WHAT IS EAST ATLANTA?
Many people discuss and assert their authenticity as Atlantans as a badge of honor. Atlanta is a cool cultural capital. It is unapologetically black and emanates a sense of community that presses people from all over Georgia to claim Atlanta as their own. I have met people living as far from Metro Atlanta as Canton, LaGrange, Villa Rica, and Newnan repping Atlanta as if they live in the CNN Center. Atlanta is a hub of southern black imports from all over. It becomes a point of discontent between the new arrivals and natives. A badge of honor and point of pride, being actually from Atlanta is worth bragging about. Even for me, someone who moved to Atlanta after the second grade and has lived here the majority of my life, some would consider me an outsider. A rule of thumb for me has always depended on the MARTA map. For anything south of Gwinnett, If MARTA goes to your hood, then you live in what could be considered Atlanta (at least spiritually). I extend this philosophy to my definition of East Atlanta and Zone 6 (which are NOT interchangeable terms).
Anytime I discuss East Atlanta, I mean the spiritual East Atlanta. East Atlanta as a culture, an influence, an energy, a philosophy and a people rather than a geological point in space.
In my humble opinion, East Atlanta is the energy that keeps Atlanta going and Atlanta at its most authentic. That’s why I’d feel remiss in my coverage of the culture without the inclusion of Decatur. Zone 6 begins just east of I-75 but by my estimation, East Atlanta does not begin until Moreland Avenue. Zone 6 ends on Candler Road but East Atlanta stretches all the way to Wesley Chapel. East Atlanta goes as north as the Dekalb County Jail on Memorial Drive. East Atlanta goes as south as Bouldercrest Rd. After deep assessment, East Atlanta is made up of: Moreland Ave, Glenwood Rd, Gresham Rd, Candler Rd, Memorial Drive, Columbia Drive, Flat Shoals Rd, Wesley Chapel Rd, and Bouldercrest Rd. The nine streets and completely disparate realities that make up East Atlanta go a long way in filling out a complete feeling of fellowship.
These streets are the epitome of black america. Different rappers have fawned over them in songs, expressing what each street means to them on a personal level. They’re eulogized as symbols of the ever-disappearing old Atlanta. They’re local, living pieces of history with different growing mythologies as rich as places like Asgard, Mordor, Hogwarts, Coruscant or Metropolis. Black people tend to love things more, the smaller and more defined it gets.The closer we can hold it to our heart, the less likely we are to relinquish our attachment. And I understand that, as a young black male in East Atlanta. The United States of America is a cold and often oppressive guardian to the nigga, but Atlanta is home. Atlanta could be big and unforgiving but East Atlanta is familiar. That familiarity only gets richer and less complex as it’s simplified down to neighborhoods and streets and eventually family and friends. That is what East Atlanta boils down to at its core, a distinct coterie of family and friends built to define and influence the rest of the world.