june2016 hwsn

By Malika Saramaat Imhotep

Thinking through the history of social enterprise in the Historic Westside is part telling a tale of what true empowerment looks like, part grappling with the fluctuating metrics of failure and success, and part writing legend into the ruins that decorate our community.

Martin Luther King Jr. Drive once the Black Business epicenter, Hunter Street, is now home to a rotating shift of restaurants, barbershops, and beauty salons. The legendary original location of Paschal’s Restaurant, Motor Hotel and La Carousel Lounge is now a dilapidated memory. The corner of MLK and Brawley, once home to the Bronner Brother’s black haircare empire, is now a museum like display of black history’s giants. Around the corner Trayvon Martin’s face framed by a white hoodie fills a billboard. From his perch, this urban angel – the boy whose death issued a nationwide call to action – stands his ground amidst a homegrown legacy of black entrepreneurship. Seeing Trayvon in this setting means grappling

with social injustice on the walk from Ashby MARTA train Station to Mr. Everything’s. To reckon with black death while we spend black dollars. A symbolic representation of “social enterprise” in practice.

Broadly defined, a social enterprise is an organization or entity that utilizes commercial strategies to benefit the well-being of a given community. A social enterprise makes its social mission as central to its success as its potential for profit. Continued on page 3 ...

June 2016 “Linking Neighbors and Celebrating Diversity” Issue Two

Black Social Enterprise

Historic Westside News

Calling Local Reporters,

Photographers and Artists.

The Historic Westside News is back!

Bigger and better than ever, this

newspaper covers Atlanta University

Center (AUC), Ashview Heights, English

Avenue, Vine City, Washington Park and

portions of Castleberry Hill and West

End. Our mission– Linking Neighbors

and Celebrating Diversity– says it all.

New school, old school or your school we

are looking for stories about your/our

communities. Submit stories and graphics

to [email protected]. See

your story ideas in print and distributed

throughout the community. Deadline is

Third Monday of each month.

Inside This Issue….

Mayor Reed and AHA Honor

Scholarship Recipients

PAGE 8

In April 2016, the UCN Community Engagement Team sponsored a mural competition, the beautiful

artwork “The Block Builders” is displayed outside the UCN Office at 227 Roach Street.

Community

Artist Profile

Series

PAGE 3

Crossroads Back

in Our Favor

PAGE 6

A few years ago I was given a powerful

small book entitled Let Your Life Speak

by Parker J. Palmer (1999). Though

small in size it is a very thought

provoking book. Palmer’s writing

confirmed that quiet voice that had

been calling me for some time, speaking

to my very personal quest for a deeper

understanding of my life purpose.

Having committed my life and

resources to the elimination of social

injustice and the disparities of being

Black in America, having fought the

good fight I awakened one day before

dawn to what I now affectionately call

my “Alfie” moment with the lyrics

“what’s it all about/ when you sort it

out Alfie…” echoing through my mind,

calling me to reconnect and refine my

vocation while enhancing the quality of

my relationships in my private and

public life.

I yearned to know on a very personal

level what my life has been all about “Is

it just for the moment we live?” Was I

on task with what God wanted me to

contribute as my gift to the world? Had

my contribution impacted my

community? Was it indeed better than I

had found it? Had I balanced my life?

Was my child ready for her journey? and

What would be my next move?

I recalled a shared vision that spoke of

the strength and beauty of

community. So inspired by the silent

voice singing “I know there’s

something much more/ Something

even non-believers can believe in,” we

continued to advocate for that vision

of an united Westside. The Universe

heard our call and the opportunity

emerged through Living Cities. The

dream is now a reality: Welcome to

the HISTORIC

WESTSIDE NEWS.

D. Makeda Johnson

Historic Westside News

Publishing Team

2 Historic Westside News June 2016

Publisher’s Corner

Support Team and Volunteers

Editorial Team

Production Director Kenton Clayton

Managing Editor D. Makeda Johnson

Managing Editor Brent Brewer

Community Content Editors:

Christi Jackson

Elizabeth Whitmore Hall

Gwendolyn Weddington

Gil Frank

Malika Saramaat Imhotep

Nasim M. Fluker

Terry Ross

Volunteer Writers, Poets and Artwork

Akua Taylor

Amisha Harding

Brent Brewer

Gil Frank

Gwendolyn Weddington

Mackenzie Madden

Malika Saramaat Imhotep

D. Makeda Johnson

Quavadas

Dr. Sheri Davis-Faulkner

Sneak Peak of

Next Issue

ITC Workforce Development

Organization Per Scholas

launches Atlanta office.

