By Janelle Williams, Ph.D. and Ryan Wilson
Atlanta is a region I love deeply and have been proud to call home for almost 20 years. Every time the wheels touch down, and I see the skyline rise into view, I feel the exhale of returning to a place that has loved me, stretched me, bloomed me and challenged me to become braver and stronger.
It is precisely because I love Atlanta that I have dedicated my career to serving her people and places — especially those stubbornly excluded from economic opportunity.
Nearly 15 years ago, I began writing about and challenging our public, private, philanthropic and civic sectors to confront Atlanta’s racialized I-20 divide. Fast forward to today, and the maps look painfully familiar. The clusters of exclusion may be more pronounced, the language more sophisticated, the skyline more crowded with cranes. But the people behind the numbers — their stories, legacies, hopes and vulnerabilities — remain unflinchingly similar.
Atlanta is one of the great economic anchors of the American South. We are home to the world’s busiest airport. We attract Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies. We are a logistics hub, a cultural capital, a civil rights landmark, a destination for Black ambition and a place that continues to shape the region’s future. But growth is not the same as shared prosperity.
