Welcome to the first edition of Sweet Tea by the AJC, a celebration of fascinating stories from around the South.
I’m AJ Willingham, and I’ve been covering positive, inspiring content for more than a decade. I’m so excited to build this community with you. I want Sweet Tea to be a place where you feel seen, where we meet diverse voices and connect with one another about what makes the South great. Think of it like a really good brunch with friends. We’ll chat, laugh, learn and walk away refreshed — no reservation required. You don’t even need to put on outside clothes. We don’t judge here.
Inspire readers: We hope you enjoyed Inspire and think you will love Sweet Tea. Give it a read and let us know what you think.
BLACK COWBOY CULTURE IS ALIVE IN ATLANTA
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
Thank Beyoncé and the growing posse of Black country stars. Or, thank the Black cowboys and farmers whose contributions to American history are often buried.
In Atlanta and beyond, Black communities are reinvigorating their deep country roots on horseback.
Trail rides and rodeos bridge the past and future
Black riding groups throughout Georgia, like Cowboys and Creatives, combine the longstanding traditions of the trail ride with fresh fun: Hookahs alongside bonfires, vegan offerings at post-ride fish fries.
“We’re not trying to replicate or duplicate anything that anybody has. We literally are carving out a space that is a fusion of different things,” Cowboys and Creatives co-founder Elle Capone said.
“We welcome everyone with love, no drama, and we’re going to continue to have Black joy because we need that.”
Other events, like some hosted by the Atlanta Saddle Club Association, pair trail rides with barrel racing and rodeo competitions. I love the ASCA’s description on their site:
“We inspire a culture both young & old; rich & poor; black & white; that we can be more than what is expected of us. We ride to inspire those that thought it wasn’t possible is now possible.”
MORE: Why a historian calls Black trail rides a ‘turn-up and a testimony’ — article by Jewel Wicker, uATL
Celebrating in color
Muralist Aziza Andre has a gorgeous mural along Atlanta’s Beltline at Side Saddle Wine Saloon. Called “Renascent,” the piece features Black men and women on horses, rendered in vibrant pink and yellow.
“I named it ‘Renascent’ because the meaning was ‘rising again.’” Andre told uATL. “Black people are reclaiming that they were the original cowboys … I thought it would be interesting to take that word and tie it into the moment we’re having now."
🤠 Watch Andre in action here. Her energy is outstanding.
HOW TO APPRECIATE THE SOUTHERN ACCENT
You could drive yourself up a wall trying to name every Southern accent. It’s impossible, I even asked Google. (Well, and a lot of linguistics research literature). Research shows Baby Boomers could be the last generation to speak with some distinct Southern accents. Why?
- Migration in and out of Southern cities has diluted strong accents from one generation to another.
- Natural disasters can have the same effect. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 made a huge impact on New Orleans accents, like the white working class “yat” accent. The storm displaced a quarter of a million people within a year, and communities and cultural ties were changed forever.
Now, it’s still relatively easy to separate someone raised in North Carolina from a born-and-bred Alabamian, and so on. A lot of it’s in the vowels. Here are some common vowel variations of Southern accents. (Break out the Notes app, we’re learning new words today.)
👄 Monophthongization (pronounced like the bathing suit in “Borat”): This is when Southern accents condense more than one vowel sound into a single vowel sound. Say “I.” Does it sounds like “ahh-ee,” which would be a diphthong? Or does it sound like “ah,” like, “Ah do declare!”
👄 Diphthongization or tripthongization (“dipthong,” “tripthong”): These are the reverse: When pronunciations add more vowel sounds. Ever heard someone who sounds like they’re chewing on vowels? “Well” becomes “way-uhl,” “dress” becomes “dray-uss,” et cetera.
Pay attention to the next cool Southern accent you hear, and listen how the vowels are pronounced. Does “pen” sounds like “pin?” Do their “a” sounds match yours? Does any of it sound as perfect and melodic as Megan Thee Stallion’s Houston accent when she says “phone” on “WAP?”
