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I believe that politics is the last, viable means of nonviolent social change for Black people in this country.
Maynard Jackson (Atlanta's first Black Mayor) South Fulton, Georgia is 90 percent African American, making it America's Blackest City among those with populations over 100,000. African Americans face well-documented, structural inequalities in education, employment, healthcare and housing. For khalid, being #BlackOnPurpose means using the institutional power of our government to counter forces of institutional racism and:
Improving these conditions for African Americans will improve the quality of life of ALL City of South Fulton residents by creating a rising tide that lifts all boats. |
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Increasing Land Ownership.
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- Creating a South Perimeter Downtown Development Authority (DDA) that uses the Georgia's Redevelopment Powers Act to revitalize Old National
- Master-planning Old National as an arts district with high-rise commercial & residential spaces, creating an economic engine that decreases the city's current dependence on residential property taxes.
- Focusing real estate development on creating mixed-income communities and requiring all developers receiving tax breaks or subsidies to set aside 15 to 20 percent of new housing units for working class families.
- Creating a Community Land Trust & Land Bank to help homeowners purchase & redevelop abandoned lots in their neighborhoods.
- Creating property tax policies that protect existing homeowners from rapidly increasing property taxes.
- Creating financial literacy programs that fight gentrification by teaching residents how to properly leverage the increasing home values; and estate planning that teach South Fulton Seniors how to transfer wealth to future generations.
- Creating a City Year Program in which the City will retain repossessed properties obtained through the Blighted Property Fund created by Councilman khalid, where low-wage city employees — like those in Parks & Cultural Affairs and Public Works — can live rent-free in the communities they serve while building their credit and saving to purchase their own homes.
- Creating public-private partnership with area farmers —marketed under a Grown in South Fulton label — to provide organic, locally grown food to local restaurants and a City Hall cafe designed to showcase our bounty to visiting dignitaries.
- Creating municipally owned & operated Farmer's Markets that provide fresh produce (and jobs) in our city's "food deserts."
- Creating a Green New Deal for South Fulton that preserves our greenspace and prioritizes renewable energy in city projects.
WHY KHALID
In his first weeks as a Councilman, khalid co-founded the South Fulton Food Policy Council with local farmers and food policy experts to develop programs to combat the city's food deserts. He has taken on corporations like Kroger who have prioritized financial investment in barricades and other "security" features over increased food offerings or aesthetic improvements to their Southside stores. khalid worked to build the first electric vehicle charging stations in the city, and mandating charging stations in new commercial developments.
Councilman khalid championed the overhaul of the city's outdated Zoning Code, which until its 2020 re-write, did not provide for building any commercial or residential spaces over four stories. khalid is also leading the charge to overhaul South Fulton's Comprehensive plan which currently makes no mention of young creatives and identifies no area within our 100 square miles on which to build a live-work-play arts & entertainment district that attracts this critical demographic. khalid believes that no one who works 40 hours per week should struggle to find safe, affordable housing. In 2019, he began working with developers to bring mixed-income housing to Old National.
In his first weeks as a Councilman, khalid co-founded the South Fulton Food Policy Council with local farmers and food policy experts to develop programs to combat the city's food deserts. He has taken on corporations like Kroger who have prioritized financial investment in barricades and other "security" features over increased food offerings or aesthetic improvements to their Southside stores. khalid worked to build the first electric vehicle charging stations in the city, and mandating charging stations in new commercial developments.
Councilman khalid championed the overhaul of the city's outdated Zoning Code, which until its 2020 re-write, did not provide for building any commercial or residential spaces over four stories. khalid is also leading the charge to overhaul South Fulton's Comprehensive plan which currently makes no mention of young creatives and identifies no area within our 100 square miles on which to build a live-work-play arts & entertainment district that attracts this critical demographic. khalid believes that no one who works 40 hours per week should struggle to find safe, affordable housing. In 2019, he began working with developers to bring mixed-income housing to Old National.
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Increasing Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs through Diaspora-Focused Economic DevelopmentThroughout American history and to this present day, majority Black neighborhoods and cities have struggled to attract investment from Corporate America. Being Black on purpose refocuses our economic development strategy from trying to transcend our demographics to seeing them as a unique advantage in a particular world market. Marketing ourselves as who we are -- the Blackest city in the world's richest country, adjacent to the world's busiest airport — uniquely positions South Fulton to become the economic capital of the African diaspora, decreasing our dependence on domestic companies reticent to invest in "minority" communities.
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When we "decolonize" our minds — which have been trained to believe we cannot be successful without the support of white investors & American corporations — we re-cognize that economic globalization now offers us access to a marketplace of 210 million Black people from Britain to Brazil. Our demographics make us an unmatched test market for companies with Black/urban consumer bases. And our location, next to the World's Busiest Airport, can ship products developed here across the globe.
Mayor khalid's plan to make South Fulton a hub of Black commerce includes:
Mayor khalid's plan to make South Fulton a hub of Black commerce includes:
- Marketing ourselves on in social & traditional media as "Atlanta's twin city" and "the Blackest City in America."
- Concentrating Economic Development pitches to companies with large Black/urban consumer bases.
- Refocusing our Small Business Incubators on supporting minority startups, and connecting them with investors & capital.
- Creating a Consulate Row where companies and investors from African nations — and states like Bahia, Brazil with large Black populations — can meet and trade resources & information.
- Ensuring minority-owned businesses and "responsible bidders" that provide living wages and affordable healthcare get priority in city contracts.
- Requiring space allotments in new developments for local business and promoting adaptive reuse of existing structures.