For class information, contact

Courtney Knight,

[email protected]

Also:

Solution Session Wrap Up

Black social enterprise is an intervention. A hustle with a heart. Commerce intended to directly impact the community it comes from. Black social enterprise may not be what we think of when we look up and down the historic stretch of MLK Jr. Drive, but it’s what has kept our communities running from the inside out. The local church fish fries, the candy lady, the pie selling auntie, the high school student mowing lawns, the clothing drives and car washes. Sitting at the Center for Civic Innovation’s Westside Innovation Lab Community Forum, it became apparent to me that the reach of black social enterprise lies somewhere between the things I learn in graduate school classrooms and the truths I grew up knowing. Give a historically underserved community the opportunity to share its ideas and they will struggle to pick just one.

Announced June 11th at the Westview Summer Solstice Celebration the pilot cohort of the Westside Innovation Lab includes the following black social entrepreneurs (more information on each at http://www.civicatlanta.org/blog/):

Taranji Alvarado and Jahil Mudavanha– landscaping

Keitra Bates– shared kitchen

Abiodun Henderson– urban grower

Naida Hill and Breanna Rice– coding

Richard Hinds– coffee import

Tiffany Jones and Cashawn Myers– urban gardner

Lateef Pyles– barbershop

Shawn Walton– bike co-operative

Looking at and beyond those who were selected to be in The Center’s pilot cohort, the social entrepreneurs of the Westside came to the table with pitches grounded in the ways they learned how to survive. Ways to utilize resources for a common good. Personalized bids for sustainability that create lucrative spaces for conversation, sustenance, and employment.

Malika Saramaat Imhotep is a proud Vine City resident currently working towards a doctoral degree in African Diaspora studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

By Malika Saramaat Imhotep

Quavadas likes to shine. Whether in her bedroom turned home studio or walking through Vine City with her white Pomeranian “Polo” in tow, Q always leaves behind a trail of glitter. The second oldest in her household, Quavadas discovered her natural gift for drawing and later painting by watching and emulating her older brother who graduated from Washington High School in 2015 with an award for his work in Fine Arts. In my living room with Polo lounging prince-like nearby she tells me this January she set her mind to “being absolutely fearless” and subsequently began taking her art seriously, entering her first competition January 7th with pieces meant to showcase her interpretation of power. Showing a great deal of maturity and resilience, she responded to losing that first show by committing herself to being more serious about her craft and getting comfortable in front of a crowd. After her second show just a month later she began receiving commissions from her friends at Clayton State University.

At the time of writing Quavadas has only been a self-proclaimed “serious artist” for six months, in that time she has been in two shows and sold more than five paintings. In just six months Q is on her way to developing a personal style aimed to showcase her creativity more than her technique by fusing acrylics, spray paint, and different metallic mediums with different elements of popular culture that she

finds interesting. She’s learned to not fear failure. To embrace struggle as part of the journey. A true millennial artist she uses social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram to showcase her art and connect with other local artists.

Quavadas is inspired by good energy. People places and things that she finds positive, authentic and affirming of self. To see a young black woman of the Historic Westside so beautiful, self-aware, and confident in herself as both an artist and as a person is to encounter a well spring of #BlackGirlMagic. When asked what her artistic dream project would be, she pauses and blushes excitedly. She claims to have not given it much thought at this point in her career but glows when speaking of what it would mean to see her work in different people’s homes, to have her art travel internationally, to one day receive a call from Japan about her work.

All she asks of the Historic Westside community is support by way of promoting her art. If you happen to scroll through her Instagram Account (byQuavadas_f) or search the hashtag #QuavadasF and see something you like feel free to contact her for purchases and commissions. Otherwise, join in the mission of this Community Artist Profile Series by getting out the word that we have incredibly talented makers within our community who shine bright enough to guide us into the future.

June 2016 Historic Westside News 3

A Hustle With a Heart Continued from cover page ...

To advertise, submit story ideas and graphics, or volunteer, contact us at [email protected].

In Pursuit of Sparkle


The Supreme Court decision to let

States opt-out of extending Medicaid is

the reason that 11% of Georgians who

need insurance cannot get it or get

Medicaid. This year “too poor” to

qualify for coverage under the

Affordable Care Act means household

gross income of $11,770, which is

called the Federal Poverty Level.

Georgia as well as many other

Republican states decided to opt out of

the federal

money (which

they see as

Obama money),

choosing instead

to inflict pain on

their own people

in need of

coverage. The

response is therefore in the voting

booth but unfortunately, the

unpopularity of the Law does not help

rally the political power needed to force

the Legislature and the Governor to

affirm our Social Right to health care.

