Welcome to summer! Well, not the astronomical summer. Just the cultural one. It’s funny how summer holds us in thrall long after ideas like “summer break” and “long, careless summer nights” have faded in time with adulthood. How can we reclaim some of that joy? Whatever the answer, it probably also involves AC — or at least a portable fan.
THEY‘RE KICKING OFF IN TYBEE ISLAND
Tybee Island’s annual Beach Bum Parade marks the unofficial beginning of the Georgia barrier island’s tourist season. One part parade, one part mobile water fight, it’s a chance for locals to have a little fun before the busiest times begin.
- It’s a tradition for Tybee residents going back to 1987. The very first Beach Bum Parade served as a homecoming march for a local softball team, the Beach Bums.
- Over the next few years, it evolved (or perhaps devolved) into a water fight, with water guns and water balloons flying between spectators and parade participants.
- Parade founder Jack Boylston is known as the HBIC, or Head Bum in Charge.
- “The best parties are those where you don’t send out invitations,” he says. “That’s what this has been.”
💦 READ MORE: Beach Bum Parade photos so happy you’ll get secondhand joy
CAPS OFF FOR THE SPELMAN SEVEN
Leave it to Spelman, the famed women’s HBCU in Atlanta, to reach some new height of achievement. This year’s graduating class featured not one, but a record seven valedictorians.
- The Spelman Seven, as they’re called, are Sophia Davis, Mariama Diallo, Nia-Sarai Perry, Aiyana Ringo, Alyssa Richardson, Alexis Sims and Cori’Anna White. All seven entered the school in 2022 and finished with perfect 4.0 grade averages.
- “Earning a perfect GPA is a rare distinction, and to see seven Spelman students reach that pinnacle in the same class speaks to their discipline, intellect and unwavering commitment to excellence,” said Mark Lee, Spelman’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs.
🎓 READ MORE: More about these extraordinary young women
SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH
🐺 Raleigh, NC: Graduating students at NC State University’s Wilson College of Textiles got a huge surprise when commencement speaker Anil Kochhar announced his family was covering all student loans taken out by the graduates during their last academic year. Kochhar said the donation honors not just graduates but his father, who traveled from India to study textiles at NC State. More from The News & Observer
🤠 Nashville, TN: The Black Ass Rodeo comes to Nashville this weekend, a collaboration among Nashville Black Market, Nashfeels and Black as Party that celebrates the glamour and fun of Black rodeo culture. More from The Tennessee Tribune
⛵ Charleston, SC: Since 2010, the nonprofit Veterans on Deck has brought healing to veterans and active-duty service members coping with post-traumatic stress disorder. The group’s founders know firsthand how camaraderie, relaxation and fresh sea air on the Charleston Harbor can bring a new kind of peace. More from WCSC
🥦 Augusta, GA: A new monthly mobile food market in Augusta will bring fresh produce, meat and shelf stable items to underserved families in the area. The effort is headed by food nonprofit Augusta Locally Grown, in partnership Wellstar Health System, Golden Harvest Food Bank and the Harrisburg Family Health Clinic. More from Augusta Locally Grown
🖼️ Atlanta, GA: Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History earned a $220,000 grant from the Getty Foundation to help the institution continue to support and preserve Black artistic and cultural history. More from UATL
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. SweetTea@ajc.com.
SOUTHERN WISDOM
I'm not trying to live a life that's going backwards. I want to go forward, for my grandchildren to be able to go forward.
Odom was one of several dozen activists and Black leaders to join last weekend’s All Roads Lead to the South rally. Odom came from Aiken, South Carolina, to join others in Atlanta. There, he and other participants boarded buses to Montgomery, Alabama, retracing the path of major moments in the Civil Rights Movement.
Thank you for reading to the very bottom of Sweet Tea! Join us next week by subscribing to the newsletter.🍑
About the Author
AJ Willingham is an National Emmy, NABJ and Webby award-winning journalist who loves talking culture, religion, sports, social justice, infrastructure and the arts. She lives in beautiful Smyrna-Mableton and went to Syracuse University.
