Thoughts on returning to the South
*Art Tatum playing in the background*
I’m at a crossroads in my life and it has caused me to confront some deeply held views and contradictions. Thankfully, through writing, I can make sense of these disparate parts and become whole again.
It doesn’t seem like it, but I’ve been living in Atlanta for a year and four months now. I’ve really been enjoying it. Those who know me know I struggled to appreciate Atlanta during my undergraduate years at Spelman College. Having been born and raised in Los Angeles, California, I often felt like I was from another planet. I was constantly battling stereotypes, cultural differences, and preconceived notions about me. Looking back, I can see that those experiences were a part of me coming into my quirky self. At the same time, it was also a painful experience for me as a descendant of the Great Migration seeking to return home to the Motherland.
Warning: harsh truths incoming
Southern people are constantly having to deal with the loaded stereotypes that people place on the South. Southern scholars talk about all of the stereotypes, all of the misconceptions, and the, ironically, narrow-minded views of people who either don’t or refuse to understand the South (see Imani Perry, South to America, Charles Blow, The Devil You Know, Jarvis McInnis Afterlives of the Plantation). I remember as a young child not feeling a deep connection to Los Angeles. Though it was my home and still is my home, I knew there was more going on elsewhere.
I began to learn about the South through Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King. I remember being enamored by the style of the women of the Civil Rights movement and so curious about Atlanta and Alabama and all these people and places that fought for truth and justice. Eventually, I heard through the grapevine that our family was from the South, but the general consensus was that California was always greater, more progressive, more diverse than the South and that we should be grateful to live there. I never really fell for that. Growing up in segregated Inglewood and seeing redlining and environmental racism and over-policing/gang violence and food deserts and mega freeways and a majority Black homeless population didn’t really scream progressive to me. California has a deeply racist past and present that people love to pretend doesn’t exist. That’s one of those things that is real embarrassing, real ghetto.
In California, I had to love the South in secret because people would assume the South = Jim Crow/slavery and “why would you wanna go back to the place where people got lynched?” On the other hand, when I got to Atlanta for the first time, people assumed I thought I was better than or a fake Black because I came from California. There’s this idea that people during the Great Migration abandoned the South and shed their Southern identity which is true. What is also true is that many people had no choice but to flee the South. My family wasn’t necessarily on the run, but it’s important for Black people in the South to know that not all Black people in California look down on the South. Also, Black people in California need to not look down on the South. I and many people in “Cali” still grew up with Southern values. I wanted to live in the South for a long time. It took some detours but finally I found my way back. We have to relearn and reclaim the nuances of Black histories to not see them as antithetical to one another. Doing so will allow us to understand our differences and make better decisions in this moment.
To me, the South is an epicenter of Black and multi-racial ingenuity. I would argue the South is more progressive than most places due to the presence of Black colleges and universities and the interracial coalitions that have been built over time (the Civil Rights movement??). I have found greater acceptance and opportunity as a Black person in the South than in California. On top of that, the South holds so much potential for the future of this country. The South has always been at the forefront of the future (see Blow, Ogbar and McInnis). Black people built the South and in this increasingly hostile moment for Black people, I have found ATL to be a sacred place of refuge from the clowns trying to enact Jim Crow 3.0. White mediocrity is no match against the deep rooted legacies of Black brilliance in the South. We must build on the sturdy foundation forged by those who came before us to weather this funky (and not in the good way) political storm.
That’s not to say that the SouthTM is perfect. Sexism, homophobia, and hypermasculinity continue to devastate Black communities everyday (give it up!). I’m saying that I would love to write a whole book on the stunningly beautiful realities of Black Southern living. Adventures with the Funk Haus Band is a start! I want more Black Southern representation and art.
Before I moved back to Atlanta for graduate school, I read America’s Black Capital: How African Americans Remade Atlanta in the Shadow of the Confederacy by my Morehouse brother Jeffery Ogbar. It made me understand how Black people took the ruins of a barbaric economic and human trafficking system and transformed it into the internationally renowned educational, business, and cultural hub ATL is today. Black Southern history is American history and there is so much to learn when we let go of all of the out-dated and shameful ideas about Black history.
I am finally able to embrace my Southerness in an unapologetic way. At one point I was too Southern for California, too California for the South. Now that I have grown older and am settling into my late-twenties life in Atlanta, I don’t have to hide my love for it. I feel comfortable in Atlanta. I’ve found my routine, a great job, and a clearer sense of my direction. DEEP SOUTH STAND UP! BLACK PEOPLE STAND UP! I am excited to spend my late twenties and early thirties in the South. Being a part of what Charles Blow calls the “the Reverse Great Migration” is an important turning point in American history that we should all be paying attention to and consciously investing in. Support Black businesses, support HBCUs, and support the Black South! I look forward to continuing to pour my talents and intelligence and resources into the South and the Southern Black Renaissance of the 2020s/30s in the hopes that it will create a ripple effect and transform my home and the world for the better.
Living in the South for the second time has been a dream.
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JBG