Vote in the Hay 21st Primary election!
-tration Dead line for Primary flection is
at https://securer
VOTE in the on May 21st! Check y<
s.ga.gov/$/
status! www.mvp.s0s.ga.g0v/s/
PRSRTSTD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Savannah, GA
Permit No. 923
r v ) “Georgia’s Best Weekly”
Che ^abannah Crtbune
1805 MLK Jr. Blvd. S»V n GA 3141S
April 17, 2024 - April 23, 2024
Vol. 54 No. 16
Tel: 912-233-6128 * Fas: 911433-614*
Disney On Ice Presents Frozen & Encanto
The only place to see the Madrigal family live! Coming to Enmarket Arena from May 2nd-5th
The Deadline Date Is April 22,2024 To Register
To Vote In The May 21st Primary Election
F or the first
time, Disney
On Ice invites
families to step inside the mag
ical adventures of Walt Disney
Animation Studios’ Frozen,
the #1 Animated feature of all
time, and Disney Animation’s
Encanto, the 2022 Academy
Award®, BAFTA®, and Gold
en Globe® Award winner for
Best Animated Feature, as
they come to life like never
before. This adventure on ice
transports fans into two of the
most popular Disney films as
audiences can sing-along to
their favorite songs while em
bracing world-class ice skat
ing, aerial acrobatics and more
when Disney On Ice presents
Frozen & Encanto skates into
Savannah playing from May
2-5, 2024 at Enmarket Arena,
620 Stiles Ave.
Audiences will see
Anna, Elsa, Mirabel, and the
L-R: Frozen & Encanto
Photos by Sallie Palmieri Rego (Feld Entertainment)
Madrigal family live, as well the lovable snowman who likes
as fan favorites Mickey Mouse, warm hugs and all tilings sum-
Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy, mer. Astounding ice-skating
and many more. transports families to Aren-
Narrating the capti- delle to be a part of Anna’s ad-
vating story of Frozen is Olaf, venture to find Elsa, whose icy
powers unleashed an eternal
winter. Kristoff and Sven take
fans along as they encounter
wintry conditions in a race to
bring back summer.
After a very Fro
zen adventure, audiences will
journey to a vibrant town in
the mountains of Colombia
where they will meet the Mad
rigals, an extraordinary family
who live in a magical casita
in a wondrous, charmed place
called an Encanto. Mirabel
tells the tale of her amazing
family and her journey to save
the casita, her enchanted fami
ly home, alongside her sisters:
Isabela, whose perfection ra
diates with her ability to make
plants grow and flowers bloom
with every step, and Luisa,
with the gift of super strength
that she uses to help her village
move buildings and reroute riv
ers.
Continued on Page 10
Georgia Historical Society Dedicates New Historical Marker
Recognizing Complex Story of American Slavery & Freedom
On Wednesday, April
10, 2024, the Georgia Histor
ical Society (GHS) unveiled
a new historical marker, “The
Montmollin Building and Bry
an School,” that recognizes an
important site in the history of
enslavement, emancipation,
and African-American educa
tion. The Montmollin Building
is an antebellum commercial
structure in Savannah used as a
slave brokerage and later as the
Bryan School, one of Georgia’s
first legal Black schools. GHS
dedicated the new marker in
partnership with the Mayor and
Aldermen of the City of Savan
nah.
“The story of the
Montmollin Building and its
many uses reflects the larger
history of the American South
in all its complexity,” said Dr.
W. Todd Groce, Georgia His
torical Society President and
CEO. “Telling that story in a
full and honest way gives us
a better understanding of who
we are as a nation, which in
turn helps us to build a better
future.”
L-R: Reverend Thurmond Neill Tillman, Lillian Grant-Baptiste, Joseph A. Melder,
Honorable Van R. Johnson II, Alderman Detric Leggett, Dr. W. Todd Groce, and
Reverend Christopher J. Pittman
Savannah was Geor
gia’s largest slave trading cen
ter and a hub for the regional
domestic slave trade by the
1850s. Built around 1856, the
Montmollin Building served
as an office for John S. Mont
mollin and Alexander Bryan,
who held and sold enslaved
Black people there for almost a
decade. When the U.S. govern
ment confiscated the Montmo
llin Building during the Civil
War, it provided the building to
Savannah’s African-American
community, which organized
the Savannah Educational As
sociation (SEA) to fund and
establish schools. Opening in
January 1865, Bryan School
operated in the Montmollin
Building and was one of SEA’s
first schools.
Continued on Page 10
Hungry Club Forum’s Voter Education and Information Presentation
Supersedes Expectations
The Board of Di
rectors of the Hungry Club
Forum of Savannah, Inc.
(HCFS) “Harnessing the Pow
er of Collaboration on the is
sues of today and tomorrow,”
has designated the Saturday
April 6th as a prime example
of representing what the or
ganization’s mission and pur
pose is. This forum brought
together A-game presentations
that generated robust dialogue
among a diverse roundtable of
Savannah Area residents. The
popular, non-partisan breakfast
forum was held at 9:30 AM, in
the Multipurpose Room of the
WBS YMCA, located at 1110
May Street.
