Say No to Hate!

Atlanta is, and has been, the home of the civil rights movement in the United States. From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s early days of fighting America’s Jim Crow laws from the pulpit to Rep. John Lewis’s voting record in Congress, the seeds of change planted in Atlanta have grown into a continued quest of equal rights for all, with deep southern roots.

Today, those achievements are being attacked by the seemingly universal support of bigotry and hate, emboldened by the reckless and wanton abandon of the Trump administration. Just as Atlanta rose from the ashes of the Civil War, those of us in this city must once again rise to the occasion and speak out against the evil and greed that is re-emerging in our society.

We asked many different Atlantans, from professors to street activists, from ministers to rappers, about the current state of our nation — and our city. We were surprised and encouraged by the common themes from a wide range of people in our community who are active in our politics and culture. Each individual, whether representing themselves or a group they are involved with, gave us lengthy answers to our six questions. We offer the full text of these 33 remarkable Atlantans. As well, please add your voice to this conversation online.

— Tony Paris

Say No to Hate: Kim Williams Article

Sunday August 26, 2018 03:18 PM EDT 08/26/2018 3:18 PM

One of the most important problems facing Americans today is our loss of focus on living together as one nation. Because we are more divided in many ways, we are losing ground in the global landscape and will not be able to compete on a global scale if we don’t figure out how to work in accordance with one another. | more...

Say No to Hate: Lisa Balser Article

Sunday August 26, 2018 03:30 PM EDT 08/26/2018 3:30 PM

There are so many problems we’re facing, it’s overwhelming: systemic racism, sexism, ageism, inequity, homelessness, marginalization, immigration policy, school shootings/gun violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, climate change … this is an incomplete list, and I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. Much of it stems from hatred and fear of “the other.” It feels like we’ve lost a basic sense of human decency. | more...

Say No to Hate: Robert Franklin Article

Monday August 27, 2018 04:37 PM EDT 08/27/2018 4:37 PM

I want very badly to name the issues of poverty, wealth inequality, and class oppression, but all of these are intertwined with, and compounded by, the problem of race, difference, and grappling honestly with America’s history and identity. I have a metaphor for this process, it is a cracked egg with the yoke running long. | more...

Say No to Hate: Ryan M. Roemerman Article

Monday August 27, 2018 05:43 PM EDT 08/27/2018 5:43 PM

Healthcare is a human right. That means ensuring that every person doesn’t just have access to health care, but has the ability to afford health care. | more...

Say No To Hate: Ryan Vizzions Article

Monday August 27, 2018 06:10 PM EDT 08/27/2018 6:10 PM

Apathy towards injustice is toxic. We have become so entangled in conversational clouds on social media that we honestly feel that ‘shares’ and ‘likes’ are making a direct impact. This helps to a certain degree, but it does not solve the problems plaguing our nation today. | more...

Say No to Hate: Jerry Gonzalez Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 08:27 AM EDT 08/28/2018 8:27 AM

The biggest problem facing Americans today is the stark difference between where we have made progress in this country under the Obama Administration and where the Trump Administration is going. With regards to the Trump Administration right now on immigration and voting rights, we believe they are moving in a direction against the values of most Americans. | more...

Say No to Hate: Richard Rose Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 08:38 AM EDT 08/28/2018 8:38 AM

I believe that racial discord remains the most divisive issue facing Americans. It continues to suppress wages for all and promotes anger that leads to violence within the oppressed communities. Remove racist symbolism and implement long-term remedies to counter the long-term legacies of discrimination. | more...

Say No to Hate: Rutu Chaudhari Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 08:54 AM EDT 08/28/2018 8:54 AM

Of all the global issues facing us, including biggies like climate change and nuclear war, what troubles me currently is the rise of fascism in governments around the world. This is what also troubles me about America. People are emboldened to openly discriminate and hate because our elected officials represent values of hate. | more...

Say No to Hate: Gerald A. Griggs Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 02:38 PM EDT 08/28/2018 2:38 PM

The most important problem facing Americans today is partisan politics that removes empathy from the conversation toward compromise on the real issues that are affecting everyday Americans. Everything is viewed through the lens of tribal political division, when the solutions to most problems facing the nation can be solved through bipartisan collaboration. | more...

Say No to Hate: Kristie Cain Raymer Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 02:50 PM EDT 08/28/2018 2:50 PM

There are so many things that need to be fixed but somehow we need to stop the OTHER mentality. Trying to embrace difference — and understanding that our differences are what make us stronger — will lead to a better unity within our populations. We spend so much time hating and singling out those that are different. If we used that energy to come together we could make a better life for all of us. | more...

Say No to Hate: Alexa Lima Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 03:53 PM EDT 08/28/2018 3:53 PM

The continued oppression of marginalized people. | more...

Say No to Hate: Christopher Hollis Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 04:50 PM EDT 08/28/2018 4:50 PM

Atlanta and America have never participated in reparations for its genocide, land theft, and displacement of indigenous peoples, its kidnapping and enslavement of African peoples, or its destabilization, colonization and assassinations in other nations. So, in 2018, what we are still faced with is the displacement, incarceration, and murder of black and brown people in this city, this country, and this globe. | more...

