SCENE
MINISTRY
Fans of the annual Roaring 20s-themed “Stompin’ at the Savoy” will want to move quickly - the tickets will be gone soon. 4
Associates and neighbors of Greenforest members will be special invitees in the last two Sundays of the church’s monthlong effort. 6
It’s ‘Savoy’ time again
Put Litter in Its Place
FRANGELISM’s outreach
Let’s Do Our Part to Keep DeKalb Beautiful A PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE FROM CROSSROADSNEWS
EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER • STONECREST
Copyright © 2018 CrossroadsNews, iNC.
August 18, 2018
Volume 24, Number 16
Aretha Is At Rest
It was a good run, but our time is up
Chris Pizzello
Soul icon Aretha Franklin won 18 Grammy Awards during her career and was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
‘Queen of Soul’ leaves unmatched legacy By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
March 25, 1942 – Aug. 16, 2018 Aretha Franklin, whose iconic voice brought a president to tears and mesmerized and inspired generations for more than 60 years, died Aug. 16. She was 76. In a statement announcing her death from pancreatic cancer, her family called her death “one of the darkest moments of our lives.” “We are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart,” the statement said. “We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family.” When news of her grave illness broke on Aug. 14, tributes for the legendary vocalist poured in from around the country and the world. Fans of the “Queen of Soul” called her “one of a kind,” “a force of nature,” and “a national treasurer.” Georgia Congressman John Lewis said she was a “wonderful, beautiful soul.” “We have lost one of the great spirits of our time,” he told CNN. Former President Barack and Michele
Obama said that through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Franklin helped define the American experience. “In her voice, we could feel our history,” the Obamas said. “All of it and in every shade – our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.” Former President Bill Clinton said Franklin stirred our souls. “She was elegant, graceful, and utterly uncompromising in her artistry,” he said. “She will forever be the Queen of Soul and so much more to all who knew her personally and through her music.” Franklin, who got her start at age 11 in New Bethel Baptist Church, her father C.L. Franklin’s Detroit church, had 73 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, the most among women for nearly 40 years, won 18 Grammy Awards and was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. At the news of death, singer Elton John said, “The Queen is dead. Long live
www.crossroadsnews.com
the Queen.” Franklin sold tens of millions of R&B and pop albums with hits like “Respect,” which became both a civil rights and feminist anthem, “Chain of Fools,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” “Freeway of Love,” “Natural Woman,” and so many others. Franklin sang at three presidential inaugurations – Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – and at the funeral of her friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. In 2005, President George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In interviews throughout her career, Franklin said the key to her success was being herself. “Being an original sets you apart from everyone else,” she said. Franklin’s family said Thursday that they were “deeply touched by the incredible outpouring of love and support” they received from close friends, supporters and fans all around the world. “Thank you for your compassion and prayers,” the statement said. “We have felt your love for Aretha and it brings us comfort to know that her legacy will live on.”
For the past 23 years and four months, it has been our mission to publish CrossRoadsNews so we could tell the stories of the people who live, work and play in south DeKalb County. Over the years, we chronicled the ups and downs of the community, which became our home in 1993; championed its good causes, celebrated its triumphs, documented its missteps, investigated its Achilles heel; and spotlighted the work of people making a difference. But we’ve reached a crossroads of our own, and we had to make a difficult decision. This issue will be our final print edition. Going forward we will be digital-only. Why is this happening? Blame it on the fourth increase in our printing costs since October – the direct result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian paper mills that manufacture newsprint used by the newspaper industry. These tariffs have resulted in up to a 30 percent increase in the printing bills of newspapers across Georgia and the nation, at a time when we have been been struggling to cover costs in the digital era. Blame it on the migration of advertising revenues to the internet, especially Google, Facebook and other social media. They get the money while we struggle to cover Board of Commissioners, City Hall and School Board meetings with dwindling revenues to pay reporters, newspaper carriers, the light bill and so on. While we were never short of stories to write, very few people wanted to buy advertising – the only product that we sell. And even as our in-boxes overflowed with press releases, many were the days that we opened the doors and made no sale. The bottom line is that even though we have more readers today than ever, in print and online, we have not been able to generate enough revenues to make ends meet. Perhaps because our newspaper was “free” to pick up, few readers never saw us as a normal business with weekly payrolls and printing bills every week. Perhaps if more people saw us as a business, they would have supported us with their advertising and subscription dollars. We are not alone in this new reality. All around us, newspapers are folding because they are no longer commercially viable in the age of the internet and tariffs. Just this April, five Virginia community newspapers – the Hopewell News, the Hanover Herald Progress in Ashland, the Caroline Progress in Bowling Green, the Clinch Valley Times in St. Paul and the Tazewell County Free Press in Richlands, all serving small towns, counties and cities – closed their doors permanently. Compared to them, we are barely toddlers. Their average life span was 134 years, and they had served their communities for a combined 673 years. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know that no business can stay in business if it is not making money. Neither can we. – Jennifer Parker, Editor/Publisher