Thus we need to develop Health

insurance literacy and engage in citizen

education until citizens call for a more

just healthcare policy.

America’s health insurance system is

historically an employer-based system. It

is also the bread and butter of the union

movement, which negotiates the health

insurance benefits for their members.

Sometimes these benefits are the only

thing they negotiate thus health

insurance is a strong achievement and

bargaining piece for the unions. That is

why you can see them as strange

bedfellows with the employers on these

issues. For example unions joined

forces with employers to postpone the

“Cadillac Tax” on health care benefit

packages with extra expensive features

that will increase the cost of care for

everyone even though the benefits only

apply to the employees who receive

coverage under such packages.

The bottom line is that the law angered

many people because it is an implant on

a system which is basically driven by a

business structure of competitive

forces: Insurance companies, health care

providers and pharmaceutical

companies dealing with employers.

Only 49% of the insured are in this

system. Obamacare is a compromise to

extend this system to the 51% not

covered by employer provided

insurance. The right to affordable care

depends on an insurance system that

looks at the citizen as the core of health

coverage: children, women, self-

employed, youth, new immigrants,

underemployed. Families and

individuals. It must address health

coverage disparities, exposing health

disparities that affect communities of

color, the poor, the rural etc.

However, at this stage the flaws

addressed above are the product of

powerful interests that do not have any

commitment to the universality of

healthcare coverage. They can return to

their previous business model and will

not be sorry if Congress repeals the law.

They weaken

its support in

public opinion

even though

they would

have benefited

from a better

application of

affordable care policy. It has already

granted them 19 million more

customers. Yet between their narrow

interest and their declared mission they

made their choice.

Our choice is also clear. While we feel

disappointment and anger will we be

clever enough to continue to support

the law?

Will we understand that the core of it is

that health insurance is our right? We

must protect it, keep it portable (not

depending on employment), individual

and prove that both government and

private companies can deliver an

insurance system that works.

Gil Frank. Health Insurance Advocate.

Why People Became Angry with Obamacare

English Avenue and Vine City

Source: WCA Data Dashboard

Sister’s Action Team, Inc. launches Project Evaluate Needs Act Connect Train (ENACT) with its overarching goal to break the cycle of generational poverty in the Westside communities, and foster inclusionary integration between current and future residents. “We believe that by working with one family at a time, we will be able to support increased economic and social mobility” says their founder Makeda Johnson. Over the past few years, it has become clear that more and more of our families are trapped in an endless cycle of hopelessness and poverty. Project ENACT Identifies the skills, abilities, capacities and assets of local residents and empowers them to be proactive participants in their personal, family, and community transformation through the creation and implementation of personal and community wellness action plans. “Although there may be programs and resources available too often those who need these services the most are caught in a web of personal trauma that prevents their successful navigation through the assessment process ”. Through lay community health workers

Project ENACT provides supportive family and individual coaching services for residents of the Westside community to ensure their connectivity to available human capital development resources and to improve their successful navigation through perceived and real time barriers to economic and social mobility.

Local residents’ capacities are

identified and strengthened

Local residents are recruited and

trained as lay Community Health

Workers and Wellness Coaches

Project ENACT leverages their

relational capacity to effectively

reach their neighbors on an

interpersonal level as well as

enhancing cultural sensitivity.

Project ENACT builds upon and

enhances local residents’ working

knowledge of the socialization

patterns, established networks and

their passion to be a part of the

transformation process.

Project ENACT’s neighbor to

neighbor approach creates safe

spaces for improved communication

and trust development.

Project ENACT empowers local

residents with knowledge of health

disparities, protective intervention

strategies and knowledge of

resources available for them.

Join us at Neighborhood Union

Health Center Community Room

the 2nd Saturday, of each month

from 3-5 pm as we learn to REACH

FOR Wellness

July 9, 2016 – Healthy Home Summit

follow-up Emory Study

Steps to Self-Discovery –Coaching Series

August 13, 2016– Tune In and Turn On

September 10, 2016 – Building a Better Future

October 8, 2016 – Know Your Purpose

November 12, 2016 – Changing Undesired

Behavior

December 10, 2016 – Create a Personal

Development Plan



Project ENACT Takes Action Against Poverty

Checks to “Vine City Press.”


TLW Brings Crossroads Back in Our Favor

Vine City Association

The Vine City Civic Association

(VCCA) team has been hard at work

during the first part of 2016. In

February and March, the organization

held successful community-wide

meetings to enable community services

providers and stakeholders to share

their services and plans with residents.

In March, the VCCA re-launched its

Parent Patrol Program which utilizes

community members to support the

safety of the community’s children as

they travel to and from school during

the morning and afternoon hours.

