VOLUME 25, NUMBER 40
JANUARY 17, 2020
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY – MONDAY, JANUARY 20
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Community activist Josie Dean says she was blocked from having MLK parade in Conyers
Dr. Jamal Bryant hugs a grateful Dorothy Malcome, whose medical debt was paid by New Birth. Photos by Glenn L. Morgan/OCG News
New Birth donation wipes out medical debt for 1,200 South DeKalb residents Dorothy Malcome fought back tears as she talked about the blessing she received in the mail from New Birth Missionary Baptist Church a few weeks ago. The letter stated that the Stonecrest, Georgia church had paid her outstanding medical debt— no strings attached. “At first, I thought it was a hoax. I didn’t believe it,” said Malcome. “I opened it and read it and I said, Oh, my God, these people done blessed me! And I just went around the house thanking God. I was so happy… I’m just thankful to the New Birth family.” Malcome, who is not a member of New Birth, recently contacted the church to personally thank Dr. Jamal Bryant, New Birth’s senior pastor, for the good news she received in her mail. She said she and her husband
Dorothy Malcome
are disabled, and getting help with her medical bills was a “miracle.” Malcome has faced several health issues including spine problems, carpal tunnel surgery in both hands, a tumor and a hernia. The former housekeeper and elevator operator said she still is in need of double knee
surgery. Malcome isn’t the only person who received a letter from New Birth. The church wiped out the debt of more than 1,200 South DeKalb residents, thanks to a partnership with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit organization. Pastor Bryant directed the relief efforts to individuals residing in the 30038 ZIP code, which includes Stonecrest and Lithonia. He said people received the help, even if they were not members of New Birth’s congregation as was the case with Malcome, who attends another South DeKalb church. “We are blessed to be a blessing and this effort has truly help families start the New Year without the stress, worry and concern that
SEE DEBT page 7
Nine candidates qualify for DeKalb sheriff’s special election DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox is in a crowded race to keep her job as DeKalb’s first female sheriff. Nine candidates, including Maddox, put their bid in for sheriff after the qualifying period ended on Jan. 8. Maddox, who served as the former Chief of Police for Georgia Piedmont Technical College, will join her competitors in a special election set for March 24 that will fill the unexpired term of Jeffrey Mann. The election will determine who serves the last nine months of Mann’s unexpired term, which ends in December 2020. Mann announced his retirement last November after unsuccessfully fighting the revocation of his certification following his arrest for public indecency and obstruction in 2017. Maddox was chief deputy at the time that Mann announced his departure and was subsequently appointed as the new sheriff. Although she was sworn in on Dec. 1 as the first female sheriff, one of her opponents, Ruth Stringer, is contesting the caveat on her Facebook campaign page in a post stating: “History always reveals itself I was Sheriff in 2017 and I am now running in 2020
SEE ELECTION page 4
Melody Maddox
Adam Gardner
Antonio Johnson
Ruth Stringer
Carl Mobley
Geraldine Champion
Ted Golden
Harold Dennis
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Kyle Jones
M
artin Luther King, Jr. will not be honored with a parade in Rockdale County this year. Community activist Josie Dean, who organized the first-ever parade to honor the civil rights leader in Rockdale, says Conyers city officials have blocked her from having the annual event that she has coordinated for the last three years. Dean said the city is retaliating against her for being outspoken on community issues. “It’s sad that here it is 2020 and Conyers just elected the first two blacks to the City Council and there is no parade to honor Dr. King in the City of Conyers,” said Dean. “The city and the county didn’t want me speaking out against them for the things they were doing and they refused to issue me a permit for this year’s parade.” Dean says she started the MLK parade on Parker Road in 2017 and successfully pushed for it to be held in Conyers on Main Street in 2018, commemorating the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination. In 2019, however, she got into a squabble with Conyers and Rockdale officials who demanded that she pay for police officers, insurance, and the venue to host a program following the parade. In previous years, there was a partnership between Dean and officials. Dean said that partnership, however, deteriorated when she began to speak out on a number of issues. She said holding the parade on Main Street marked a milestone for Rockdale. No parade honoring any black, she said, had ever been held on Main Street until she organized the MLK parade. “The parade was a way to bring blacks and whites together but they are using Dr. King as a way to tear us apart,” said Dean. “We’ve gone backwards. You could see that from the swearing-in ceremony (on Jan. 8) for Conyers’ first two black women on the council: A white swore in the white councilman and a black swore in the black women.” Mayor Vince Evans defended the city’s stance on denying Dean a special permit for the 2020 parade,
SEE DEAN page 7