Athens Masonic Association, Inc.

So glad to see Athens well represented with Rev. Mack Kenney, Brother Rev. Kenneth Cooper, and Brother Rev. Alexander Wymbs. We a proud of you all.

The In Touch Management Group presents the First Annual Youth Oratorical Contest Saturday, June 1, 2024 at the Athens Regional Library. Over $3,000 in prizes for Elementary, Middle and High School students. Registration is open through March 15, 2024. Please use the QR Code below or contact Marvin J. Nunnally at (706) 338-9301 or [email protected].

Many thanks to local historian, Marvin J. Nunnally, and his panel, Wilhelmia Bowles, Linda Davis, Venolia Lester and Linda Scotland-Fair, for a fascinating education on African-American History in Oconee Count as part of the Watkinsville Library's Lecture Series.

Congratulations Athens District No. 6 Worthy Matron Debbie Watkins. We are proud of you! Brother Marvin J. Nunnally, DDGM

PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP, FAMILY AND FRIENDS
(Worshipful Master Morgan, Buckhead No. 213 making a difference)
THE LONG WAY: Injury not stopping State Senate candidate from walking campaign trail
https://www.covnews.com/news/long-way-injury-not-stopping-state-senate-candidate-walking-campaign-trail/



Kacy Morgan

District 17 State Senate candidate Kacy Morgan walks along Clark Street on the Covington Square recently in search of voters. - photo by Tom Spigolon

Tom Spigolon

Updated: Jul 29, 2022, 5:34 PM

Published: Jul 29, 2022, 5:37 PM

COVINGTON, Ga. — Kacy Morgan is not one to sit around and wait for voters to come to him.

The Democratic nominee for the District 17 State Senate seat already has walked 34 miles to ask for votes in-person despite suffering from spinal stenosis that forces him to move with a cane.

Yet, he is not averse to walking along the side of an area highway, where he discovered a potential major traffic hazard, or meeting with the chief of the Social Circle Police Department about the department’s needs after walking around the town’s historic downtown.

Morgan is not even afraid to take a ride from a stranger to get back to his vehicle, which he parks before setting out on foot.

“I wanted to meet the people,” he said.

He admits he has relatively little money to work with in his effort to unseat incumbent State Sen. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough, for the Senate seat that includes Newton, Henry, Walton and Morgan counties.

“Maybe word will get around,” Morgan said.

Morgan County Democratic Party chairwoman Ann Clarke said she was “in awe” of Morgan’s willingness to literally hit the campaign trail in spite of his injury.

“I don’t know if I could do it,” she said of Morgan’s campaign style.

She said she had followed some of his Facebook postings, such as the one highlighting the problem with soil wearing away from the side of a “He is driven by his faith,” Clarke said.

“He’s running on no political experience,” she said. “It’s just because he cares about his state and community.”

Morgan still lives in Madison where he was born and raised. He has pastored Bethel Bara Baptist Church in Union Point since 2015.

He spent 20 years in the Army before retiring in 2015 because of a spinal injury suffered following an explosion while serving in Iraq, Morgan said.

Morgan also worked as an equipment operator for GDOT for 10 years and earned associate’s degrees from American Military University and the Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service.

While stationed at Fort Gordon in Augusta in 2012, he lost his first wife when she died from an allergic reaction to a blood pressure medicine she was taking, he said.

Earlier this year, Morgan said his daughter died when she did not wake from a diabetic coma while he searched for available hospital beds in the midst of a COVID-19 surge.

Morgan said when he told his church members he was running for office, they were skeptical because many were against a pastor using religion to gain politically.

“They were at kind of a standstill at first,” Morgan said.

However, he said he explained that he was running in an effort to try to help people and not mix “church with state.”

After he began his campaign earlier this year, he said he about the the reception he may receive from those with strong political beliefs.

However, he said he has been pleasantly surprised.

“In the (political) climate we’re in, I didn’t think people would be as nice and respectful as they are,” Morgan said.

He said he has found people of all political stripes have more in common than they think.

“People just want a comfortable life,” Morgan said. “They just want to live and they want an honest chance.”