March also marked the first Economic

Development Committee of the year.

Last month, the VCCA partnered with

Quest CDC and Ashby Park

Apartments to hold the first of two

block parties which are designed to

provide a chance for the community to

come together, provide their insights

on community needs, and allow the

Association the opportunity to learn

more about the ways residents wish to

share their talents with the greater

community. In April, the VCCA also

hosted a its first Public Safety meeting

of the year, featuring Atlanta Police

Department’s Deputy Chief Joseph

Spillane and Major Quiller, and Karen

Rogers of the Atlanta Police

Foundation.

The VCCA is looking forward to working closely with residents and other stakeholders to leverage the tremendous assets and talents of Vine City’s residents. The Association is currently looking for community members to get involved in key leadership and volunteer roles in the community, including sector leaders, block captions for the Neighborhood Watch program and committee members for its Public Safety, Youth, Land Use, Economic Development and Health & Human Services committees. If you are interested in getting involved or wish to suggest candidates for key roles with the VCCA, please contact the VCCA at 404.781.9791 or [email protected]. You can also visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/HistoricVineCityCivicAssociation, to stay up to date on upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

By Brent Brewer

You are the bows from which your children as

living arrows are sent forth.

–Khalil Gibran “On Children”

According to Westside lore, the

intersection of Lawton Street and

Westview Drive is called “The

Crossroads.” One mile in any direction

has a significant destination for

Westside youth. Along Lawton, M.A.

Jones Elementary is at the center with

Brown Middle School to the south and

Washington High School to the north.

For all Westside youth, traversing north

and south is unavoidable. Yet everyday,

our youth make life choices that can

lead them one mile east to the Atlanta

University Center or a mile west to

Westview Cemetery. Good and bad

influences pull youth in either direction.

To be clear, “The Crossroads” is of our

making. This is our neighborhood now

and we have the choice to travel any

path, which was not always the case.

These choices we earned through the

Movement, the namesake of the eastern

path, Atlanta Student Movement

(formerly Fair Street). From the

Student Movement, a new day

illuminated safe passage for all toward

the eastern path. So many traveled that

path that it is well traveled. The

eastern path is uphill, so some of us

needed a lift but we got there. And

those who didn’t take the path are still

our family and friends. If we made it,

we thought the path was lit up like “The

Wiz’s” yellow break road, so we let the

second generation tackle the crossroads

alone. As graduation rates decline along

the North-South path of matriculation

in the Washington Cluster (2015

Washington High School graduation

rate is 77%), is the eastern path less

traveled again? If so, the village needs

to provide direction.

After six years of growing fresh

produce in the Old Fourth Ward, Truly

Living Well’s urban farm has relocated

to Lawton Street. Truly Living Well’s

relocation to “The Crossroads” is a

historic beacon in the right direction.

Truly Living Well provides a fresh crop

of positive foot traffic, role models, and

fresh healthy food to support healthy

choices.

Brent Brewer , a West End resident, is the

publisher of the Our West End Newsletter.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.facebook.com/HistoricVineCityCivicAssociation

http://www.facebook.com/HistoricVineCityCivicAssociation

By: Dr. Sheri Davis-Faulkner

If ladders out of poverty

Reached as high as the stadium’s cranes

Then current Westside residents

Would not fear that every rain

Might erode our few cracked sidewalks

And overrun storm drains

Or that rising rents and property taxes

Might undermine slim gains.

There would be summer camps and maker spaces,

Museums, archives, and more

That our children, from the cradle

Would be eager to explore.

They’d go to CAU, GSU, Spelman, Morris Brown, Morehouse, and Tech.

And graduate to jobs that pay

A regular paycheck.

We would launch small businesses,

Restore the fine old homes

And profit from the produce

Our urban gardens have grown.

We’d stroll the sidewalks to mass transit

Where timely routes would connect

Parents to work, elders to church

And youth to exercise at the rec.

Then we’d feel like part of the city

With Dr. King’s “Genuine Equality” attained

And we’d always have the price of tickets

To cheer at Falcons games.

We had been riding around all day

looking at houses so when my parents,

son, realtor and I pulled up to my future

home, it seemed to glow in the

springtime sun. We unlatched the gate

and walked up to a large bungalow slate

porch. Ooohs and aahs followed as we

entered the home and found beautiful

hardwood floors and high ceilinged

rooms unfolding before us like a

blossoming flower. My son ran upstairs

and picked out his room with

confidence, which sealed the deal for

me, because if my baby felt at home,

this was the place for us.

