The Atlanta skate park that fought back against gentrification - and won

Disunited States: Black Blocks — Built in 1996 in time for Atlanta to host the Olympic Games, Black Blocks was a small urban square designed to spruce up the highway, but it quickly became an important spot for Atlanta’s skaters. Gentrification is in full swing in the city, and when the authorities tried to shut it down earlier this year, the community rallied together to save it, explains Andrew Murrell.

This is Black Blocks. It was basically designed to spruce up the interstate and the overpass so that it would look better for visitors but it didn’t mean much to the city.

Yet skateboarders took to it immediately: the smooth ground, the ledges were great, the metal benches. It was a no-man’s-land, there was nothing much around here for about half a mile. And it’s close to Georgia State University, so no one would fuck with you.

Initially skateboarders would just skate here for a second and then cruise on to somewhere else, but after a couple of years this became a meet-up spot because skaters would get kicked out of our other spots by the cops. They’d say “just go to Black Blocks”, and we did. Quickly we realised we were getting a free pass, so people started taking care of it.JARRETT_CHRISTIAN_ATLANTA_HUCK_POST_TRUMP_GEORGIA_CLIMATE_002

They’d kick out drug dealers because, you know, you don’t want someone selling crack on the street where kids skate. They’d keep people from tagging, sweep up the trash, make friends with the homeless people and all hang out.

Black Blocks before then wasn’t a place that people would go, so it was ours. It would attract different little crews of kids from all around the city who would just meet up here and friendships would form. It carried on this way for years, it was important.

I started skating when I moved to the city to go to school in 2009 at Georgia State. I’ve met so many great friends here and just, it’s been awesome, no one bothers you. It’s like Pulaski Park in Washington DC, Love Park Philadelphia, Southbank in London.

This was ours, an organic cultural identifier.

But when we drove up on 19 September this year, we saw a fence had been thrown up around it. We weren’t informed at all, no warning, no heads-up to say this was going to happen. There was a sign on the metal, talking about ‘park renovation’. We called the number and checked out the site, turns out the city was set to rip the whole place down.JARRETT_CHRISTIAN_ATLANTA_HUCK_POST_TRUMP_GEORGIA_CLIMATE_022

So we were kind of sitting around thinking fuck, what are we going to do, and I told everyone I was going to go downstairs and write a petition. Overnight it had thousands of signatures, we used social media to spread the word. Atlanta is pretty small, and people got on board. Nobody told us we were wasting our time. That doesn’t normally happen. Skate mags and brands were giving us a hand, they knew how important this place was.

Over the last couple of years there has been a huge influx of people moving in from the suburbs to the city, and the movie business is really popping here: people are coming in from LA, NYC, and beyond.

When they move in, the citizens who’ve lived here for their entire lives are pushed out, along with their spaces, their buildings, places of real cultural significance. This area used to be empty, but now there’s a giant high rise dominating the skyline. We knew there’d be problems, that residents might get pissed off and we’d be moved on. But we’ve been here for 20 years.

Then skaters from across the globe, who’ve faced similar moves when gentrification hits, got in touch to give us a hand.

Paul Richards from Long Live Southbank designed a logo for us, which was awesome – we know about their long battle, which they won. His advice was to to talk to politicians, he told us what to do and what no to do, how to stay positive, how to not piss people off. We were gearing up for battle.

We hit up the news stations and were planning do to do an interview the following day. Then they told us we had to wait for a statement from Central Atlanta Progress, Georgia Department of Transportation and the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs – the three departments handling this. Apparently they were holding a meeting.JARRETT_CHRISTIAN_ATLANTA_HUCK_POST_TRUMP_GEORGIA_CLIMATE_021

‘Holy shit’, we thought, crossing our fingers the entire time. The next day I got a call from Camille Love from the Mayor’s Office, who said they had a compromise for us. She said we need to respect the artwork, this metal sculpture. If we did that we could still have the place to skate in. More than this though, she told us they’d respect and also acknowledge our presence and influence in the park, building a plaque to note it, with a big ribbon cutting ceremony and all. It’s really cool to see that the city recognises us, instead of just pretending skating isn’t important to Atlanta’s culture.

I don’t want to speak too broadly, but to my knowledge it’s the first instance of this happening in America. Love Park in Philadelphia was like a 10, 15-year battle which was lost, they tore down the park. It’s great to see that Atlanta is taking notice, doing something, however little, for its citizens, acknowledging skaters and what’s going on here.

Huck’s News Editor Michael Segalov will be on the ground in Atlanta over the coming days. Keep track of his progress as he asks where America goes from here. And if you’re in Atlanta and want to share your story, please reach out.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.


Ad

Latest on Huck

Red shop frontage with "Open Out" branding and appointment-only signage.
Activism

Meet the trans-led hairdressers providing London with gender-affirming trims

Open Out — Since being founded in 2011, the Hoxton salon has become a crucial space the city’s LGBTQ+ community. Hannah Bentley caught up with co-founder Greygory Vass to hear about its growth, breaking down barbering binaries, and the recent Supreme Court ruling.

Written by: Hannah Bentley

Cyclists racing past Palestinian flag, yellow barriers, and spectators.
Sport

Gazan amputees secure Para-Cycling World Championships qualification

Gaza Sunbirds — Alaa al-Dali and Mohamed Asfour earned Palestine’s first-ever top-20 finish at the Para-Cycling World Cup in Belgium over the weekend.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Crowded festival site with tents, stalls and an illuminated red double-decker bus. Groups of people, including children, milling about on the muddy ground.
© Alan Tash Lodge
Music

New documentary revisits the radical history of UK free rave culture

Free Party: A Folk History — Directed by Aaron Trinder, it features first-hand stories from key crews including DiY, Spiral Tribe, Bedlam and Circus Warp, with public streaming available from May 30.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Weathered wooden building with a tall spire, person on horseback in foreground.
Culture

Rahim Fortune’s dreamlike vision of the Black American South

Reflections — In the Texas native’s debut solo show, he weaves familial history and documentary photography to challenge the region’s visual tropes.

Written by: Miss Rosen

A collage depicting a giant flup for mankind, with an image of the Earth surrounded by planets and people in sci-fi costumes.
Culture

Why Katy Perry’s space flight was one giant flop for mankind

Galactic girlbossing — In a widely-panned, 11-minute trip to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere, the ‘Women’s World’ singer joined an all-female space crew in an expensive vanity advert for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Newsletter columnist Emma Garland explains its apocalypse indicating signs.

Written by: Emma Garland

Three orange book covers with the title "Foreign Fruit" against a dark background.
Culture

Katie Goh: “I want people to engage with the politics of oranges”

Foreign Fruit — In her new book, the Edinburgh-based writer traces her personal history through the citrus fruit’s global spread, from a village in China to Californian groves. Angela Hui caught up with her to find out more.

Written by: Katie Goh

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter to informed with the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, featuring personal takes on the state of media and pop culture from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.