- Renaming Old National Hwy to Obama National Parkway to create a coveted address aligned with the city's new image.
- Hiring a City Psychologist to support City Council and administrative staff through this paradigm-shifting strategy.
WHY KHALID
From his first days as a Councilman, khalid as been the leading voice on this issue, initiating demographic research on South Fulton. He created and popularized the monikers "Atlanta's twin City" and "the Blackest City in America" to concisely articulate who we are and where we are located, as well as the size of our city and its ambitions. His proposals are informed by the latest economic research, which show homegrown companies are better corporate citizens with higher rates of job creation.
The current Mayor and other city leaders have chosen a race-neutral economic development strategy that forces South Fulton to compete with much wealthier and well-educated cities like Sandy Springs. Calling for South Fulton to "lean into" its Blackness — on which no other city in our state can compete — is a paradigm shift. khalid's job experiences in public health and community organizing give him special insight on the pyscho-social challenges inherent in such a radical organizational course correction as what he proposes. This is why a Staff Psychologist is already a part of his Economic Development plans.
From his first days as a Councilman, khalid as been the leading voice on this issue, initiating demographic research on South Fulton. He created and popularized the monikers "Atlanta's twin City" and "the Blackest City in America" to concisely articulate who we are and where we are located, as well as the size of our city and its ambitions. His proposals are informed by the latest economic research, which show homegrown companies are better corporate citizens with higher rates of job creation.
The current Mayor and other city leaders have chosen a race-neutral economic development strategy that forces South Fulton to compete with much wealthier and well-educated cities like Sandy Springs. Calling for South Fulton to "lean into" its Blackness — on which no other city in our state can compete — is a paradigm shift. khalid's job experiences in public health and community organizing give him special insight on the pyscho-social challenges inherent in such a radical organizational course correction as what he proposes. This is why a Staff Psychologist is already a part of his Economic Development plans.
Increasing Career Opportunities for Youth through Vocational & Political EducationIt is well documented that America's public school system routinely disenfranchise African American students, who themselves are burdened with extracurricular challenges common in "minority" communities. Studies repeatedly show that the greatest predictor of a child's academic success is the educational achievement and economic success of that child's parents and neighbors. Economist Gary Becker's nobel prize-winning research reveals that income inequality is the greatest predictor of crime. Being Black on purpose requires us to acknowledge that we cannot police our way to prosperity. We must redirect municipal investment into programs that address the institutional obstacles facing working class families and create pathways to high-paying jobs indigenous to the region. Building support for re-prioritizing the city budget will require political re-education for children & adults.
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Mayor khalid wants to create careers — not just jobs — for South Fulton's next generation by:
- Working with the South Fulton's Development Authority and his proposed South Perimeter DDA to build office parks with high-speed internet connections that attract animation, special effects and other post production jobs in South Fulton, which is situated between three of Georgia's largest movie studios: Tyler Perry Studios, Pinewood, and Metro Atlanta Studios.
- Partnering with South Fulton's Vocational Career Academy, trade unions to create career pipelines into film production, computer coding, 3-D printing and supply-chain management (logistics) jobs.
- Funding after-school and summer programs that focus on personal finance, professional communications and "soft skills" for high school & adult students.
- Supplementing public school funding of wraparound, social-emotional support services for at-risk families.
- Creating a Civics Education department within City Hall to produce media and year-around programing that educate citizens on municipal government.
- Supplementing S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)-focused curriculum with a R.I.C.H. (Reading, Inclusive, Civics & History) curriculum that encourages young people to become more engaged in the civic life of their community.
- Expanding civics engagement by creating a Youth Council elected annually by middle & high school students; lowering the voting age in municipal elections to 16; and partnering with local educators to create curricula that teach middle & high school students about municipal government and our city's history.
- Creating evening youth programing such as Midnight Basketball in our city parks.
- Creating a Truancy Taskforce to coordinate police, court & school staff to keep at-risk youth and those suspended from school from wandering our streets.
WHY KHALID
Marrying African Americans' strong sense of cultural identity to the city's identity will create a sense of pride that fosters civic engagement, celebrates academic achievement and even discourages crime as an act of civic disloyalty. Mayor khalid is committed to breaking with ineffective, orthodoxy and using new, data-driven solutions to closing economic and achievement gaps that plague African American communities. And he is committed gaining public trust in methods through political education and increased transparency.
As a Councilman, khalid lead the fight for a City Election Day Holiday and created the city's first annual event — a day of political education known as the South Fulton Electoral College. He has been nationally recognized for this and other civics education videos and programming. During his term as a Councilman, khalid worked to successfully attract businesses to South Fulton like Habitat for Humanity, which works to revitalize blighted communities and is building its Southern Regional Headquarters at 5590 Old National Highway.
Marrying African Americans' strong sense of cultural identity to the city's identity will create a sense of pride that fosters civic engagement, celebrates academic achievement and even discourages crime as an act of civic disloyalty. Mayor khalid is committed to breaking with ineffective, orthodoxy and using new, data-driven solutions to closing economic and achievement gaps that plague African American communities. And he is committed gaining public trust in methods through political education and increased transparency.
As a Councilman, khalid lead the fight for a City Election Day Holiday and created the city's first annual event — a day of political education known as the South Fulton Electoral College. He has been nationally recognized for this and other civics education videos and programming. During his term as a Councilman, khalid worked to successfully attract businesses to South Fulton like Habitat for Humanity, which works to revitalize blighted communities and is building its Southern Regional Headquarters at 5590 Old National Highway.
Help Councilman khalid make America's Blackest City #BlackOnPurpose.