I worked hard to get to this point,

played by all the rules and finally, I

arrived at home buying. Owning

property was something that was

instilled in me at a young age; my

parents literally groomed us to one-day

buy a house. It was one of my primary

adulthood goals, a true benchmark of

achievement. I started with an Invest

Atlanta introductory workshop and

continued down the path with an eight-

hour class on the process. I will never

forget the moment I received my pre-

approval call from Bank South, I felt

like I had clicked my heels three times

and I was on my way home. Then the

real work began, with the loan

application and fine tooth combing

through my very existence. The bank

asked me to document every moment in

my job history, account for every penny

I’ve ever earned, prove my identity,

donate my bone marrow, sign away my

first born, the whole nine. And through

it all, I stayed focused on the real goal:

foundation under my feet.

Near the end of the home buying

journey, I got completely cold feet. Fear

enveloped me like a vice grip. Whispers

of crime in the area tickled my

imagination; news reports validated my

worries, genuine concern for our lives

caused me to cancel the contract I had

on my glowing home. I called my

church mentor and she advised me to

go in, shut everything down and pray

about it. I decided to take a day of

silence, no phones, no social media, just

me and my Creator. A mission was laid

on my heart to enter this community

and be a pillar of change. I got the

sense that this home was not just for

me, it would be a space for gathering,

organizing, and uniting. I received

reassurance that we would be all right. I

called my realtor and the contract was

back on.

Closing took four hours and was filled

with drama. Sometimes when

everything is chaotic, its confirmation

that you’re doing the right thing, for

what is progress without struggle?

Bank South was able to layer four

programs on top of my loan, nearly

slashing the cost of my house in half. I

signed off on a historically low

mortgage, which made my first home

very affordable, a huge triumph for a

single mom. It is doable! I moved in

on the same day and immediately began

meeting my neighbors. My first few

weeks were filled with sounds of

gunshots in the area and lots of

sleepless nights. I laid low, clandestinely

coming and going only with necessity.

Eventually I found my way to the

Ashview Heights neighborhood

association and connected with others

who care about the improvement of our

community. With my roots firmly

planted, it was time to get to work.

Change is coming to the Westside, and

I am going to be a part of it.

Journey to My First Home



Ladders and Cranes

Akua Taylor, owner

and operator of

Ashview Heights BNB,

is a native of

Milwaukee WI, a

graduate of Fisk

University, a singer and

a mother.

Change is coming to the Westside,

and I am going to be a part of it.

ATLANTA (June 20, 2016) — Ten scholarship recipients from Atlanta’s Choice Neighborhoods communities were honored on June 20, 2016 at City Hall and presented with scholarships totaling $20,000. The scholarship program is part of the $30 million University Choice Neighborhood (UCN) grant that demonstrates the City of Atlanta’s and AHA’s commitment to help foster educational excellence. “We are proud to present these academic awards to former residents of University Homes, graduating seniors of Washington High School and residents of Ashview Heights, Vine City, and the Atlanta University Center,” said Joy Fitzgerald, president and CEO of AHA. “AHA strongly encourages lifelong learning as an integral component of its vision of building vibrant communities and encouraging individual self-sufficiency.” "We know that expanding access to affordable, quality education is one of the most important ways to increase economic opportunity and strengthen our city," said Mayor Kasim Reed. "It is

my hope that with the support of the University Choice Neighborhood Scholarship, young women and men who have grown up in some of our most challenged neighborhoods will be armed with the academic tools to excel and contribute to the revitalization of their communities." The University Choice Neighborhood Scholarship (UCNS) is a one-time scholarship award for graduating seniors

at Washington High School, residents of the former University Homes, or residents within the University Choice Neighborhood who will be entering a two- or four-year college or university as a freshman this fall. The 10 scholars each received laptop computers with a bag filled with accessories, a Visa Gift Card, and a check mailed to their prospective college or university. The total award is valued at $2000 per student. The scholars and the colleges they will attend are: Ismail Abdul-Hakim: Tennessee State University Niyah Allen: Spelman College Talahia Barden: Savannah State

University Devin Brown: Savannah State University Jacque Henley: Brevard College Shantavious Pace: Middle Georgia State University Venise Ivey: Georgia State University Jhazzmyn Joiner: Georgia Institute of Technology ReAna Thompson: Oakwood University Antavious Williams: Savannah State University

Mayor Reed and AHA Honor Scholarship Recipients


First row from Left to Right: Niyah Allen, Venise Ivey, Talahia

Barden, Jhazzmyn Joiner (Washington High School Valedictorian),

Mayor Kasim Reed, ReAna Thompson, and Jacque Henley.

Second Row from Left to Right: Devin Brown, Shantavious Pace, and

Antavious Williams.

june2016 hwsn

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