Lake Lanier area on July 22, 2012, in Atlanta, Georgia. | Source: Moses Robinson / Getty
On July 6, 2012, veteran celebrity stylist Tameka Foster experienced literally every parent’s worst nightmare when her 11-year-old son, Kile Glover, was killed in a horrible jet ski incident in Georgia’s extremely infamous Lake Lanier.
The premature death of Kile, who Tameka had years before her highly-publicized two-year marriage to currently viral R&B king Usher, has inspired his still-grieving mom to launch an all-out campaign that will hopefully get Lake Lanier condemned, cleaned and restored after decades of complaints from locals.
MORE: The Haunting Of Lake Lanier And The Black City Buried Underneath
Ryan Cameron welcomed his dear old friend on the show to check how Tameka is doing on the death anniversary of her firstborn, in addition to why this initiative is so important to her and Georgians in general. Given that recent report on the rabies-ridden beaver attack this past weekend alone, we’ll go out on a limb and say she’s got a pretty valid argument.
Watch Tameka Foster below on Ryan Cameron Uncensored for more information on draining Lake Lanier, and you can sign her petition by clicking here.
Lake Lanier, Georgia’s biggest lake, is a massive 57.92 square-mile reservoir that was established in 1956 with the completion of the Buford Dam. To this day, it helps control flooding along the Chattahoochee River, as well as provide water and power to residents near Atlanta.
Built after World War II, it was named after poet Sidney Lanier, who served as a private in the Confederate army but was known for writing “Song of the Chattahoochee,” a poem about the popular river.
But over the years, Lake Lanier has gained a reputation as a haunted lake with secrets of terror, death, genocide and ghosts. Lake Lanier was once the Black town of Oscarville, home to roughly 1,100 Black folks, most of whom were freed after fighting in the American Civil War.
Over time, pieces of the land would be sold to the government, and by 1950 a plan to build Lake Lanier was in full effect. Soon the entire town of Oscarville would be underwater, intentionally flooded in conjunction with the Buford Dam to support the growing demand for a water supply to the nearby cities.
In the end, construction would destroy more than 50,000 acres of farmland and displace more than 250 families. It would also relocate 20 cemeteries (and their corpses) in what some may see as an attempt to erase the sins of its past.
Many folks who live close by will tell you straight up, “Don’t go to Lake Lanier.” And its death toll certainly validates their point. There have been well over 500 deaths since the lake’s inception and more than 200 since 1994, including Foster’s son.
SEE ALSO:
Georgia Republicans Push Back On Renaming Haunted Lake Named After Confederate Soldiers
Black Folklore In Video Episode 2: The Ghosts Of Lake Lanier
Motivated By Son’s Jet Ski Death, Tameka Foster Wants Georgia’s Lake Lanier Drained was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