If you really want to go down a rabbit hole, the University of Georgia has a great resource called the Digital Archive of Southern Speech.
MAKING CONNECTIONS: TRAINS ARE BACK IN ASHEVILLE
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
It’s one thing to hear about the destruction Hurricane Helene brought to the Asheville area. It’s another to see it firsthand. Though it’s been almost nine months since the storm, the scope of the damage is hard to describe. When I was in Asheville recently, I was stunned by the perseverance it takes to rebuild on such a scale. Person by person, day by day, people show up and do what they can. It takes time. It has to. Imagine working for months, and still having your beloved city look like hell. Imagine loving it so much you keep going until it doesn’t.
The good news is, freight trains are finally back in town. Norfolk Southern rebuilt 13 miles of track between Tennessee and Asheville, all on the company’s dime. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein says it will be a huge boost to the area’s economy.
🚂 Will Hoffman from the Asheville Citizen-Times has more information on other plans, like rebuilding a historical railway loop and bringing passenger trains to Asheville.
Fun fact from his story: In 2023, Asheville was described as the “most requested location” statewide for new passenger travel.
SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH
🍝 Chattanooga: Bea’s Restaurant, a community staple, celebrated 75 years of business by offering their iconic buffet for $1 — the same it cost when they opened their doors in 1950. They also sold T-shirts that read “I stood in line to eat at Bea’s on the 75th anniversary,” which are destined to become local status symbols. More from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
🔨 Birmingham: The Birmingham Times does an amazing series called “People Profiles” that shows how many good people are right down the road. I love this one about Joseph Holt, a 49-year-old licensed home builder who trains young people in carpentry and other trade skills through his nonprofit, the Holt Foundation for Change. He says the satisfaction of working with your hands and being a part of something can get kids out of cycles of violence and crime. More from the Times’ Alaina Bookman.
🐠 St. Tammany Parish: A new artificial reef in Lake Pontchartrain is the ultimate example of “from trash to treasure.” The reef uses 4,000 tons of recycled concrete from nearby Interstate 12. It’s the 58th artificial reef created by the Louisiana Coastal Conservation Association. Eventually, coral will grow and fish will be attracted to its environs, revitalizing underwater ecosystems. More on the project from the Times-Picayune.
WAIT, WHY IS IT CALLED A PARISH?
While we’re on the subject, Louisiana is the only state that has parishes instead of counties. Why?
When Louisiana was under French and Spanish rule, areas were roughly defined by the influence of local churches and their communities, or parishes. The state has held on to that term over time, reflecting long-ago lines written by history and colonialism. Louisiana has 64 parishes in all.
🦐 Thanks to the Vermilion Parish tourist commission for the info
WHAT’S HAPPENING: ATLANTA’S ICONIC JAZZ FESTIVAL
Credit: Terence Rushin/AJC
Credit: Terence Rushin/AJC
We’re looking forward to covering all kinds of cool happenings around the South, but of course we had to start our very first edition right here in Atlanta. And what luck! Few annual events are as meaningful to the city as the Atlanta Jazz Festival.
- It was founded in 1978 by then-Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson. So basically, destined for greatness from the start.
- It’s one of the country’s largest free jazz festivals, with an estimated 200,000 people flooding Midtown Atlanta’s beautiful Piedmont Park every year. (Yes, FREE. And Jackson wanted it that way.)
- Countless jazz greats have taken the stage, include Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Nina Simone and Ray Charles.
- It’s a three-day event, too, so there’s plenty to enjoy. It also features workshops and smaller side events, plus all the good food and company you’d expect in the heart of Atlanta.
🎷 More about this year’s festival here, from Danielle Charbonneau at the AJC
TELL US SOMETHING GOOD
Is there a cool event we need to know about? Something great happening in your town? Let us know. This is your space, too. https://amatl@ajc.com.
SOUTHERN WISDOM
In the South, as in no other American region, people use language as it was surely meant to be employed; a lush, personal, emphatic, treasure of coins to be spent slowly and for value.
Thank you for reading to the very bottom of Sweet Tea! We’re so glad you joined us. 🍑
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