Black. On Purpose.
Mayor Kobi's Vision for an International South Fulton
During the 17-19th centuries, European colonizers removed millions of human beings from Afrika, selling them into chattle slavery; while also extracting billions in mineral wealth from the continent (a practice which still continues today). Enslaved people built the foundation of today's modern economy. Their unpaid labor supported the refining of raw materials taken from Afrika & South America. Europe & North America used this free labor to produce goods which they then sold to the rest of the world.
But the forced removal of millions of Afrikans — known as The Maafa: a Swahili term meaning "The Great Disaster" — also created a diaspora of Afrikan peoples around the world. South Fulton Mayor Kobi is working to reverse-engineer this triangle trade, circulating capital and ideas around the Afrikan Diaspora. With a population that is 92 percent Black — comprised of Afrikan people from across our global diaspora — Atlanta's twin city South Fulton, Georgia is uniquely positioned to become the American Capital of the Afrikan Diaspora. Situated next to the world's busiest airport, with the largest industrial corridor on the East Coast and rail access to East Coast's largest seaport, there is no better place to "set up shop" for businesses seeking to engage with American Afrikan consumers and our $300 billion of annual spending. |
For decades, South Fulton — like many majority-Black communities in the United States — has struggled to attract major investment by America's Fortune 500 companies. Rather than continuing to chase domestic corporations who have demonstrated little interest in our city (outside of warehouse and data centers), Mayor Kobi is focusing South Fulton's economic development efforts on international actors with a direct and demonstrated interest in our community's success.
By "leaning in" to who were are and looking to those most interested in us, Mayor Kobi is working to transform South Fulton into an international hub of commerce, culture and tourism. His three-pronged approach to development ensures that South Fulton citizens and local business owners will be the first to reap the benefits of any economic growth. As Mayor, Kobi will use the power and collective wealth of our government:
By "leaning in" to who were are and looking to those most interested in us, Mayor Kobi is working to transform South Fulton into an international hub of commerce, culture and tourism. His three-pronged approach to development ensures that South Fulton citizens and local business owners will be the first to reap the benefits of any economic growth. As Mayor, Kobi will use the power and collective wealth of our government:
- INCREASE LOCAL LAND OWNERSHIP
- INCREASE ACCESS TO CAPITAL FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES
- INCREASE EQUITY THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Increasing Land Ownership
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RETHINKING SOUTH FULTON'S LAND USE POLICIES
Watch the video above to see South Fulton's plans to update its Land Use Map for Zoning commercial, residential and agricultural development.
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In order to increase the amount or quality of city services, we must either increase taxes or density. Mayor Kobi has a Masterplan (below) to increase density in urban areas while preserving our agrarian communities.
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Increasing Access to Capital through Diaspora-Focused Economic DevelopmentThroughout American history and to this present day, majority Black neighborhoods and cities have struggled to attract investment from Corporate America. Mayor Kobi will refocus South Fulton's economic development strategy from trying to hide our demographics to seeing them as a unique advantage in the world market.
Marketing ourselves as who we are -- the Blackest Big City in the world's richest country, adjacent to the world's busiest airport — uniquely positions South Fulton to become the economic capital of the African diaspora, decreasing our dependence on domestic companies who have declined investing in "minority" communities for decades. |
Economic globalization now offers us access to a marketplace of 210 million Black people from Britain to Brazil. Our demographics make us an unmatched test market for companies with Black/urban consumer bases. And our location, next to the World's Busiest Airport, can ship products developed here across the globe.
Mayor Kobi's plan to make South Fulton a hub of Black commerce includes:
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Increasing Equity Through Entrepreneurial OpportunityIt is well documented that America's public school system routinely disenfranchises African American students. Studies repeatedly show that the greatest predictor of a child's academic success is the educational achievement and economic success of that child's parents and neighbors.
Economist Gary Becker's nobel prize-winning research reveals that income inequality is the greatest predictor of crime. Mayor Kobi understands that we cannot police our way to prosperity. He will reprioritize South Fulton's $100 million budget to invest in young people before they get into trouble by focusing after school activities on 21st century job skills and entrepreneurship. |
Our metro area has the highest income inequality in the nation. We must increase investment in working class communities chronically underinvested in.
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Mayor Kobi wants to create careers — not just jobs — for South Fulton's next generation by:
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Over 16 percent of our land is zoned agricultural. With minimal subsidies from the city, our farms can supply city-owned grocery stores with locally grown produce, keeping dollars circulating in our community.
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