A "Bargain Bin" Blog Post by Hilerie Lind I was lying in bed last night, exhausted. Not the kind of tired that sleep can fix, but the kind that settles into your bones when you've spent too many days watching the world burn and wondering how we got here. I turn on Finding Your Roots. It's one of my favorite shows. I love ancestry. I love history. I love watching Black people discover the resilience of their ancestors, the land they owned, the names they carried, the lives the

A Bargain Bin Post I've been quiet for the last 30 days. Not because I didn't have anything to say, but because I needed to sit with what I was witnessing. I needed to process the horror of what is happening in real time. I needed to ask myself: What is the goal for my legacy? What is the goal for how I plan to uplift my community? And where do Black people fit into this latest chapter of American empire? Because what we are witnessing right now is not just a political crisis

I've been sitting with something heavy lately, and I need to process it out loud. Because if I'm feeling this, I know you are too. I've been trying to navigate Black public and political discourse, and I'm exhausted. Not because I don't know who I am or what I stand for—I do. But because it feels like no one else does. It feels like everyone else has decided that integrity is optional, that morality is negotiable, and that the lines between right and wrong are so blurred that

There is a runoff election happening in Sandy Springs on December 2nd that you need to pay attention to, even if you don't live there. Because what is unfolding in North Fulton is not just about one mayor's race—it's a microcosm of the larger war being waged across metro Atlanta and the entire state of Georgia. The race is between incumbent Mayor Rusty Paul, a former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, and challenger Dontaye Carter, a community organizer and advocate w

There is a ghost that haunts Black culture, and his name is Ray J. The same Ray J who sung "One Wish" and "Sexy Can I". This same Ray J sat down on The Breakfast Club this week, nearly two decades after a sex tape with Kim Kardashian launched one of the most profitable empires in modern media history, and asked the culture to finally have his back. But here's the problem: Ray J spent years making deals with the very system that now treats him as disposable. He publicly supp

Dear Friends, We Did That: A Successful Mix & Mingle Thank you so much for making our Brookhaven Community Mix & Mingle this past Saturday such a tremendous success. It was an honor to gather with neighbors, leaders, and changemakers who are committed to building a stronger, more connected community. We were especially grateful to welcome some incredible leaders who took time out of their busy schedules to be with us: Mayor-Elect Jelani Lindor of Stone Mountain and his wife

There’s a specific type of educated Black man many of us have encountered. He moves through the world with a particular kind of armor—a polished, yet brittle, arrogance. You find him in academia, in politics, in the corner office. He is the gatekeeper professor who questions your brilliance, the political upstart who demands loyalty but offers none, the administrator who wields bureaucracy like a weapon. He is often accomplished, undeniably intelligent, and utterly exhausting

This has been a heavy couple of weeks. As a federal employee, I’ve felt the instability of our government firsthand. But as a Black woman in America, I know that when the system shakes, our communities are the first to feel the ground give way. On November 1st, SNAP benefits are set to be shut off, and any existing balances may be wiped clean. This is not a policy debate; it is a direct and calculated assault on the survival of our most vulnerable. At the same time, the digit

By Hilerie Lind There is a weight that comes with being the one who "makes it out." It is a peculiar, heavy crown, one that is often placed on your head by the very people you love most, and yet it feels less like an honor and more like a target. I’ve been thinking about my family. I’ve been thinking about my parents, who found their way to God after walking through the fire of familial addictions and wrongful imprisonment. I’ve been thinking about my mother, who became the f

The work of our candidate forums is done, but our real work is just beginning. For weeks, we put candidates on the stage to answer the tough questions. After listening to dozens of them, one truth has become undeniable: leadership is not a title you are given. It is an action you take, especially when the stakes are high and no one is watching. And right now, we are in a profound leadership crisis at every level. The Rot in Our Own Backyard: A Failure of Leadership in DeKalb

Friends, It’s the end of September, and I find myself in a season of profound contradictions. On a personal level, my life is wonderfully, chaotically full. I’m deep in my work as a PhD candidate, wrestling with the dense, beautiful, and often painful intersections of Humanities, Political Science, and African American Studies. I’ve also taken on a second job as a tutor at the historic Clark Atlanta University, and the energy of being on an HBCU campus, helping to shape the n

I often reflect on a moment from a documentary I watched two years ago, at my induction ceremony as the Vice President of Programs for the Greater Atlanta Democratic Women. The film followed several activists, but one woman’s words have remained fused to my consciousness. She looked into the camera, her gaze a mixture of exhaustion and defiance, and posed a question that was not a question at all, but a foundational truth. She spoke of her identity, a woman, Black, born in th

Look what a random cleaning binge will unearth. 😮 This pic is from 2008. A baby-faced Hilerie working at the Ohio House of Representatives in the Riffe Center for then-House Minority Leader, the one and only Joyce Beatty. Finding this sent me down a rabbit hole. It’s funny, because there have been times I thought I’d strayed from my path. But this picture is proof that the love for community and the deep, intricate, and often painful dance between Black folks and politics ha

There are moments in history when the floor gives way. They are moments when the theoretical dangers we debate—the slippery slopes, the authoritarian hypotheticals—suddenly manifest in the solid, unyielding form of soldiers on our streets and a freedom summarily revoked. We are in such a moment now. The thin veneer of American democracy has been torn away, and what lies beneath is the chilling architecture of an autocratic takeover, unfolding in plain sight in our nation’s ca

My heart is heavy and my spirit is deeply troubled. Two days ago, a 30-year-old man armed with five guns fired dozens of rounds on the campuses of Emory University and the CDC, trying to force his way into the CDC headquarters. His reported motive? He blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him suicidal. This is the horrifying, real-world consequence of the relentless war on science. We now have uniformed and ignorant leadership at the highest levels, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr

There is a particular kind of stress that settles deep in your bones when the world feels like it’s spinning off its axis. This past week, leading up to my birthday, I’ve felt it more acutely than ever. It isn’t the quiet anxiety of another year passing; it's a profound, soul-wearying frustration born from watching the inaction of those around me juxtaposed with the brazen, callous inhumanity that floods our screens and streets. It is the exhaustion that comes from seeing hat

We find ourselves six months into a new administration, and the landscape of our nation is shifting with a velocity that demands our unyielding attention. This is not a time for panic, but for precise, strategic action. The very foundations of our democracy are being challenged, and it is incumbent upon us as leaders to understand the breadth of these changes and navigate them with foresight and fortitude.   The Erosion of Democratic Norms and Institutions   The recent Georgi

I want to start off by thanking the amazing people that have helped me along the way. This has been an amazing experience. I’ve met so many people that have had different life experiences than myself and some who come from different cultures. Being able to sit down with different people who have varying concerns has allowed me to reconsider what is really important to the people in this city, this state, this country, and in the world. Through these enlightening conversations

Initially, running for Mayor wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. My life was consumed by motherhood, being a business owner, and an employee. Though I always had aspirations to continue my political journey in leadership and hold public office one day, I just didn’t realize that time would be now. Since about April I had been paying attention to the upcoming mayoral election and going back and forth with myself on whether it would be the right time to run. Throughout this tim

I understand the overwhelming need for more of a police presence in many communities, but also understand the lack of trust that many people within the community have with the police. Creating space to allow the community and the police department to build relationships through community policing is the easiest transition into seeing a change in the community. But also looking at what the expenditures are for the $13 million dollar budget that the department currently has. Be