organizations.
📍 Points of interest include the John Lewis HERO Mural, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and The King Center.
➡ย Visit the website for more information.

2.ย Sally Bethea’s first book chronicles her time as Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
📖 Sally Bethea was one of the first women in America to become a โriverkeeperโ โ a defender and guardian of an essential waterway. The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper nonprofit she founded in 1994 took Atlanta to court for polluting the river with untreated sewage just a year before the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
Even now, Bethea said a year-old environmental group filing a lawsuit against a major city in the international spotlight was a โbold move,โ But the organization prevailed in court and the city was forced to clean up its act โ literally.
Sally’s recollections as riverkeeper are married with journal entries from weekly walks she took along the Chattahoochee starting in 2019 to reconnect with nature.
ย ➡️ย Find out more about Sally’s journey here.

3. Russia suspends grain deal; Birkin dies at 76
On Mondays, we get an update on global news through our partnership with the World Affairs Council of Atlanta.
🇺🇦 Global food prices are poised to spike today after Russia said it was suspending the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain to countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
🇸🇩 Saudi Arabia is hosting cease-fire talks with representatives of Sudanโs Army and the countryโs RSF (Rapid Support Forces). Millions of Sudanese are displaced โ and more than 3,000 have been killed โ in four months of fighting.
🇨🇳 Amid the backdrop of a global heatwave, U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry is in China to restart talks about climate change.
🇧🇪 In Brussels today, over 50 leaders from the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean are meeting for their first EU-CELAC summit in eight years.
🇮🇱 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hospitalized overnight Saturday for symptoms of dehydration. This week, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog will visit the White House and address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
🏆 Carlos Alcaraz upset Novak Djokovic to win his first Wimbledon title yesterday. The 20-year-old Spaniard won 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in a nearly five-hour match. After the match, Alcaraz laughed as he told the 36-year-old Djokovic, “You inspire me a lot…I started playing tennis watching you since I was born…you already were winning tournaments.”
In the Ladies’ final, Marketa Vondrousova made history as the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon, defeating No. 6 Ons Jabeur on Saturday.
⚽ FIFA Women’s World Cup host New Zealand kicks off the tournament against Norway on Thurs., July 20. The U.S. is grouped with Vietnam, Portugal, and the Netherlands and plays Vietnam on Fri., July 21 at 9 p.m. ET.
🎗️ย Jane Birkin, the actress, singer, andย namesake of the famous Hermรจs bag, died yesterday at the age of 76. The British-born Birkin captivated France from a young age, and French Presidentย Emmanuel Macron marked her passing by calling her โa French icon.โย

➡ Join the World Affairs Council of Atlanta forย Breakfast with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens: “Focusing Atlanta: Strengthening International Potential” Aug. 23.ย Click here for details and tickets.
🗣️ย Join the most inspiring night โย Plywood Presentsย is on Aug. 24 at Center Stage. Experience talks, films, and community working together to create action. Be inspired by the creator of Kid President + ten diverse presenters. Take your work to the next level. Network with others.ย Get your tickets nowย and use code COMMUNITY to save 20%.ย
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4.ย Spotlight on Decatur’s Matt Shaer
LOOK & LISTEN | BY MARA DAVIS
🎙️ In honor of Suspect Season 3 being released today, I want to tell you about the host Matt Shaer. Heโs a podcast executive, journalist, dad, dog lover, and Decatur resident.
I met Matt a few years ago after listening to his series Over My Dead Body (Season 1: Tally). This is a fantastic, twisty-turny true crime story involving two affluent Jewish families in Florida. His company Campside Media, is partly based in Atlanta (full disclosure, I do some freelance work for them). Theyโve put out some of the best podcasts, including the Chameleon series, The Bering, Run Bambi Run, and the new sports series Owned with Rex Chapman. Suspect is one of their most popular series, and today it has a whole new story.
🎃 Season 1: A grisly murder takes place at a 2008 Seattle Halloween party. The mystery of Aparna Jinagaโs death haunts everyone who attended. Crime scene DNA evidence was linked to three men, but only Emanuel Fair was convicted. After serving nine years in prison maintaining his innocence, he was found not guilty of her murder and was released in 2019. This investigative podcast explores DNA evidence’s pros and cons and how it can present racial disparities. Vulture called it the best true crime podcast of the year in 2021, and I wholeheartedly agree!
❄️ Season 2: Vanished in the Snow: This is hosted by another Atlanta resident, journalist Ashley Fantz. It focuses on a 1985 cold case where Jonelle Matthews went missing after a church Christmas pageant. Her body was found in 2019. Fantz digs up all kinds of leads, but focuses on one person.
🧬 Out today โ Season 3: Five Shots in the Dark: Part true crime, and partly an attempt to overturn a wrongful conviction. Suspect takes us through the 1998 murder of Kasey Schoen. Leon Benson claims heโs innocent of committing murder, but the testimony of two eyewitnesses tells a different story. Heโs been incarcerated for 24 years. As the series progresses, new details are revealed about the botched case. Youโll be on the edge of your seat to see how it gets resolved. Itโs THAT GOOD.
