My work has included narrative print stories, audio documentaries and series, co-published with national outlets, like ProPublica, NPR and Reveal.
Below are some of my favorite projects.
My work has included narrative print stories, audio documentaries and series, co-published with national outlets, like ProPublica, NPR and Reveal.
Below are some of my favorite projects.
In partnership with ProPublica's Local Reporting Network, I documented the harsh consequences of housing insecurity in Georgia’s child welfare system. The investigation found the state repeatedly cited "inadequate housing" as a reason for removing children but did little to help their families with housing assistance.
In four stories, I followed parents and young adults struggling to navigate the system and stay housed.
Over the course of a year, I followed the tenants at Forest Cove, a government subsidized complex in Atlanta, as they fought for better conditions. Their struggle, shown through the eyes of 62-year-old Ms. Peaches, became an audio documentary, long-form print story and podcast.
Shortly after the story aired, the Atlanta Mayor announced a relocation plan for residents.
Listen to the documentary and read the follow up stories here >
In partnership with APM Reports, I showed how few longtime homeowners in Atlanta's longtime Black, gentrifying neighborhoods benefited from the sharp increase in values. Our analysis compared home prices to Zillow's estimate of fair market value and showed many sellers accepted prices that were so low they were less than half the estimated fair market value.
The four-part series, which took two years to complete, resulted in a new city law.
In 1936, an African American man named Thomas Finch was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer who later became leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Very little was known publicly about Finch’s death until his name appeared at a new memorial to the victims of lynching. In a documentary for Reveal, I investigate what really happened more than 80 years ago and why the city of Atlanta and its police force never have recognized the case.
With a grant from the Data Driven Reporting Project, I learned the Python programming language so I could dig into tax collection data in Fulton County. My work showed how investors exploited the county's unusual debt enforcement system to pick up properties in longtime Black neighborhoods for cheap as their values spiked.
Along with a local graphic designer, I created an interactive computer game to demonstrate the maze-like process that people without housing must face in order to access shelter in Atlanta.
For NPR, I reported on the voter purges that disproportionately affect homeless voters.
In an oral history for the Bitter Southerner, I highlighted the little-known champions of a game known as pool checkers, largely played in the South.