By Genia Billingsley, Bankhead Fellow and CEB Member
I’m always anxious about going into a new community to start listening. It’s like trying to make new friends. Sometimes the connections are fast, and others take a little longer. Some communities can be warm and welcoming, while others are more cautious.
I didn’t know what to expect from Clarkston, where Canopy Atlanta is doing listening, so my first step was to start in a coffee shop. We chose Refuge Coffee. This eclectic, welcoming space disguised as a coffee shop is actually an international hub of hope and support for the surrounding community of immigrants. The staff was friendly and helpful. The vision at Refuge Coffee is to provide a Worldwide Welcome, using a cup of coffee as a platform for job training and personal development of resettled refugees and other immigrants. I met people from different parts of the world, who spoke different languages and had different cultural backgrounds. One thing they had in common was that they believed in creating a better future for their families and for Clarkston.
I met people like Lucia Fernandes Stanislas, who is the owner of Socerta. Her mission is to empower communities through access, strategy, and measurable impact—starting in Clarkston. She plans to open a neighborhood convenience hub called Welcomart on Brockett Road in Clarkston.
After our listening work was done, we headed to meet with Doris K. Mukangu of Amani Women Center. She explained her main pillars of outreach, which include a sewing academy, a healthy families program that provides wrap-around services, and an Ambassador program that provides training to community leaders.
I left Clarkston that day feeling a little lighter and more hopeful. I witnessed a model of grassroots groups and community organizing in a way that empowers communities to show up for each other and work together to find solutions despite their differences.
Photo by Claudia Maturell
By Ann Hill Bond, Bankhead Senior Fellow
Morehouse College will present an honorary bachelor’s degree posthumously to Dennis O. Hubert. A sophomore divinity school student at Morehouse College, Hubert was lynched by a racially charged mob on June 15, 1930, at the age of 18 on the playground of Atlanta’s segregated Crogman School. Morehouse College will honor his life and legacy during their Baccalaureate Service on Saturday, May 17 in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel.
Read more about Dennis Hubert and the community members who worked to bring his life story to light here.
Photo by Emanuella Grinberg
