From 1920 to 1940, no Black people lived in Forsyth County, Georgia. None. But by the time Tamla Horsford moved there with her family, a lot had changed. Or so it seemed, until Tamla was found dead in the Fall of 2018. Suddenly, a century’s worth of trauma resurfaced in the once all-white Georgia county. Today’s episode reveals what happens when a woman and a county collide.
Please be aware that today’s episode references lynching and other racial violence. Please take care while listening.
A full transcript of this episode is available here.
Action Items Related to Today’s Episode:
Learn more about Tamla and follow any developments on her case at @justicefortam.
Check out and support The Georgia Newspaper Project at www.libs.uga.edu/gnp and www.libs.uga.edu/development/support.
Explore the Atlanta History Center’s online collect Forsyth 1912 project, which seeks to collect the histories of descendants of Forsyth County’s expelled Black residents. You can donate to support their work here.
Audio Used:
NPR: The ‘Racial Cleansing’ That Drove 1,100 Black Residents Out Of Forsyth County, Ga., by FRESH AIR.
YouTube: Tamla Horsford 911 call released by 11Alive.
YouTube: UNLOCKED Full Episode: “Celebrities and Best Friends” | The Oprah Winfrey Show by OWN.
YouTube: Oprah Visits a County Where No Black Person Had Lived for 75 Years | The Oprah Winfrey Show | OWN, by OWN
YouTube: 11Alive coverage of the 1987 racial justice march in Forsyth County, by 11Alive.
YouTube: Forsyth Sheriff’s Office: Tamla Horsford case is closed, by 11Alive.
YouTube: GBI will not pursue charges in mysterious Forsyth County death at adult sleepover., by 11Alive.
Sources Used:
11Alive: Whitewashed: The racial cleansing of Forsyth County, by Brendan Keefe and Lindsey Basye.
Digital Library of Georgia: Race and Reckoning in Forsyth County.
Atlanta Georgian: Mob Batters Down Jail Door at Cumming and Hangs Girl’s Assailant.
Instagram: @justicefortam.
Instagram: @tamtastic18.
YouTube: Family of Tamla Horsford, woman who died at party in 2018, wants answers, by 11Alive.
Daily Beast: Tamla Horsford Died at a Slumber Party in 2018. Her Family Still Wants Answers., by Emily Shugerman.
RollingStone: The Unanswered Questions of Tamla Horsford’s Death, by Nile Capello.
NPR: The ‘Racial Cleansing’ That Drove 1,100 Black Residents Out Of Forsyth County, Ga., by FRESH AIR.
USAFACTS: Our Changing Population: Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Increasingly diverse, Forsyth County faces racist past, by Shelia Poole and Adrianne Murchison.
St. Petersburg Times: Looking Back: Civil rights protestors take back Forsyth County (January 25, 1987), by Times Staff Writer.
RollingStone: New Documents Detail Cops’ Bungling Response to Tamla Horsford’s Death, by Nile Capello.
Forsyth County News: Protests brings renewed public interest in death of Tamla Horsford, by Brian Paglia.
Forsyth County News: Group accused online of murdering Tamla Horsford sues Forsyth County woman, by Alexander Popp.
WSB-TV: Family attorney says his own investigation shows Forsyth Co. mother of 5 may have been killed, by Mike Petchenik.
Twitter: @Mike_Petchenik, Letter from Raph Fernandez to Leander Horsford.
11Alive: GBI findings ‘do not support’ criminal charges in case of Tamla Horsford, mother of 5 who died at adult sleepover, by 11Alive Staff.
The Washington Post: Murder with Impunity An Unequal Justice, by Wesley Lowery, Kimbriell Kelly, and Steven Rich.
The Washington Post: Out of 54,868 homicides in 55 cities over the past decade, 50 percent did not result in an arrest.
Change.org: FBI to handle the re-investigation of the case involving the death of Tamla Horsford, by Forsyth Exposed.
Daily Beast: Tamla Horsford Died at a Slumber Party in 2018. Her Family Still Wants Answers. by Emily Shugerman.
