His city-dweller cousins would tease him, calling him “backwards” and “country” and making fun of his red-clay-stained shoes. The words stung but didn’t land with their intended effect. Even at a young age, Hobson knew there was no shame in being black or Southern.
“There was always this chip on our shoulder when we would go up there,” Hobson recalls.
That feeling set Hobson on a journey that has made him one of the foremost experts on the American South after World War II, and Atlanta, regarded by many as “the Black mecca” for its critical mass of African-American educational institutions, professionals and politicians. Hobson is a historian and associate professor of African-American Studies at Georgia State.
His latest book, “The Legend of the Black Mecca: Politics and Class in the Making of Modern Atlanta,” combines his deep knowledge of the city’s history with the heavy influence of Atlanta hip-hop pioneers Outkast and Goodie Mob.
Through his research and scholarship, Hobson is reshaping and expanding the narrative of the Southern capital, helping to tell a fuller story about the complexity of black life in Atlanta and its broader lessons for the nation and the world.
Hobson’s scholarship is steeped in a hip-hop aesthetic inspired by Southern rap pioneers like Atlanta’s Outkast and Goodie Mob, Houston’s Ghetto Boyz and Memphis’ Eightball and MJG — whom he frequently quotes in his work, in class and in conversation.
“Big Boi and André mess with my research because it talks about the larger implications of the music,” Hobson said, referring to the duo known collectively as Outkast.
Hobson’s relationship with Atlanta began early. When he was 5 years old, his father, a college professor, declined to take a teaching position at Atlanta University. Dozens of black boys were going missing and turning up dead across the city. Collectively known as the Atlanta Child Murders, their deaths made headlines across the country and brought the FBI to the city to investigate the killings. Hobson’s father feared raising his children in such terrifying circumstances.
Still, growing up in Selma, Ala., Hobson frequently visited the city to buy cool sneakers or go to Six Flags, the King Center or the World of Coca-Cola.
He was 17 when Outkast’s “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” debuted. The group’s first album was nothing short of a revelation for Hobson, who felt the music’s lyrics represented him and gave a voice to his part of the country in hip-hop.
“I heard something in that music,” Hobson says. “What I heard was an on-the-ground conversation about Atlanta.”
But as a college student working the 1996 Summer Olympics, Hobson saw a big difference between Outkast’s Atlanta and the Atlanta that marketed itself to the world. That year, Hobson was in the stadium when Muhammad Ali lit the torch during the opening ceremonies. He saw sprinter Michael Johnson fly around the track in his signature gold shoes. He was in Centennial Olympic Park the day of the bombing.
However, Hobson saw another part of Atlanta during those years, too: blighted, struggling black communities left behind or left out of the city’s progress. As a graduate student at the University of Alabama, he decided to focus his research on Atlanta.
“It was a niche I understood, and I knew Atlanta was not what it seemed,” Hobson says. “I acknowledge that Atlanta is a unique place for black people in America. It represents the highest achievements of black people since the Civil War, but there are several black Atlantas, and people don’t want to admit that. The city has done great things, but that’s not the only story.”
Hobson coined the term “The Black New South,” a school of thought that focuses on the experiences of black people in a post-1965 South, challenging trends often overlooked by scholars. His work provides a holistic perspective on the national and international implications of the region’s history, culture, education, politics, health disparities, religion and business.
“No one’s really looked at how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped change the politics of the American South and how those changes have played out on the ground in different areas,” he says.
Another of Hobson’s ideas, “the Olympification of a city,” explores the implications of franchising a city for big sporting events like the Super Bowl, Pan-Am Games or World Cup.
“It’s about what cities do to market themselves for the world and asking who the real winners and losers in local communities are,” he says.
Hobson has also done comparative studies between Atlanta’s Olympic experience and those of other cities, such as Athens, London, Melbourne, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City.
“The things that happened to Atlanta’s black communities are relevant to the experiences of other Olympic cities,” he says.
Providing a broad perspective on issues ranging from black political power to gentrification, Hobson was the chief historian for two recent documentaries. “Maynard” details the life and legacy of Maynard Jackson, who was elected in 1973 as Atlanta’s first black mayor and the first black mayor in the Deep South, while Ken Burns’ “East Lake Film Project” explores the history of public housing with a focus on East Lake Meadows in Atlanta.
Though critical of Jackson in his book “Legend of the Black Mecca,” Hobson says he deeply admires the mayor and his accomplishments that shaped the city, including curbing police brutality, expanding public transit and the airport, and helping to create a black merchant class through affirmative action programs that opened up contracts for black vendors.
