Amidst all the chaos of a pandemic and countrywide protests over police brutality, these 19 black families decided to team up and buy 96.71 acres of land located in Toomsboro, Georgia. They plan to use this terrain to build their own new and safe city.
Georgia-based realtor, Ashley Scott, along with other like-minded people started The Freedom Georgia Initiative.
Scott explained in an article for Blavity how this idea was sparked after the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man that was merely going for a jog in his neighbourhood when he was murdered by white men.
Scott wrote that:
“I am concerned. At times distraught. For the first time ever in my life, I felt disempowered. So much so that the overachieving, solution-oriented, practical, non-emotional person that I am had to stop.”
“I sought counseling from a black therapist and it helped. It helped me to realize that what we as black people are suffering from is racial trauma. We are dealing with systemic racism. We are dealing with deep-rooted issues that will require more than protesting in the streets. It will take for us as a people, as Atlanta rapper and activist Killer Mike so eloquently put, ‘To plot, plan, strategize, organize and mobilize.’ So that’s what I and my good friend Renee Walters, an entrepreneur and investor, did.”
The pair then began brainstorming on solutions to improve the world in any way that they could. “We wanted to make some kind of difference that could ensure the safety of our black sons and black husbands when they went about their lives just breathing and being. We wanted to do something to amass black power to affect real change,” said Scott.
“We considered the reality that even in Atlanta, with an exceptional black woman like Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, there was still no respect for the humanity of blacks,” she continued. “Even with Erika Shields, a black woman chief of police at the helm, there was the murder of Rayshard Brooks. We can see there is something much deeper happening. Politics, as usual, isn’t the answer. Something new has to happen.”
They started by joining different Facebook groups and discussing their idea of building black cities and new Black Wall Streets, and to their surprise, plenty of other people shared the same vision.
“It was clear to me that developing new cities was necessary because these old ones, even with strong black leadership, have too many deep-rooted problems.”
Scott has been in zoning and city council meetings because of her profession, so it motivated her to observe local politics in a deeper matter and see how cities are made.
“At first, I attended wanting to get a few new clients, but seeing the progress of the newly created city of Stonecrest, Georgia, inspired me.”
“My research into cityhood gave me insight that this is how we change our communities and build real black power.”
She explained that “black power comes from wealth. Wealth is created through cash-flow and assets. Who has more cash flow and assets than governments? Where does the cash-flow come from? Taxes and bonds. Who pays taxes? Landowners. Who runs governments? People. We are the people. We have to be more involved, especially young people!”
Scott also commented that people might be wondering, ‘What in the world does all this have to do with why you all purchased land in the midst of protests and a pandemic, and how you used cooperative economics to do it?’ According to her, it has to do with everything.
“We figured we could try to fix a broken system or we could start fresh. Start a city that could be a shining example of being the change you want to see. We wanted to be more involved in creating the lives we really want for our black families. And maybe, just maybe, create some generational wealth for ourselves by investing in the land. Investing in creating a community that is built around our core values and beliefs.”
The inititative’s goal is to ultimately have a community that is green, environmentally safe and eco-friendly, especially with their building materials that honor Mother Nature. They also want to create a self-sufficient community that thrives with a living food system all built by black farmers in order to provide produce to every neighbor. They want to prioritize diversity and inclusion, and in order to achieve this they will hire BIPOC and and women vendors, suppliers and contractors wherein this advocates a space for all peoples. And last but not least, they want a community where all black people can call it home and feel safe, erasing that fear of being unjustly murdered and brutalized by police.
“We made a PowerPoint presentation the day after we left the ‘Toomsboro for Sale’ open house. We called our like-minded friends and family. We impressed upon them the urgent power of now. We brought 19 families together on one accord during a series of online meetings. We started an LLC. We considered a field and we bought it. We bought 96.71 acres of land!”
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