10-20-07, 10:01 am
(APN) ATLANTA – Janis Ware, the Publisher of The Atlanta Voice newspaper, a local Black newspaper, was a partner in the Atlanta Housing Authority’s redevelopment of the McDaniel-Glen public housing community, according to documents obtained by Atlanta Progressive News.
Ms. Ware, in addition to publishing The Atlanta Voice, is the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization called SUMMECH, whose stated goal is to support to 'revitalization' of the Mechanicsville neighborhood, south of Downtown Atlanta.
SUMMECH, the Housing Authority, Columbia Residential, and Hedgewood Properties are listed as the “Development Partner” entities on the McDaniel-Glen revitalization, according to the 2007-2015 Public Improvements Survey, apparently prepared by Atlanta Housing Authority for the City Council of Atlanta on April 9, 2007.
The demolition of McDaniel-Glen was completed in 2006. Construction was prepared to start on March 2006 and scheduled to be completed in March 2009.
SUMMECH’s website does not mention anything about its participation in the McDaniel-Glen redevelopment.
Nor does the Atlanta Voice disclose when covering Atlanta Housing Authority’s plans to demolish public housing that its Publisher has been a partner in at least one of those demolitions and apparently supports the idea of tearing down public housing.
Neither SUMMECH nor the Atlanta Voice answered a list of questions emailed a week ago from Atlanta Progressive News.
The Atlanta Voice claims to be the 'voice of the people,' particularly, the Black community. It was founded in 1966 by Ware’s father to provide 'fair and credible coverage' of the Civil Rights Movement, according to its website.
Ware also previously served as the President of the Board of Commissioners of AHA.
APN hopes to provide more information on SUMMECH’s involvement with AHA public housing demolitions in future articles.
In full disclosure, the Atlanta Voice was previously a syndication partner of Atlanta Progressive News content from July to September 2007. APN recently terminated the syndication relationship.
--About the author: Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor for The Atlanta Progressive News and may be reached at
