Atlanta, GA
MLK Beloved Community Awards shines light on injustice of man killed during homeless encampment clearing
MLK Beloved Community Awards red carpet
Singer and actor Trina Braxton, the host of the 2025 MLK Beloved Community Awards, joins FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Eric Mock on the red carpet at the Omni Atlanta Hotel. She says the message for the award ceremony is simple: Serve your community.
ATLANTA – The annual Beloved Community Awards by The King Center kicked off a weekend of remembrance and service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It’s a night to honor people working to make the world a more just place.
But the injustice of an unhoused man’s death, caused by an Atlanta City Public Works truck during a sweep of the encampment where he was sleeping, weighed heavily on many of the civil rights leaders gathered at the ceremony.
MLK Beloved Community Awards
The music, glitz and glamor of the annual awards ceremony shined bright Saturday evening.
As celebrities and community leaders came together to honor those working to carry out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a “beloved community.”
Actress Jenifer Lewis, who’s starred in many movies and T.V. shows including Black-ish, received an award during the ceremony.
“I’ve had a lot of wonderful occasions in these 68 years, but this is the most wonderful. The glory and the hallelujah of it all when people come together, stand strong and unite,” Lewis said.
Civil rights leaders concerned about homeless man’s death
Civil rights leaders reflect on man crushed by public works truck
Civil rights leaders who came to the King Center’s Beloved Community Awards spent time reflecting on the death of a man who was killed during the clearing of a homeless encampment by an Atlanta City Public Works truck. It happened near Ebenezer Baptist Church.
But the death of a man who was homeless at the hands of an Atlanta City Public Works truck while they were trying to sweep the encampment where he was staying on Old Wheat Street Thursday, happened just a few hundred feet away from The King Center.
Dr. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and daughter of the late Dr. King lamented the tragedy.
“I just wish that the person who did this would’ve thought about ‘hey let’s check the tents, let’s make sure human beings are not present’ before they cleared out the camp,” King said.
FOX 5 was at another MLK Day event in Stone Mountain and caught up with the President of Hosea Helps Elisabeth Omilami.
Hosea Helps President Elisabeth Omilami
She decried the tragedy and says the death feels too similar to the deaths of the two sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.
“It reminds me of the gentlemen who were crushed by the garbage truck in Memphis at Martin Luther King’s last speech where he was assassinated in Memphis,” Omilami said.
State President of the NAACP Gerald Griggs was at Saturday’s awards ceremony and says it shows how badly the City needs to make changes.
“We don’t need to move people when we’re having international guests. I think Dr. King would want us to embrace those unhoused brothers and sisters and do more to provide the necessary funds and housing for them,” Griggs said.
How City of Atlanta leaders are responding
In a statement, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the city will “review each of our processes and procedures and take every precaution to ensure this never happens again.”
Dr. King says the King Center stands ready to help them do that.
“We’re looking forward at The King Center to possibly working with the City to train people on how to carry out what they’re trained to do in a humane way,” King said.
Some activists have accused the City of clearing the homeless encampment because of its proximity to The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park and the upcoming holiday.
But the City denies that.
In a statement, Cathry Vassell, CEO for Partners for HOME, which works with the City to get people housed, said they had been working with this encampment for months to try and get them off the streets prior to this sweep.
“The first engagement with this encampment began the week of April 5, 2024. Individuals began transitioning to shelter on June 7, 2024. Through these ongoing efforts, 21 individuals have been connected to shelter and housing,” her statement reads.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the City of Atlanta and gathered by FOX 5 crews at the 2025 Beloved Community Awards Ceremony and Stone Mountain MLK ceremony.
Atlanta, GA
The Best Vintage Shops in Atlanta
Vogue’s guide to the best vintage stores in Atlanta is part of our directory of the very best vintage around the world, curated by editors from all over. Whether you’re traveling and searching for some superb stores to visit on your trip or are curious about your local vintage treasure chests, Vogue’s directory has you covered.
Come to Atlanta for its southern charm and lush greenery, stay for its vintage. The Hollywood of the South has a lot more than on-set locations and an upcoming roster of FIFA World Cup games, and whether exploring shops along the Beltline, losing your voice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, or itching for the eccentric pleasures of a roadside antique mall, these vintage gems make the journey to the A more than worth it.