Say No to Hate: Glenn Phillips Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 05:06 PM EDT 08/28/2018 5:06 PM

The most important problem facing all of us is our increasing inability to work with and get along with those who don’t share our views. I know it’s a cliché, but “United we stand, divided we fall.” | more...

Say No to Hate: Ray Dafrico Article

Tuesday August 28, 2018 05:24 PM EDT 08/28/2018 5:24 PM

The most serious issue for all Americans is the very real risk of our democracy being taken away, which is happening on a daily basis. There are so many issues: racism, human rights, climate change denial, guns, income equality, lack of a universal heathcare system, police brutality, tearing refugee families apart and putting them in interment camps, our status in the world and how we interact with other nations, and a government party in charge that refuses to act in the best interest of the American people. | more...

Say No to Hate: Rev. Fahed AbuAkel Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 08:05 AM EDT 08/29/2018 8:05 AM

The greatest problem facing USA citizens today, is how to become a global citizen without having an imperialist or colonial mentality. The greatest problem facing Atlanta today is how to move from the white and black mentality to become a multicultural city in action and not in words only. | more...

Say No to Hate: Priscilla Smith Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 08:25 AM EDT 08/29/2018 8:25 AM

Greed. The only consistent measure of success is wealth. If you’re so good, so smart, so talented, why aren’t you rich? Why should anybody listen to you? You’re accomplished, but if you’re poor, you haven’t “succeeded.” Rich, therefore smart. Rich, therefore good. There’s a paucity of everything, so you’d better have dough. If you’re needy, it’s because that’s what you deserve. Loss of wealth is loss of power, loss of status. | more...

Say No to Hate: Randy Blazak Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 08:40 AM EDT 08/29/2018 8:40 AM

The most important problem is the denial of the problem. Most white people have been lulled into the myth of a “post-racial” America. Research on implicit bias and the persistence of numerous forms of institutional racism, including in the criminal justice system, demonstrate the reality of racism in 2018. A much greater threat than hate crimes and organized white supremacists is our inability to address core issues like white privilege and internalized white supremacy. We cannot progress until we have that honest reckoning. Atlanta paints itself as the city “too busy to hate,” but it’s been too busy to do the real work to begin to heal the very old wounds of its racist history. | more...

Say No to Hate: Elizabeth Corrie Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 08:53 AM EDT 08/29/2018 8:53 AM

The most important problem facing Americans today is the pervasive ideology of white settler colonialism. By this I mean that we live with a way of thinking brought over to America that goes back as far as the English Reformation in the 16th century — the belief that God has ordained a select group of white people to claim land — regardless of who might already have been on it — as a God-given right. | more...

Say No to Hate: Frank Glass Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 09:21 AM EDT 08/29/2018 9:21 AM

“The most important problem facing Americans today” is that we have so many problems that rotate in and out of first place that we cannot choose and therefore cannot answer the question. The second part of the question is easier (for me). Atlanta’s most important problem is a subset of a national problem. | more...

Say No to Hate: Josh McLaurin Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 02:45 PM EDT 08/29/2018 2:45 PM

A decline in trust. We’re losing opportunities to get to know each other. We spend all kinds of time and money creating our own private, secluded spaces, both in the physical world and online, where we don’t have to encounter people who look or think differently than we do. | more...

Say No to Hate: Jack Turner Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 03:12 PM EDT 08/29/2018 3:12 PM

The most urgent problem facing not just Atlanta, but all of humanity, is the fact the U.S. is now ruled by a fascist regime (Trump/Pence) set on reshaping society in a way that will be catastrophic for humanity and the planet. | more...

Say No to Hate: Sara Webb Phillips Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 03:23 PM EDT 08/29/2018 3:23 PM

The rise of white supremacy. | more...

Say No to Hate: Donna J. Trump Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 03:52 PM EDT 08/29/2018 3:52 PM

How to get people to follow The Real Donna J. Trump instead of Donald J. Trump. This is true throughout the world. | more...

Say No to Hate: Nathaniel Smith Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 04:14 PM EDT 08/29/2018 4:14 PM

One of the most important problems facing America is the widening income inequality/economic mobility gap. For many, the “American Dream” is just that, a dream they will never realize. Many of the social and political challenges we are dealing with today stem from this problem. | more...

Say No to Hate: Saira Raza Article

Wednesday August 29, 2018 04:40 PM EDT 08/29/2018 4:40 PM

The list is long and it’s all really important. But most of the things on that list have a root cause, and I think it’s greed. People’s desire for power and wealth outweighs their humanity and their ability to see humanity in others. | more...

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Say No to Hate Main Page
Hip-Hop Activism in Atlanta & Athens
Echos of the ’60s — MC5 founder Wayne Kramer discusses the problems of today
Interview with Ray Dafrico
Activist Organizations in Atlanta