February 25, 2010

ATLANTA, GA – The first working paper from the State of Black Atlanta Summit 2010, held on February 20, 2010 on the campus of Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, GA, was released today. The working paper entitled, The State of Black Atlanta: Exploding the Myth of Black Mecca, provides a synthesis of the challenges, barriers, and opportunities facing Black Atlanta and lays out a vision and strategies for leading Black Atlanta into a just, healthy, and sustainable future.  The one-day Summit was convened by the Environmental Justice Resource Center to coincide with the Black History Month celebration and was part of the center’s Smart Growth and Sustainable Communities Initiative (SGSCI) funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The Summit organizers commissioned a series of working papers from top Atlanta leaders in academic, public health, business, media, and local community based organizations with the goal of impacting public sector policies around health, environmental justice, civil rights and human rights, transportation and land use, housing and home ownership, wealth creation and business development, equitable development, education, food security, and parks and green access in Atlanta’s underserved communities.  Other working papers will be released as they become available in the coming weeks.