As the United States continues to grapple with ongoing racial tensions that have never really been addressed, two Black women are taking matters into their own hands, coming up with the idea to launch an initiative to help create a city founded by Black families for Black families.
Some 19 families and nearly 97 acres of land purchased later, the Freedom Georgia Initiative (which purchased the land back in August) is stepping closer to their goal as they hope to eventually incorporate the land purchased to form a new city, Freedom, Georgia, CNN reports.
The idea came from real estate agent Ashely Scott and entrepreneur Renee Walters who had a distinct vision, as CNN notes.
“Being able to create a community that is thriving, that is safe, that has agriculture and commercial businesses that are supporting one another and that dollars circulating in our community, that is our vision,” Scott said.
Initially, the duo originally got caught up about the town of Toomsboro, Ga. being for sale in an ad that eventually went viral.
“We both have Black husbands. We both have Black sons. And I was starting to get overwhelmed and have a sense of anxiety when my husband will leave the house to go to work,” Walters. “So, it was like, OK, what can we do? And once I saw the post of Toomsboro going viral, about a town being on sale, I was like, ‘Oh, this is perfect.'”
As it turns out, that town isn’t actually for sale, so they found acreage just outside of the town in unincorporated Wilkinson Country. The rest is history.
“Our vision is to develop our vast resource-rich 96.71 acres of land in Toomsboro, GA for the establishment of an innovative community for environmentally sustainable-living, health & wellness, agricultural & economic development, arts & culture for generations to come,” the Freedom Georgia Initiative’s homepage reads. “Our aim is to be a premier recreational, educational, and cultural destination for Black families across the African diaspora. We welcome you, your family, and all Black allies to support us in our vision to be the change we want to see!”
That being said, for those who may question why they would want to create an all-Black city, Scott was quick to point out it is impossible to have an exclusively Black city, as their families are diverse. The city however will be 100% pro Black.
“It’s impossible to have anything exclusively Black because our families are integrated,” says Scott. “We are an integrated, tolerant and diverse community even as Black people, so we don’t intend for it to be exclusively Black, but we do intend for it to be pro Black in every way.”