In anticipation of
the Tuesday May 21, 2024
primary elections, the forum,
co-sponsored by The Savan
nah Tribune (TST), was on par
with well-developed ideas and
premises for community edu
cation and empowerment when
it comes to the U. S. democra-
L-R: Roy L. Jackson, Board Member Khani B. Morgan, Shirley B. James, Diana
Harvey Johnson, and Rev. C. J. Holliman
cy and its system of electing are used. presentations on the qualifica-
those who set the policies and Shirley B. James, tions of being a “Gatekeeper,”
guidelines of governance, and publisher of The Savannah the dire consequences of voter
are charged with appropriating Tribune and Rev. C. J. Holli- apathy, voter fatigue and disen-
and watchdogging the ways in man, Pastor of St. Philip AME gagement.
which the citizens’tax dollars Church, offered up dynamic Continued on Page 10
Check Your Voter Status: mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/
Applications For The Absentee Ballot Are Now Available!
In Person At The Voter Registration Office:
1117 Eisenhower Dr., Ste E, Savannah, GA 31406;
Call in the request: 912-790-1520; or
Email voter@chathamcounty.org to request the application
ONLINE REQUESTS at
https://securemyabsenteeballot.sos.ga.gOv/s/
Georgia Legislature Rushed and
Passed More Voter Bills That
Obstruct The Voting Process
By Shirley B. James, Publisher of The Savannah Tribune
The Gold Dome
AND BEYOND
The League of Women Voters of Georgia Le.jij.'oiivr Perspective
LWJU
LEAGUE O' WOMEN VOTERS
Looking at the Voter
Laws passed on the last days
of the 2024 Georgia Legisla
tive Session, WITH NO OP
PORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC
COMMENT, it seems as if
the Republican majority in the
Legislature was determined to
implement more obstructions
to the voting process in Geor
gia in the name of “Voter In
tegrity.” Rather than trust the
honesty and integrity of eligi
ble, law-abiding Georgia vot
ers coupled with the experience
of voter election officials who,
over the years, have proven
their dedication and knowledge
and their responsibility and
ability to abide by all the laws,
policies and procedures that
were in place before the 2020
election cycle, it appears that
our Republican majority have
coined laws which validate
misinformation, conspiracies
and election denying theorists,
rather than accept the factual
statistics and judicial rulings
about Georgia’s Elections and
results in 2020. The new laws
have placed more restrictions
upon us as voters, but given
more rights and protections to
poll watches and those persons
and organizations whose sole
mission is to challenge the
status of as many Black and
Brown voters as possible in or
der to have us purged from the
voting lists. At the same time,
these laws have added more
tasks, undue burdens, and un
reasonable time restraints to
the required duties that voter
registration/election officials
and staff perform in order to
report election results. Imple
mentation of these new laws
passed by the State Legisla
ture becomes a mandate that is
also a financial burden of each
County in Georgia as well as to
us as taxpayers because state
funds are not allocated to un
derwrite the additional costs
involved.
Please see below
summaries and explanations of
these laws and think about how
they will impact us as Voters as
well as our election directors
and staff, poll Managers and
poll workers - persons who
diligently and courageously
perform their prescribed duties
in preparation for, and during
every election cycle. The
summaries are quotes taken
from information provided by
the following: Fair Fight Ac
tion, “2024 Session Overview
- Kemp-Jones MAGA Agen
da Wins,” April 1, 2024; The
League of Women Voters of
Georgia, The Gold Dome and
Beyond - Legislative Focus
on Elections, April 15, 2024;
and The Savannah Morning
News (“Three elections bills
that could transform voting in
Georgia awaiting governor’s
signature’’ by Maya Homan),
April 15, 2024. The bills that
passed the Georgia House and
Senate were sent to Governor
Kemp on April 3rd. If he does
not veto or sign the bills with
in 40 days from receipt, THE
BILL ' AUTOMATICALLY
BECOMES LAW.
SB 189
According to SB 189,
an individual or organization
is allowed to challenge the
voting status/eligibility of an
unlimited number (up to thou
sands) of voters for various and
unfounded reasons. Once the
challenge is filed, voters can be
removed from the voting roll
up to 45 days before an elec
tion (the National Voter Regis
tration Act gives 90 days). The
voter must be notified of the
challenge and prove their eligi
bility within 10 days. SB 189
also places an unreasonable re
quirement on the unhoused, or
homeless voter to “...use the
[County’s voter registration]
office as their mailing address
for all election-related mail,
including absentee ballots and
notices of voter challenges.”
This bill also reduces the time
requirement for ballots to be
counted and reported, down to
one hour after the polls close,
including early voting and ab
sentee ballots (NOTE: the final
deadline to submit an absen
tee ballot is 7 pm on election
day).This is an unreasonable
demand to place on election
directors, staff and poll manag
ers. Fair Fight Action catego
rizes SB 189 as an “... alarm
ing attempt to legislate election
intimidation, mass disenfran
chisement of Georgia voters,
... add additional burdens on
elections staff, ... potentially
subject them to harassment, ...
embolden right-wing activists
in their efforts to kick Black
and brown voters off the rolls,
and will cost the state “hun
dreds of millions of dollars.”
Continued on Page 9
ROBERT E. JAMES
Presided since
December 1971
CARVER
STATE BANK
«£ Teh, 23,1927
97 Years of Service, Leadership and Success!
LOUIS B. TOO MER
founder one)
lif Presiden)
MAIN OFFICE
70 i Martin Luther King. Jr. Bfvd.., Savannah, GA 3140)
SKI DAW AY BRANCH
7110 SkieJaway Ref., Savannah, GA 31406
