Category Archives: Writing

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I’m the Guest Editor for ‘Atlanta’ magazine’s 2024 issue of ‘Atlanta 500’!!! On Newsstands NOW!!!

Hello World,

Last year, I shared that I had been working on “a ginormous freelance project that took all of my extra attention outside of my job, family life, and other regular responsibilities.” And the reason why is because I was the 2023 guest editor of Atlanta magazine’s Atlanta 500!!!

Well, chile, God blessed me with that accolade AGAIN! I’m the 2024 guest editor of Atlanta magazine’s Atlanta 500!!! This year, I received a promotion of sorts as I was named the editor of the publication although it is still a freelance position…Everything I shared last year is still true so I will share it again…

What is the Atlanta 500 you ask?

“The Atlanta 500 recognizes the 500 most influential business and civic leaders in Atlanta. The list also includes dozens of leaders whom the magazine has deemed as ‘Legends.’ The Atlanta 500 recognizes the most influential Atlantans—including not only corporate CEOs, but also leading entrepreneurs, educators, researchers, artists, and those leading nonprofits and shaping public policy.”

I was proud and excited to take on this ginormous freelance project for a few reasons:

  1. Atlanta magazine is the premier magazine of my city. As a magazine journalism bachelor’s degree recipient from the Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication of the University of Georgia, it is a no brainer.
  2. As the A is my hometown, it was a privilege to edit a book comprised of the best and brightest of the A for 2024! (And if you aspire to be a leader here, I think you should definitely get a copy!)
  3. While I love being a new mother, it is also important for me to continue nourishing and flourishing in my communications career so it was a test of whether I would be able to balance all of my responsibilities as they are now. If I didn’t know before, I truly know now that prayer works! And my village (those who help me and my handsome hubby take care of our twins) is a Godsend…Chile…I already knew that working mothers are akin to superheroes and now I’m finding out why…

So if you are in Atlanta, please get your own copy of Atlanta 500 wherever you would normally buy your copies of Atlanta magazine. I got my copy from the newsstand at Sprouts grocery store. Or if you want to save time and not search around at various stores, just get your copy HERE for $5.95 plus shipping. Also, the link for the 2024 issue of the Atlanta 500 will be live in the near future, but in the meantime, please check out Atlanta magazine and previous issues of Atlanta 500 HERE.

So with that, I say, “Peace Up! A-Town Down Shawty.”

Any thoughts?

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Join ‘New York Times’ Bestselling Author of ‘Why Fathers Cry At Night’ Kwame Alexander In Conversation With Victoria Christopher Murray TONIGHT at Inman Park Church – NEW BOOK ALERT

Hello World,

Just in time for Father’s Day, New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander has penned a new memoir Why Fathers Cry At Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances. Below is a description of the book and information about Kwame Alexander.

This powerful memoir from a #1 New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medalist features poetry, letters, recipes, and other personal artifacts that provide an intimate look into his life and the loved ones he shares it with.

In an intimate and non-traditional (or “new-fashioned”) memoir, Kwame Alexander shares snapshots of a man learning how to love. He takes us through stories of his parents: from being awkward newlyweds in the sticky Chicago summer of 1967, to the sometimes-confusing ways they showed their love to each other, and for him. He explores his own relationships—his difficulties as a newly wedded, 22-year-old father, and the precariousness of his early marriage working in a jazz club with his second wife. Alexander attempts to deal with the unravelling of his marriage and the grief of his mother’s recent passing while sharing the solace he found in learning how to perfect her famous fried chicken dish. With an open heart, Alexander weaves together memories of his past to try and understand his greatest love: his daughters.

Full of heartfelt reminisces, family recipes, love poems, and personal letters, Why Fathers Cry at Night inspires bravery and vulnerability in every reader who has experienced the reckless passion, heartbreak, failure, and joy that define the whirlwind woes and wonders of love.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of 38 books, including THE DOOR OF NO RETURN, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE: A THOUSAND WORDS ON RACE AND HOPE, AN AMERICAN STORY, BECOMING MUHAMMAD ALI, co-authored with James Patterson, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he founded the publishing imprint, Versify, and opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. He is the writer and executive producer of The Crossover TV series on Disney Plus. You can listen to his new podcast, Why Fathers Cry, and find him online at KwameAlexander.com.

If the book description piques your interest and you live in the metro Atlanta area, you can meet him along with fellow New York Times bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray, who is an author of more than 30 novels, including Stand Your Ground, a Library Journal Best Book of the Year and NAACP Image Award Winner. Her novel, The Personal Librarian, which she cowrote with Marie Benedict was a Good Morning America Book Club pick. See the flyer above!

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Dr. Charles Stanley, Beloved Leader of In Touch Ministries, Dies at Age 90…

Stanley Was Senior Pastor of First Baptist Atlanta for 50 Years...

