Dr. Curtis L. Jones Jr. is the second superintendent from Georgia since 2015 to win the national honor. He spoke with "On Second Thought" about the honor and reflected on how, in a relatively short time, he has rebuilt trust with the community, improved student success and created a positive culture for teachers and staff.

He also shared his priorities for the future of education in Georgia.

"On Second Thought" for Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019.

Justin Colussy-Estes is the store manager of Little Shop of Stories, a bookstore in Decatur focusing on literature for children and adults. He stopped by "On Second Thought" to share his choices for our "Southern Reading List." It's our series of authors and readers sharing books that define and reflect the South.

James Baldwin's tour of the American South in 1957 featured meetings with Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth. It also had a profound effect on Baldwin as a person. Up until that point, he had been living in Paris and had never visited the South. He wrote about the tour for the magazine Partisan Review. Newly uncovered letters to Baldwin's brother and his friend, Mary Painter, revealed the fear and anguish that built over his six weeks in the South.

Author Ed Pavlić wrote a series of essays on Baldwin's tour and the impact of his letters for Brick magazine called "Beyond Simplicity: The Journey Toward James Baldwin's Letter from the Birmingham Motel." Pavlić is an English and African-American studies professor at the University of Georgia. He joined "On Second Thought" to discuss how Baldwin's writings on places like Atlanta and Charlotte help people understand the South of today.

 

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