Moderator’s introduction

Today’s moderator: Rick Badie

Rick Badie joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as an education reporter in 1997. A South Georgia native, he’s covered the region’s immigrant communities, was a feature obituary writer and opinion columnist for the AJC’s Gwinnett edition.

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A cry erupted from many, notably in the black community, following the not-guilty verdict of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black boy. Some activists, pundits, moms and dads suggested that blacks in general — and our community as a whole — should address a potentially highly charged topic: black-on-black crime. Today, we introduce what we hope becomes an ongoing Atlanta Forward discussion on such unrelenting killings in our city.

Guest columnists:

Starting a tough conversation by Rick Badie

'Black Slack' symptom of a disease by Melody T. McCloud