The state of Black Atlanta was the topic of discussion one weekday night in the heart of the city. Three dozen men and women gathered in a large conference room for discussion.
The event, which took place at the Carter Center on Wednesday, May 7, was hosted by the Howard University School of Law’s Movement Lawyering Clinic, in partnership with the ACLU of Georgia and the Southern Center for Human Rights.
Summer Ford, a third-year student at the Howard School of Law and a student lawyer with the Movement Lawyering Clinic, was the MC for the evening. She told the crowd that the Movement Lawyering Clinic is in the process of making stops in cities around the country that have large Black populations.
“Of course, we have to come to Atlanta,” Ford, a native of Marietta and University of Georgia alum, said.
“We are indeed still the Black Mecca,” said Ms. Jennifer, a woman sitting in the third row.
The discussion opened with a question: What does Black liberation in Atlanta look like to you? That discussion allowed people to give their thoughts on the topic, which broke the ice and started a lively discussion.
Reparative justice, the legacy of redlining, exploitation of Black labor, and education gaps were also discussed during the two-hour event.
Tiffany Roberts, the Public Policy Director with the Southern Center for Human Rights, opened her presentation with a three-minute video on what the Southern Center for Human Rights, which is located downtown on Walton Street, is all about.
Data shared during the discussion showed that Atlanta is the top surveillance city in the country and is among the top surveillance cities on the planet. Another was that 12.5% of Atlanta City Jail bookings in 2022 were of people experiencing homelessness.
“100 percent of unarmed people killed by Atlanta Police are Black people,” Roberts said.
She went on to say that the Southern Center for Human Rights has spent nearly 50 years defending people who the City of Atlanta has victimized. People like Lashawn Thompson, who died in Fulton County Jail in September 2022. A photo of Thompson was included in her presentation.
“When we are talking about the state of Atlanta, one of the things that has to happen is officials have to heed the call of the people,” Roberts said. “We are in a moment of intensifying crisis.”
Another question presented to the audience was, “If our school system was actually designed for Black children, it would look like…” A 10-year-old girl walked over to the microphone in the center of the room and took a turn answering the question.
“If our school systems were actually fair, it would be kind, fair, nice, and happy,” she said.
The room filled as the event went on. The event’s start time of 5 p.m. put many attendees right in the middle of prime after-work Atlanta traffic hours.
A number of attendees spoke about concerns on housing affordability, gentrification, barriers to Black home ownership, and the rising cost of rent in Atlanta.
Photo by Julia Beverly/The Atlanta Voice
The Carter Center hosts events like this often. A week earlier, former CNN CEO and Los Angeles Times Publisher Tom Johnson gave the opening address for a panel on mental health for journalists. Johnson shared personal stories about neglecting his family in the pursuit of the next story, and his experience with depression after being let go at the Los Angeles Times.