“In doing research around the city, you cannot speak ill of Maynard Jackson. Even his harshest critics talk about how great he was,” Hobson says. “A lot of things that keep Atlanta afloat as a very inclusive city still hinge on Maynard Jackson.”
“Maynard” director Sam Pollard didn’t initially think he needed a historian but changed his mind after he interviewed Hobson.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed and charismatic he was on screen,” Pollard says. “He provided wonderful context throughout the film that turned out to be very important. Every time he came on the screen, I said to myself, ‘Man, was he the right choice.’ His ability to give us the history in a warm and personal way was fantastic.”
However, Hobson saw another part of Atlanta during those years, too: blighted, struggling black communities left behind or left out of the city’s progress. As a graduate student at the University of Alabama, he decided to focus his research on Atlanta.
“It was a niche I understood, and I knew Atlanta was not what it seemed,” Hobson says. “I acknowledge that Atlanta is a unique place for black people in America. It represents the highest achievements of black people since the Civil War, but there are several black Atlantas, and people don’t want to admit that. The city has done great things, but that’s not the only story.”
Hobson coined the term “The Black New South,” a school of thought that focuses on the experiences of black people in a post-1965 South, challenging trends often overlooked by scholars. His work provides a holistic perspective on the national and international implications of the region’s history, culture, education, politics, health disparities, religion and business.
“No one’s really looked at how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped change the politics of the American South and how those changes have played out on the ground in different areas,” he says.
Another of Hobson’s ideas, “the Olympification of a city,” explores the implications of franchising a city for big sporting events like the Super Bowl, Pan-Am Games or World Cup.
“It’s about what cities do to market themselves for the world and asking who the real winners and losers in local communities are,” he says.
Hobson has also done comparative studies between Atlanta’s Olympic experience and those of other cities, such as Athens, London, Melbourne, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City.
“The things that happened to Atlanta’s black communities are relevant to the experiences of other Olympic cities,” he says.
Providing a broad perspective on issues ranging from black political power to gentrification, Hobson was the chief historian for two recent documentaries. “Maynard” details the life and legacy of Maynard Jackson, who was elected in 1973 as Atlanta’s first black mayor and the first black mayor in the Deep South, while Ken Burns’ “East Lake Film Project” explores the history of public housing with a focus on East Lake Meadows in Atlanta.
Though critical of Jackson in his book “Legend of the Black Mecca,” Hobson says he deeply admires the mayor and his accomplishments that shaped the city, including curbing police brutality, expanding public transit and the airport, and helping to create a black merchant class through affirmative action programs that opened up contracts for black vendors.
“In doing research around the city, you cannot speak ill of Maynard Jackson. Even his harshest critics talk about how great he was,” Hobson says. “A lot of things that keep Atlanta afloat as a very inclusive city still hinge on Maynard Jackson.”
“Maynard” director Sam Pollard didn’t initially think he needed a historian but changed his mind after he interviewed Hobson.
“I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed and charismatic he was on screen,” Pollard says. “He provided wonderful context throughout the film that turned out to be very important. Every time he came on the screen, I said to myself, ‘Man, was he the right choice.’ His ability to give us the history in a warm and personal way was fantastic.”
Hobson is also participating in an upcoming documentary about former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, whose career with the team ended in 2007 after he was convicted of running a dogfighting ring out of his Virginia home and sentenced to almost two years in prison.
In fall 2016, Hobson penned an essay in the online journal Atlanta Studies titled “All Black Everytha(A)ng: Aesthetics, Anecdotes and FX’s ‘Atlanta.’” In it, he uses the show as a prism to explore the city’s racial and political history and explain the multiple black Atlantas that exist today — and are often not part of the city’s narrative.
“Donald Glover’s ‘Atlanta’ is unapologetic and unabashed black art created for blacks that dwell throughout the blackest parts of Atlanta,” Hobson writes. “In this, Atlanta’s popular history is offset by Glover’s candid depiction of the city, exposing the smoke and mirrors of the ‘Black Mecca’ and ‘Hotlanta’ tropes. It rejects the representation of the city predicated on neoliberalism and demonstrates the further marginalization of the black masses through chic trends such as gentrification. Its awkwardness makes audiences uncomfortable by transposing Atlanta’s black masses to the center and moving whites and the black upper and middle classes on to the fringes, places where they have little control over the narratives produced.”
