Meet The Brown Sugar Stitchers Quilt Guild Of Atlanta

Over these cold winter months, many people curl up with a cozy quilt. 

From patchwork or crazy quilts, which are salvaged from old clothes and fabrics, to highly designed patterns, quilts can provide warmth and also tell a story.

And, for black people, quilting has a powerful history in this genre of folk art. 

During the slavery period, wealthy households used black women for spinning, weaving, sewing and quilting.

Before the abolition of slavery, members of the Underground Railroad often used quilts to mark escape routes directing people to freedom.

On the third Saturday of almost every month, a group of black women gather together in a room at a local library in Decatur to keep an age-old craft alive in the 21st century.

GPB’s Leah Fleming visited a recent meeting of the Brown Sugar Stitchers to learn a little more about the group.

Rep. Doug Collins, R-Georgia, speaks to reporters outside the Senate. J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE / AP

Political Rewind: Collins Tells Us He Is Not Leaving Senate Race

Friday on Political Rewind, President Trump says he is considering naming Georgia Congressman Doug Collins permanent director of national intelligence. The move would end what is becoming a nasty campaign battle between Collins and Sen. Kelly Loeffler as they position themselves for the November special Senate election.

In an interview with Political Rewind just hours before the president’s comments, Collins signaled he would likely choose the Senate race over an administration position.

Listen here.

(L-R) Rep. David Clark (R-Buford), Hailie Massey, Laurie Wilson, Rep. Jeff Jones (R-Brunswick) GPB

Ralston Case Back In The Spotlight With Push To End Court Delays

In 2012, Hailie Massey was raped in her home by a 33-year-old traveling evangelist while her parents slept.  She was 14 years old. 

Even though her attacker was arrested and charged in 2013, his trial was continuously delayed because of the legislative commitments of his attorney, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston. Under Georgia’s “legislative leave” law at the time, state legislators could request a delay in court proceedings if their own legislative duties meant they had a scheduling conflict.  

The Georgia General Assembly amended the legislative leave law in 2019 after a media investigation revealed that Massey’s case in Union County was delayed for more than six years while Ralston requested multiple delays for legislative work. 

Read more from Patricia Murphy here.

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