Photograph by AP Photo/John Bazemore
Atlanta is my home. I was born here. My children were born here. My life is anchored here, and I continue to find purpose and community in this remarkable city.
Atlanta influences everything, as they say.
It is the capital of the South. It is the birthplace of Dr. King and the cradle of the civil rights movement. It is hip-hop’s center of gravity and a destination for arts and culture. It is where my grandparents, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, served the people of Georgia as governor and first lady, and it is where they returned after four years in the White House to dedicate their lives to waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope.
When my grandparents established The Carter Center in 1982, they chose Atlanta because it was a globally minded city that offered them the platform, accessibility, and talent they would need to fulfill their vision. For the next 45 years, they spent one week of every month here, sleeping on a Murphy bed in their little apartment at The Carter Center. Atlanta served as their home base to eliminate neglected diseases, advance human rights and democracy, and resolve some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. In short, Atlanta is where my grandparents came to realize their dreams.
Since then, the city and the center have fed off each other’s success. Today, Atlanta is a hub for global health and international development. It is brimming with highly respected institutions of higher learning and research, from Georgia Tech and Spelman College to Agnes Scott College and Emory University. The Carter Center wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t surrounded by this thriving, creative, diverse, dynamic city.
Atlanta’s proximity to the world continues to make our work possible. I like to think that my grandparents contributed to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s status as the world’s busiest flight hub: Whether it was participating in an election observation mission, brokering a peace deal with warring parties, or visiting one of the most remote villages in the world, each of my grandparents’ adventures took off from Atlanta.
But it wasn’t just the business of The Carter Center that drew my grandparents to Atlanta. This city was home to friends who felt like family. It is where my grandparents spent family dinners with their growing crop of great-grandchildren. And it is where they fell in love with Atlanta sports. They went to Hawks games; they went to Falcons and United games with their great friend Arthur Blank.
And they loved the Braves.
I still remember the panic I felt when I got an unexpected call from my grandfather at 6 a.m. one day. I answered, breathless, “Hi, Papa—is everything okay?” He said, “Jason, have you heard the news?” “No,” I said, bracing myself for the worst. “What’s wrong?” He responded solemnly, “The Braves traded Craig Kimbrel.”
Maybe I was expecting news about a family member or to learn about a new or worsening global conflict. But I certainly did not expect that early morning call would be about his hometown baseball fan-crush.
But that duality really captures the essence of my grandfather: a global citizen and a Georgia boy at heart. In many ways, it defines Atlanta, too.
His connection to this town was personal, professional, familial, and unshakable. He passed that on to me, and I am passing it on to my boys. Because, with the history it holds and the future it promises, it’s impossible not to love Atlanta.
Jason Carter is the grandson of President Jimmy Carter and the board chair of The Carter Center.
This article appears in our June 2025 issue.
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