“When you study Atlanta, you always get ‘The City Too Busy to Hate’ or ‘Hotlanta,’” Hobson says. “But all of that is based on white interaction. But ‘Atlanta’ deals with black communities that have no interaction with white people.”
The essay soon caught the attention of “Atlanta” creator, star and Stone Mountain, Ga., native Donald Glover, whose staff called Hobson after reading it. They offered him the opportunity to work on the show as a consultant, where he helps the writers and producers highlight the tensions of black Atlanta and show the complicated nature of black life.
The collaboration brings Hobson full circle, as both he and Glover were influenced by Outkast and Goodie Mob as young Southerners. Hobson points out the show’s second season, “Robbin’ Season,” features themes that can be heard in Outkast’s 1993 song “Player’s Ball.”
“‘Player’s Ball’ was about Christmas Eve,” he says. “They’re saying that Christmas Day in the hood is no different from any other day because we’re poor.”
Hobson also sees the dichotomy play out in his daily life. Living in south DeKalb County, in one of the most affluent areas in the country for African-Americans, he is still often adjacent to violence and poverty.
Hobson’s passion for Atlanta — which can rival that of actual natives — is part of what fuels his complicated relationship with a city that has been so transformative in his own life. At the core of commitment is that 7-year-old boy who knew his cousins weren’t better than he was. Only now, he’s able to express it.
“I’m trying to do my best to represent the kind of community I came from,” Hobson says. “My goal is to reclaim our narrative for us — good, bad and ugly. Just because I talk slow doesn’t mean I am slow. That’s what the Black New South is about.”
Hobson is also participating in an upcoming documentary about former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, whose career with the team ended in 2007 after he was convicted of running a dogfighting ring out of his Virginia home and sentenced to almost two years in prison.
In fall 2016, Hobson penned an essay in the online journal Atlanta Studies titled “All Black Everytha(A)ng: Aesthetics, Anecdotes and FX’s ‘Atlanta.’” In it, he uses the show as a prism to explore the city’s racial and political history and explain the multiple black Atlantas that exist today — and are often not part of the city’s narrative.
“Donald Glover’s ‘Atlanta’ is unapologetic and unabashed black art created for blacks that dwell throughout the blackest parts of Atlanta,” Hobson writes. “In this, Atlanta’s popular history is offset by Glover’s candid depiction of the city, exposing the smoke and mirrors of the ‘Black Mecca’ and ‘Hotlanta’ tropes. It rejects the representation of the city predicated on neoliberalism and demonstrates the further marginalization of the black masses through chic trends such as gentrification. Its awkwardness makes audiences uncomfortable by transposing Atlanta’s black masses to the center and moving whites and the black upper and middle classes on to the fringes, places where they have little control over the narratives produced.”
“When you study Atlanta, you always get ‘The City Too Busy to Hate’ or ‘Hotlanta,’” Hobson says. “But all of that is based on white interaction. But ‘Atlanta’ deals with black communities that have no interaction with white people.”
The essay soon caught the attention of “Atlanta” creator, star and Stone Mountain, Ga., native Donald Glover, whose staff called Hobson after reading it. They offered him the opportunity to work on the show as a consultant, where he helps the writers and producers highlight the tensions of black Atlanta and show the complicated nature of black life.
The collaboration brings Hobson full circle, as both he and Glover were influenced by Outkast and Goodie Mob as young Southerners. Hobson points out the show’s second season, “Robbin’ Season,” features themes that can be heard in Outkast’s 1993 song “Player’s Ball.”
“‘Player’s Ball’ was about Christmas Eve,” he says. “They’re saying that Christmas Day in the hood is no different from any other day because we’re poor.”
Hobson also sees the dichotomy play out in his daily life. Living in south DeKalb County, in one of the most affluent areas in the country for African-Americans, he is still often adjacent to violence and poverty.
Hobson’s passion for Atlanta — which can rival that of actual natives — is part of what fuels his complicated relationship with a city that has been so transformative in his own life. At the core of commitment is that 7-year-old boy who knew his cousins weren’t better than he was. Only now, he’s able to express it.
“I’m trying to do my best to represent the kind of community I came from,” Hobson says. “My goal is to reclaim our narrative for us — good, bad and ugly. Just because I talk slow doesn’t mean I am slow. That’s what the Black New South is about.”
*Errin Haines Whack is the Associated Press’ National Writer on Race and Ethnicity.
Photos by Steven Thackston