Morgan said he first began to consider running for office after hearing about the deaths of young, unarmed Black men such as Ahmaud Arbery in early 2020 in Brunswick.

He also objected to Brian Kemp in 2017 purging more than 100,000 voters from the rolls because they had not voted in recent elections — despite already becoming a candidate for governor.

Kemp was serving as Secretary of State overseeing Georgia’s elections at the time. He later oversaw the 2018 election in which he narrowly defeated Stacey Abrams for governor.

Another issue Morgan said prompted him to run was the current system of posting a cash bail to go free pending a trial. Those without the means to pay must remain in jail indefinitely, he said.

“That’s why I want to do this — to help people,” he said.

Strickland said he respects Morgan “and anyone that steps up and puts his or her name on a ballot.”

But the incumbent senator also knows Morgan is determined to take his Senate seat.

“I hope we are able to meet and have a discussion about the issues that he values and that the citizens of the newly-drawn District 17 in Henry, Newton, Walton and Morgan counties will get the chance to hear from both of us and decide who best represents their values and is best equipped to fight for this region,” Strickland said.

Kacy MorganKacy Morgan

THE LONG WAY: Injury not stopping State Senate candidate from walking campaign trail Kacy Morgan is not one to sit around and wait for voters to come to him.

The Historic Athens Candidates Forum continues with our County Commission Candidates!

Athens Masonic Association wishes Brother Derek Morton, PM a happy birthday.

Diane Greg g on TikTok Diane Greg g's short video with ♬ Good Day

FULL STORY HIGHLIGHTS: For the third installment of Athens African American History, we decided to highlight the life of Samuel F. Harris! Professor Samuel F. Harris was one of the first educators in the state of Georgia to incorporate industrial training courses into the traditional public-school curriculum. Harris worked as a stereopticon technician at the university which allowed him to absorb the knowledge that was being taught during classes. He was also tutored by Professor D.L. Earnest and multiple professors. Because of this, some professors petitioned the Board of Trustees to allow him to get a degree, but they denied it. He went on to finish his studies at Morris Brown College, The University of Chicago, and The University of Pennsylvania.

Harris first introduced industrial and agricultural training at the West Broad Street School in 1904, however, his experiment was hampered by a lack of funds and interest among school officials.
In 1912, the high school was included in the West Broad Street School consisting of six rooms, ten grades, and eight teachers with Professor Harris as the Principal. By 1913, the high school was moved to the new building located on Reese Street which offered a full curriculum of classes including Latin, Greek, literature, history, chemistry, and physics. According to Michael Thurmond’s "A Story Untold," Professor Harris vigorously resumed his efforts to incorporate industrial training into the public-school curriculum. He had been instrumental in having the newly constructed Reese Street School equipped with a manual training shop and the start of a vocational night school. In 1916, the school was renamed Athens High & Industrial School. In 1922, it became the first black public secondary school to be accredited in the state of Georgia.

Professor Harris served the school for many years until his illness and death in 1935.

Sources:
Steven Brown
http://www.theyellowjacket.com/history.html

Full Story Initiative- Women’s History Month Edition: Judia Jackson Harris was a lifelong educator and activist born on February 1, 1873 in Athens. She graduated from Atlanta University in 1894 and received postgraduate instruction at Harvard College, The University of Pennsylvania, and The University of Chicago. She opened the Model and Training School on her four acre plot of land off of Danielsville Highway in 1903 which taught not only basic grammar and math, but also art, music, and drama. It was one of the first suburban schools for Black children. When the school building caught fire in 1926, Judia hosted classes in her own home until a new school building was constructed with the help of community members and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. Judia was dedicated to education and economic independence for black people in rural Clarke County. She organized Land Owners Clubs also known as Corn Clubs which aided members in purchasing land and organized cooperative investments in agricultural tools and machinery. She is also known for authoring a 16 page publication, “Race Relations” about the relations of white and black people in Clarke County. Judia Jackson was married to Samuel Harris, another prominent educator featured in a previous Full Story post.
Information from Michael Thurmond's "A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History"