The day I decided to visit Sweet Auburn it was very cold. I walked from Piedmont Ave to Auburn Ave. As I walked down Auburn I saw a lot of abandon buildings and homeless people but also saw upcoming stores and restaurants trying to recreate Auburn like it was in the 1900’s. During those times there were several black-owned popular like the Sweet Auburn Market, Auburn Corner Store,Big Bethelam Church Federal Union and Royal Peacock.
Before I was truly aware of all the history Sweet Auburn endured I was quite nerves and scared of walking into this district. But the deeper I walked into it the more history unfolded in front of me. The street were busy, full of cars, people past these historic places probably not realizing what kind of history took place here. The feeling I got from standing in front of MLK was very humbling; to know one of the most influential men grew up there.
There is so much passion and effort put into the murals and other kinds of art on display on the sides of buildings throughout Auburn. There is a mural of the of a great Civil Rights leader named John Lewis.The mural is green, black, white and brown. When I looked at it I could tell he was greatly respected and loved. And right across the street there were two paintings, one of them is a mural of an elderly man with his hands folded and head bowed as if he was praying. The other is a paintings of a rainbow that doesn’t give you a warming feeling.
This community is full of all kinds of black history. But I think if you are someone that doesn’t know anything about this community, you may feel scared or nerves because of how it looks now. The streets are now full of homeless people and strange looking buildings. There is also a separation in the community. The parts that the government are deciding to recreate and reconstruct the streets and buildings but there are also parts like Piedmont Ave and Auburn Ave there is little to no reconstruction.
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