Follow Your Heart not a Career Path: The Joy of Life

I have been working the past year on the start of a ten-year project.  The project is charting the revitalization of Auburn Avenue in Atlanta Georgia.  The joy of this project has been the good people I have met along the way.  What has been consistent about the business owners along Auburn Avenue is that they have followed their heart.  A case in point is Jennie Rivlin Roberts.  Jennie is has her PhD in Industrial Psychology from Georgia Tech but she is the shopkeeper of ModernTribe.  Her story is one of joy and passion.  She is committed to running her business from top to bottom and she cares for this place like it is her child. She loves the business and the people she works with and comes in contact with on a daily basis.  What you see in her is pure joy.  She has a heart of gold and she is symbolic of what is happening on this street.

There is this relationship growing between the old and new residents on this street and their relationship speaks to the future of our city.  This blend of old and new across racial lines, religious affiliation, age and educational background is what this street typifies.  There is a meeting of the world along Auburn Avenue between the residents of our city and the visitors who come from around the world to The King Center.  This street is a microcosm of promise as we see on Auburn Avenue what was our history and what is our future.  If Jennie and people with a heart like hers represent the future of our city we can say the future of Atlanta is bright.

What makes our future so bright is that in this city you can live your dream, you can follow your heart.  This is a city that encourages people to come and be that thing you really want to be which may or may not be connected to what you majored in in college.   The worse thing you can do in life is get a job to pay the bills.  Jobs suck life out of you.  Following your passion and doing those things you were created to do and be is life giving.  To choose life over death is really what this is all about.  Jennie choose life and when you connect with her you fill the joy of life that oozes out of her.  What about you?  What you doing with the gift(s) God have placed in you? How are you living your life?  Are you living your dream or doing a job?  Is your daily routine giving you life or leading to an early death?  If it isn’t life giving how long can you survive doing it?  What is the cost for not working towards new life?

www.moderntribe.com

Condesa Coffee: The Soul of Sweet Auburn

As the Atlanta Daily World Building experiences its revival along with Auburn Avenue a star is born.  That star is Condesa Coffee, one of the many shining lights on this street.  While I am excited about what is going on along Auburn Avenue there are spots that are lighting up the street. They are conscientious business owners who have a respect for history and understand that they are the next chapter in this story of Sweet Auburn. Auburn Avenue has been waiting for a revival and there have been several failed attempts to bring the street back to life.  This present effort is showing signs of hope.  We have quality businesses coming along beside the established businesses and tourist destinations on the street complemented by the new Atlanta Streetcar.  

When I sat down with Octavian Stan, one of the four co-owners of Condesa Coffee, my heart was overjoyed.  He and his partners care about Atlanta and they have a love for Sweet Auburn.  This does my heart good.  They are mindful and respectful of the legacy they are continuing with their work and witness.  The Atlanta Daily world building is in good hands and we hope and pray that we see a continued revival of Sweet Auburn that respects the past while embracing the future.  They also have great coffee and customer service.  You want to check this spot out.  Stay posted as we continue to share the story of what is happening along this great street.  What is happening in your community? How are you balancing the past and the future?  Are you even asking these types of questions?

The Promise of the Streetcar: Deliver(ed)?

On December 30, 2014 the new Atlanta Streetcar was delivered.  Bow, ribbons and promises was the order of the day. Mayor Kasim Reed proclaimed that this project will bring investment to a part of the city that has long been neglected.  We cheered, we fought to ride on that first day and I took pictures and wondered.  I wonder what the future holds for Auburn Avenue as the street car debuts?  What does this mean for this street that is a repository of African American history? Will the promised investment be realized? If the promised investment is realized what does it mean for the previous investment of blood, sweat, tears and struggle of the African Americans who came before those who are promised to arrive in the coming years?

At the heart of my wonderment was how will we remember?  How will the stories of this street be kept alive?  Will we remember the Southern Christian Leadership Council, The Butler YMCA, WERD Radio, the great houses of worship as they were back in the day, the work and legacy of John Wesley Dobbs, Alonzo Herndon and so many others?  Will their names be called, will their stories be told or will they become paved over in the coming economic revival that the Mayor has promised?  I wonder, watch and I will continue to track this story and I invite you to follow me as I follow the future while calling us to remember the past!

For more images from the grand opening:
Images from the grand opening:

What does your future hold? Creating the future you desire!

@Ralph Basui Watkins - December 16, 2014

For the past two years I have been tracking the changes along Auburn Avenue here in Atlanta.  It has been interesting seeing the coming of the new Atlanta Streetcar that promises to reconnect Auburn Avenue with downtown Atlanta.  The street is starting to change, while the change is slow, it is noticeable. 

@Ralph Basui Watkins - October 21, 2013 - Streetcar Construction

What I have learned, among many things about change is that it is slow and the change agent must persevere, be persistent and patient.  While ads promise us change with no work and overnight that is not how lasting change occurs.

As I process the change happening along Auburn Avenue I ask what will remain, what should remain?  What must Auburn Avenue hang onto if it is to be the “The Historic District”?  Is there a natural tension between progress and history?  Can progress embrace the past in way that is respectful and tactful?  Will the progress we make forget from whence we have come and who has helped us get to the place we presently find ourselves?

 

Ralph Basui Watkins - December 12, 2014

As we end this year and we begin to plan for next year who is it that you are trying to become?  What are those things in your life that you want to change?  Who are those people or institutions that you have to redefine the relationship if the change you want is going to occur? How will you embrace and develop your future in conversation and relationship with your pass?  When all is said and done change and progress have to be planned endeavors.   What are your plans for your tomorrow? 

@Ralph Basui Watkins - December 12, 2014

@Ralph Basui Watkins - September 25, 2013

The Past and the Future in Tension: The Streetcar Comes to Life!

On the eve of October 1, 2014 The Atlanta Streetcar passed the test.  The Streetcar performed under its own power.  The night was filled with excitement as onlookers and those who have worked on the project rejoiced.  It was exhilarating to be on the street that night as the Streetcar pulled out of the station and started down Fort Street, made a left turn and made its way down Auburn Avenue.

I didn’t know how I would feel about this night.  When I began this project I was a bit ambivalent about the revitalization of Auburn Avenue. I struggled with how the history would be remembered and preserved.  While I still wonder about how Sweet Auburn will remember I am yet hopeful of the life the new streetcar will bring.  What I know is that life must be brought to this street if the history is to remembered and celebrated.  The bringing of people and activity opens up the opportunity for a conversation.

Sharon Gavin, Communications Director for Atlanta Streetcar is awesome.  She is such a gracious person who is working with the community.  You can tell that she cares about the legacy of Auburn Avenue and she is passionate about the connection of the past with the present.  To talk to her gives me hope. I have been literally moved by the coming of the Streetcar.  I think the potential for memory is here.  This isn’t an either or proposition but rather a both and proposition. How do we have urban renewal and redevelopment while simultaneously preserving the rich history of our city?  We can do both?  What are those things you are trying to build and trying to preserve?  Can you walk in the tension of yesterday while moving into the promise of tomorrow?