About Me
The working-class Black Southern Christian culture I come from still nurtures me, and I mean directly, daily."
Quote by Bell Hooks
It is hard to describe the immense feeling I have being a Southern girl. A Georgia peach. A Black woman. An Atlanta belle. My country accent mixed with a Zone 1 Atlanta slang that reminds you of the 80s and 90s and the times of Bankhead, Grove Park, West Lake, Perry Homes, and Bolton Road (many of the areas are long gone). While I was born in the city, my family were country folks and my parents left their rural birthrights for opportunities in Atlanta.
The movie, "The Color Purple" spoke to me. I saw my grandmother in Celia (the lead character). I saw sprinkles of women and men I have known all my life living in Georgia. Their language is so familiar to me. It's working class and a tad of country. On the opposite end, there's "Gone With the Wind" and even if I despise what that movie stands for, I am proud of it because I can picture that Atlanta. I have known women like Scarlett O'Hara. How can she be so foolish to want Ashley Wilkes (the old South) over Rhett Butler (the new South)? There's consolation that the book and movie helped to fund Black doctors of Georgia. And there is where my pride lies...
Georgia struggled to find it's identity. Our history shows examples of our state fighting against "moving along" and wanting to stay firmly planted in those "good ole days". Yet, it feels like there's a spirit in Atlanta that even Margaret Mitchell couldn't deny. You can either join or get left behind? She selected the former, help to educate Black doctors with Dr. Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College and a mentor to Atlanta native Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Atlanta became "chocolate city".
The great John Lewis, Dr. CT Vivian, and Joseph Lowery moved here from other southern states. Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young became our mayor and influential leaders of the nation. Grew up in a Baptist church where religion, activism, and current events were discussed. There's Coke Cola, Delta, Georgia Power, AT&T, and Home Depot helped to contributed to the booming Black middle class. I saw Black doctors, nurses, teachers, administrators, ministers, politicians, ministers and entrepreneurs that looked like me.
Thanks to the city Atlanta, Georgia didn't become like Alabama and Mississippi. We became BETTER. Don't get me wrong, there's Atlanta and then there's the rest of Georgia but Georgia became the "empire of the South" because of Atlanta and people of Black Georgians. When Ray Charles sang, "Georgia On My Mind", he was speaking of a sweet song and a quiet revolution.
So, here we are in 2021, and Black Georgians once again with allies of other races, shocked the world by turning Georgia "blue" in a sea of red to vote for Biden, Harris, Warnock and Ossoff (Democrats). And we were led by African American working class women like Stacey Abrams and Latosha Brown. I am glad former President Jimmy Carter lived to see the state turn blue again. Maybe it's exactly what Andre 3000 once said, "You can do anything from Atlanta".
Quote by Bell Hooks
It is hard to describe the immense feeling I have being a Southern girl. A Georgia peach. A Black woman. An Atlanta belle. My country accent mixed with a Zone 1 Atlanta slang that reminds you of the 80s and 90s and the times of Bankhead, Grove Park, West Lake, Perry Homes, and Bolton Road (many of the areas are long gone). While I was born in the city, my family were country folks and my parents left their rural birthrights for opportunities in Atlanta.
The movie, "The Color Purple" spoke to me. I saw my grandmother in Celia (the lead character). I saw sprinkles of women and men I have known all my life living in Georgia. Their language is so familiar to me. It's working class and a tad of country. On the opposite end, there's "Gone With the Wind" and even if I despise what that movie stands for, I am proud of it because I can picture that Atlanta. I have known women like Scarlett O'Hara. How can she be so foolish to want Ashley Wilkes (the old South) over Rhett Butler (the new South)? There's consolation that the book and movie helped to fund Black doctors of Georgia. And there is where my pride lies...
Georgia struggled to find it's identity. Our history shows examples of our state fighting against "moving along" and wanting to stay firmly planted in those "good ole days". Yet, it feels like there's a spirit in Atlanta that even Margaret Mitchell couldn't deny. You can either join or get left behind? She selected the former, help to educate Black doctors with Dr. Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College and a mentor to Atlanta native Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Atlanta became "chocolate city".
The great John Lewis, Dr. CT Vivian, and Joseph Lowery moved here from other southern states. Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young became our mayor and influential leaders of the nation. Grew up in a Baptist church where religion, activism, and current events were discussed. There's Coke Cola, Delta, Georgia Power, AT&T, and Home Depot helped to contributed to the booming Black middle class. I saw Black doctors, nurses, teachers, administrators, ministers, politicians, ministers and entrepreneurs that looked like me.
Thanks to the city Atlanta, Georgia didn't become like Alabama and Mississippi. We became BETTER. Don't get me wrong, there's Atlanta and then there's the rest of Georgia but Georgia became the "empire of the South" because of Atlanta and people of Black Georgians. When Ray Charles sang, "Georgia On My Mind", he was speaking of a sweet song and a quiet revolution.
So, here we are in 2021, and Black Georgians once again with allies of other races, shocked the world by turning Georgia "blue" in a sea of red to vote for Biden, Harris, Warnock and Ossoff (Democrats). And we were led by African American working class women like Stacey Abrams and Latosha Brown. I am glad former President Jimmy Carter lived to see the state turn blue again. Maybe it's exactly what Andre 3000 once said, "You can do anything from Atlanta".