Hello World,

Breaking news today…Sad and yet triumphant news today…Dr. Charles Stanley, my favorite pastor next to my father, passed away this morning. The press release below and the headline above are from Dr. Stanley’s website, charlesstanley.com.

On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, In Touch Ministries announced that beloved pastor Dr. Charles Frazier Stanley had passed away at 7:30 a.m. that morning at age 90.

Known to audiences around the world through his wide-reaching TV and radio broadcasts, Stanley modeled his 65 years of ministry after the apostle Paul’s message in Acts 20:24: “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.”

Born Sept. 25, 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, in Dry Fork, Virginia, Stanley was raised by a single mother after his father died when Stanley was only nine months old.

After receiving a call to ministry at the age of 14, Stanley earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, and a Bachelor of Divinity at Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He later went on to earn the distinctions of Master and Doctor of Theology from Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta.

Before joining the staff of First Baptist Atlanta, Stanley served as pastor of Fruitland Baptist near Hendersonville, North Carolina (1957–1959); First Baptist of Fairborn, Ohio (1959–1962); First Baptist of Miami, Florida (1962–1968); and First Baptist of Bartow, Florida (1968). Stanley would become associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta on October 1, 1969.

It was two years later, on October 1, 1971, when Stanley assumed his longtime role as senior pastor of First Baptist Atlanta. The following year, he launched his foray into broadcast ministry with a 30-minute program, The Chapel Hour, on Atlanta-area TV stations WXIA and WANX (now WGCL).

The Chapel Hour—renamed In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley—went nationwide in 1978 after the Christian Broadcasting Network contacted Stanley, looking for a practical, Bible-teaching program for its new satellite distribution network. The broadcast grew from 16,000 local viewers to a nationwide audience in just one week. This led to the expansion and incorporation of Stanley’s ministry as a separate non-profit entity called In Touch Ministries (ITM) in 1982 and the In Touch radio broadcast entered syndication.

During the 1980s, the In Touch program penetrated almost every major market in the United States, reaching more than 1 million households. At the time of his death, Stanley’s messages were heard in more than 127 languages around the world via radio, shortwave, the Messenger Lab project, or TV broadcasts. Stanley was the country’s longest-serving pastor with a continuous weekly broadcast program.

Believing, as he often said, that people are to “obey God and leave all the consequences to Him,” Stanley focused his preaching on practical, Christ-centered, biblically based principles for everyday life. Many of his messages incorporated the 30 Life Principles that guided his life and helped him grow in his knowledge, service, and love of God. Other messages tackled such topics as parenting, finances, personal crises, emotions and relationships, prayer, and the character of God. Not having sought out the public spotlight, Stanley was a pastor who happened to be on TV, focused on teaching others how to seek and obey God through adversity and personal hardships.

Notable organizations and publishers honored Stanley throughout his long ministry. Stanley served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1985 and 1986. In 1988, he was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame for the consistent excellence of his broadcast, and leadership in the realm of Christian TV and radio. Religious Heritage of America named him Clergyman of the Year in 1989, an award that recognizes pastors who strive to make Judeo-Christian principles part of America’s daily life. In 1993, the NRB honored In Touch with the Television Producer of the Year award, and in 1999, with the Radio Program of the Year award. Most recently, Stanley was recognized for selling more than 10 million copies of his more than 70 books, the latest of which was published in 2023.

Stanley was also known for his love of photography. Stanley’s images from his personal travels fill the walls of In Touch Ministries’ Atlanta headquarters and inspire program viewers to explore the beauty of God’s creation.

In September 2020, Stanley transitioned to the role of pastor emeritus of First Baptist Atlanta after serving 50 years as senior pastor.

Dr. Stanley’s family has requested that the memorial service honoring his life be a private, family-only gathering. However, if you wish to pay your respects to our beloved Dr. Stanley, he will lie in repose on Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First Baptist Atlanta.

First Baptist Atlanta
4400 North Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30338

Stanley is survived by his son Andy Stanley, founding and senior pastor of North Point Ministries; daughter Becky Stanley Broderson; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and half-sister Susie Cox. His former wife, Anna Johnson Stanley, preceded him in death. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to In Touch Ministries.

A memorial site can be found at https://www.charlesstanley.com.

Everything I can say about Dr. Stanley, I wrote in “Seven Reasons Why Dr. Charles Stanley Stepping Down as Pastor Makes Me Sad…”  It has become one of my most popular posts, and I feel fortunate that my words have encouraged those who appreciate the ministry of Dr. Stanley as I do. I will be praying for his family, church members, loved ones and those who knew him beyond what many of us experienced via various media platforms.

I am saddened but I know that Dr. Stanley is rejoicing with his Savior and Best Friend in Heaven…To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord as is noted in 2 Corinthians 5:8…Well done, God’s good and faithful servant…

Any thoughts?