Photo: Courtesy of The Clothing Warehouse
Dutch field pants, netted shirts, prairie dresses, and a floor-to-ceiling selection of cowboy boots are a few of the many goods awaiting your search at this Atlanta mainstay. Opened by Jim Buckley in 1992, the Clothing Warehouse now calls the hipster Little 5 Points home. Its redbrick exterior is hard to miss—head upstairs for womenswear and union-made dresses, then downstairs to a room of seriously color-coded tees—it’s likely you will find plenty of Atlanta history in the form of 1996 Summer Olympics shirts. Plus, its wholesale location is a 15-minute drive away in West Midtown, if you’re up for an afternoon dig.
Address: 420 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta
At the vintage and makers market Mother Lode, there’s something for every lover of old things. Founder Lindsay Short’s estate sale background is well-reflected in the shop’s range of garments, decor, and wares. Find 1930s beach pajamas beside bowling shirts and Edwardian tunics at Fellows Vintage’s booth, or ’60s wedding dresses that seem more Factory Girl than bride-to-be from Iron Pony. The hunt continues at Mother Lode’s sister location in college town Athens, which opened in 2023.
Address: 3429 Covington Hwy Ste B, Decatur
Monet Brewerton-Palmer first got her love for bridal from her grandmother, who was a shop seamstress. Then, after shopping for her own wedding dress in 2014 and ending up with four, her interest (and personal collection) only grew. Now, Brewerton-Palmer offers brides an array of dresses by Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Catherine Rayner, and more. Standout pieces include a 1959 one-of-one from Jacques Heim, a silk rose-covered Christian Dior for the romantic, and a fur-accented Muriel Martin for the nontraditionalist.
Atlanta, GA
Former Atlanta principal back at his old school as its new handyman:
Retirement did not last long for one Atlanta school principal.
After 10 years leading Burgess Peterson Academy, David White is back, and this time he’s making sure everything inside the school’s building runs smoothly.
White retired last September from being the school’s principal, but home didn’t suit him for long.
“I found myself really kind of lonely and disconnected,” White said. “I had lost my sense of community, for sure, so when this position became available, I kind of laughed because I used to say that it would be the perfect retirement job.”
White applied for the open site manager position and got the job. Now he enjoys being back in the same halls that bring him joy.
He is six weeks into the new job.
“I find myself now always looking to see if there are lights that are burned out, if there are issues that need to be addressed,” said White. “There’s always the need for touch-up painting, right? Because kids have dirty little hands, and they love to pick paint.”
During CBS News Atlanta’s visit, White was repairing a broken lightbulb in the boy’s bathroom.
“The light started flickering, like, just blinking off and on, and so of course the kids were saying it was haunted,” he said.
Around the school, his impact hasn’t faded.
Students and staff light up when they see him.
“It’s been really great to see their excitement to be here every day and to see Mr. White,” said principal Dr. Holly Brookins. “I really feel that having him back has added so much value to our community, and it’s really been a joyful thing for all of us.”
With a tool belt and new titles, White proves that no matter the role, some people never stop showing up for the places they love.
Atlanta, GA
APS bus struck by stray bullet in southwest Atlanta; 2 children injured, police say
A shooting in southwest Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon left a young man injured and sent glass flying inside an Atlanta Public Schools bus carrying children.
Atlanta Police say officers responded around 3:10 p.m. to a report of a person shot in the 2600 block of Campbellton Road SW.
When officers arrived, they found a 20-year-old man with an apparent gunshot wound. He was alert, conscious, and breathing when he was transported to the hospital.
As investigators began piecing together what happened, they discovered the violence had extended beyond the initial shooting scene.
Police say an Atlanta Public Schools bus was struck by a stray bullet during the incident, shattering one of its windows.
At the time, only the driver and two students were on board.
The children suffered minor scratches from the broken glass, according to police. The bus driver was not injured.
No further details have been released about the condition of the shooting victim or what led to the gunfire.
Atlanta Police say investigators with the Aggravated Assault Unit are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
The investigation remains ongoing.
-
Detroit, MI1 week agoDrummer Brian Pastoria, longtime Detroit music advocate, dies at 68
-
Science1 week agoHow a Melting Glacier in Antarctica Could Affect Tens of Millions Around the Globe
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago‘Youth’ Twitter review: Ken Karunaas impresses audiences; Suraj Venjaramoodu adds charm; music wins praise | – The Times of India
-
Science1 week agoI had to man up and get a mammogram
-
Sports6 days agoIOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
-
New Mexico5 days agoClovis shooting leaves one dead, four injured
-
Business1 week agoDisney’s new CEO says his focus is on storytelling and creativity
-
Texas1 week agoHow to buy Houston vs. Texas A&M 2026 March Madness tickets