The B sides

Words by C. Daniel

Photos contributed by Catherine Tolbert @ The Garner Circle PR

Fellow young and enterprising African Americans, in and out of Atlanta, we have to use our amazing spirits to carry the torch above and beyond what our forefathers made.

We are experiencing a very challenging period in history. Not only are we facing one of the most devastating economic downturns ever, but we are still being discredited as dignified Americans. We may have the honor to say we experienced the landmark election of the first African American President of the United States in our lifetime, but it can’t just stop here. Old politics still dangle over our heads. Some of our fellow African Americans question our social responsibilities and our futures. For social critics like Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan, who have both expressed verbally that they both want Barack Obama to fail after only 40 days in office; you could only imagine what the rest of the world is still saying about our generation.

We have lots of work to do. The question remains: Are we up for the challenge?

Progress is continuing to be made, but we do have a long way to go. We are the keepers of a great legacy. Whether it’s through strong entrepreneurial, social, creative, and political ideas, we are all in this together. I realized this after visiting Café Circa, a nice African American-owned upscale restaurant in Atlanta’s Fourth Ward district, on March 3. Courtesy of the Garner Circle PR, I had the opportunity to attend a Grey Goose and YouTube-sponsored cocktail party and film screening. The event celebrated the two companies’ tribute to Black History Month via a series of short films online. Imagine the plethora of successful young blacks in one room: visual artists, media practitioners, medical professionals, club owners, educators, and restaurant owners among others. The evening gives us the opportunity to fellowship and reflect upon our history.

The Screening Room @ Cafe Circa

We came together. Everyone looked really nice in their cosmopolitan attire, mingling with one another, and enjoying their entrees. All of us young professionals filled the dimly-lit restaurant, marked with royal blue and white fabric all over the booth areas. Cafe Circa’s personnel definitely took notice of what was developing over the course of the evening. “Just to bring in a different sector of people that we might not ordinarily see is very inspiring for me,” Rodney Henderson, general manager, says. “With [Café Circa] being a black-owned company, it always makes me feel even better to come to work and work a lot harder to move our people a lot more further.”

With “The World’s Best Tasting Vodka” in the mix, it’s clear that mass culture takes notice of us, young blacks, as major cultural contributors and tastemakers. We are the most influential people on the planet. “Atlanta is considered a major market for Grey Goose among African American consumers,” Amy Eslami, Atlanta marketing manager for Bacardi USA, says. “We thought it would be a great opportunity to really honor African Americans that are doing things in the market and are successful in the arts industry.”

About a block away from the restaurant is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site, an area also once considered an affluent black community. As I look up and down the strip and see other black-owned businesses in the various lofts, I found it to be almost surreal to be around like-minded people in an area that laid the groundwork for black success in Atlanta. For Henderson, carrying on black success at Café Circa is an honor. “It’s tremendous to be at the forefront of everything that has transpired,” he says. “The historical value that this particular restaurant has played is pivotal. With all of the businesses that are coming here and all the businesses that have been very important to our progression makes me feel very good to be a part of.”

Randy Hazelton, one of Café Circa’s co-owners, is confident but knows there is room to improve. “We are still working very hard to establish ourselves,” he says. “This used to be a hub for black commerce and African American entrepreneurship. Over the past couple of decades, it had gotten away from that. It’s good to see that type of interest coming back into the neighborhood. It’s even more encouraging for me to see that we’re a part of it. We can kind of function as a beacon of hope for where the community is going. We can reflect on or be a reflection of where it is going.”

ATL Black List (from l. to r.) - J. Carter, Jimmy Jones, Jodine Dorce, and Andrea Jackson

In the backdrop on the monitors is the award-winning HBO documentary The Black List, Vol. 1. We all sit and listen in awe to the various black experiences from some of our most profound cultural contributors and icons. As J. Carter points out later in the evening, the screening is our history in 30 minutes. As Nobel laureate Toni Morrison speaks about her mother and her love of various types of literature, everyone pays close attention. When Keenan Ivory Wayans gives his reflections on contributing to Hollywood Shuffle and creating In Living Color, we all laugh. As children predominately of the hip hop generation, of course we all listen to Russell Simmons’ four-minute snapshot like curious college students. Déjà vu on film, huh?

Elvis Mitchell, one of the filmmakers behind The Black List, said to me in an interview recently at his second volume screening that he wants The Black List to continue a conversation and make everyone take a good look within. That’s exactly what we all did. Post-screening, we all engaged in a mock panel highlighting some of Atlanta’s own young and enterprising professionals: club owner J. Carter, ATL2nite.com founder Jimmy Jones, newsletter editor/soul music promoter Jodine Dorce, and Atlanta University Center archivist Andrea Jackson. The panelists, all responding and commenting on the film sequences, give their own interpretations on being black and successful in Atlanta. It is indeed an evening well-spent to preserve spirits and to keep them flowing.

“Everyone came across as if they had a vested interest in where we were and where we were going,” Hazelton says after the screening. “When questions were asked, everyone had an opinion. Everyone had their own ideas, motivation, and ambitions. That, to me, is exciting. That is something that our generation needs.”