COMMUNITY
YOUTH
New entry sign
Books and a buzz cut
Residents of Toney Valley community unveiled a new sign at the entrance of the subdivision off Candler Road in Decatur. 4
A DeKalb Public Library initiative has placed books in a Scottdale barbershop for young boys to read while waiting their turn. 6
Let’s Keep DeKalb Peachy Clean Please Don’t Litter Our Streets and Highways
EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER • STONECREST
Copyright © 2017 CrossroadsNews, iNC.
December 30, 2017
Volume 23, Number 35
www.crossroadsnews.com
Eagle Scout candidate fills 300 duffle bags for foster kids By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
ries of kids showing up at foster homes, carrying their meager belonging in trash bags. He wanted to change the narrative. The Eagle Scout quest requires Reece to have earned 21 merit badges, and to plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project that benefits a religious institution, school or the community. He has 45 merit badges and is a member of the Order of the Arrow, scouting’s National Honor Society. He also has completed National Youth Leadership Training for Boy Scouts and serves on NYLT staff as well. Reece, 14, settled on a project to provide
Reece Huffman (left) and other Scouts from Troop 501 unload some of the 300 duffle bags that Reece made for children in foster care in DeKalb County to complete his Eagle Scout project.
Reece Huffman was on a quest to achieve Eagle Scout – Boy Scouts of America’s highest honor – when he thought, why not make a difference in the lives of kids who could really do with love in their lives. So Reece, a ninth-grader at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, decided to create care bags for foster kids for his Eagle Scout Service Project. “I was adopted at birth and I wanted to give back,” he said. “A lot of time kids in foster care don’t have their own stuff. They don’t have a lot. I just wanted to help them.” Like many people, Reece had heard sto- Please see EAGLE, page 2
Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews
South DeKalb’s young artists making their mark Edgy lyricists putting county on the map
Young rappers with ties to South DeKalb – clockwise from top left The Coolismac, Yani Mo, “Jace” of Two-9, and Gwen Bunn – are putting an “Eastside” vibe into their music, with popular street names in their lyrics and videos shot at readily recognizable venues like the Decatur MARTA station, Stone Mountain and Redan Park.
By Lyle V. Harris
For the talented lyricists, spoken word and rap artists hailing from South DeKalb, “The Eastside” is much more than just a place they call home – it’s a musical state of mind. A handful of headlining artists with ties to South DeKalb - including Childish Gambino a.k.a. Donald Glover (Stone Mountain) and Future a.k.a, Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn (CoDonald Glover lumbia High School alum) – have already become household names, signed recording deals, or have been featured on major concert tours. But there are countless others who are steadily grinding their way to stardom, one mixtape and download N. D. Wilburn at a time. Glover’s Emmy-winning TV show “Atlanta,” on the FX network, has raised the city’s profile as an epicenter for urban culture, especially hip-hop. Just beyond the city limits, South DeKalb’s suburbs spawned a thriving, creative ecosystem long ago that’s growing deeper and more diverse. The evolving scene is spanning generations, crossing genres and defying stereotypes. Aided by digital technology and bolstered by social media, these mostly millennial, independent African-American artists/ entrepreneurs are amassing thousands of loyal fans while building their brands and reinforcing their community’s reputation as a musical proving ground. In their verses and videos – that some
may consider offensive or crude – these artists show their hometown love by proudly name-checking familiar haunts, hangouts and legendary landmarks like Decatur, Redan Park, Covington Highway and other
venues that most South DeKalb residents would easily recognize – a time-honored practice called “‘repping the hood.” CrossRoadsNews spoke with several of these working artists who were born, raised
or educated on “the Eastside” about how their experiences influence their lives and impacts their music. Please see MUSIC, page 5