Nineteen Black families bought over 90 acres of land in Wilkinson County, Georgia to create a pro-Black safe haven.
What We Know:
- The Freedom Georgia Initiative was created in response to the state-sanctioned violence perpetrated upon Black people. The initiative plans to create a safe space for Black people by creating a community in Wilkinson Country Georgia.
- The initiative is a collective of 19 black families. The goal of the community is to not only foster generational wealth but to provide a place for restoration, recreation, and reformation during this time.
- The Freedom Georgia Initiative is “black-owned, woman-owned, family-owned, [and] veteran-managed”. Both the president, Renee Walters, and vice president, Ashley Scott have black husbands and black sons; they felt it was only right to form the community following the recent violence.
“When we saw what happened with Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the protests. We both have black husbands, we both have black sons and I was starting to get overwhelmed and having a sense of anxiety when my husband would leave for work.”
Renee Walters (President of The Freedom Georgia Initiative)
- The land, which is near the town of Toomsboro, lies 130 miles south of Atlanta, Georgia. The creators plan to name the town Freedom, Georgia.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEgY7AFhNIG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Once fully operational, the town plans to not be exclusively all black but entirely pro-Black.
