Sweet Auburn | A Walk into America’s Civil Rights Movement

I still have a dream a dream deeply rooted in the American dream – on day this nation will rise up and live up to is creed, “We hold thee truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream … -- Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park & Preservation District

Atlanta played an important role in the American Civil Rights Movement as the birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today visitors can pay tribute to his legacy by visiting the neighbourhood where he was born and raised.  After our visit to the World of Coca-Cola, Carrie and I parted ways with Adrian and Kathleen for the afternoon with plans to meet up later for dinner at BrewDog Atlanta.  For some reason, they had zero interest in going.  I was adamant having been there once before as it not only holds historical significance, but it is also the top tourist attraction in Atlanta.  Unlike the World of Coca-Cola, I was unable to change their minds for the second time in a row today.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park & Preservation District Visitor Center

On the other hand, Carrie would be joining me.  As an Indigenous woman, I knew Carrie would appreciate some of the parallels between the American Civil Rights movement and the ongoing Indigenous Rights reconciliation across Canada.  We decided to walk to Sweet Auburn from Centennial Olympic Park as it’s a very short 30-minute journey over 2 Kilometers.  Along the way, Carrie started to see the stark contrast between the wealthy downtown core of Atlanta and poverty-stricken Sweet Auburn.  Her reactions were nearly identical to mine when I took this walk fifteen years earlier.  But it’s important to take this walk because once you arrive in Sweet Auburn, you develop a greater appreciation for how the American Civil Rights Movement came about. 

Birth Home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sweet Auburn had long been a self-contained community in the days before desegregation where African Americans could go about their daily lives free from racial harassment.  Here they established their own churches, banks, businesses, and homes.  The Sweet Auburn Walk is an official marker located at 33° 45.336’ N, 84° 22.445’ W at the intersection of Auburn Avenue and Jackson Street.  It is a map highlighting key buildings within the Sweet Auburn business district that is bordered by Jackson Street on the east and Courtland Street on the west.  The main points of interest are the Martin Luther King Jr. Visitor Center, Ebenezer Church, Dr. King’s birth home, and the tombs of Dr. King and his wife, Loretta. 

The Eternal Flame at the King Center

The Visitor Center was our first stop as it has a lot of information about Dr. King’s life and his contributions to the American Civil Rights Movement.  I especially enjoyed reading about the influence Dr. King had on President Jimmy Carter even though the two were not personal friends.  Following King’s 1968 assassination, Carter pushed through racial integration policies as Governor of Georgia in the early 1970s when the idea was still highly opposed.  And as President of the United States during the late 1970s, Carter pushed for more low-income housing, improve education access to underserved communities, appointed a record number of Black judges and officials, and was the first President to publicly endorse a national holiday honouring Dr. King.  It was President Carter’s deeply held belief that the American government had a moral obligation to lead by example in providing basic civil rights to all its citizens before they could hold oppressive regimes to accountability around the world. 

The final resting place of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Coretta Scott-King 

After spending a good hour or two in the Visitor Center, we continued our self-guided walking tour of Sweet Auburn by making our way to Dr. King’s Birth House.  Along the way, Carrie was shocked to see the dilapidated row houses we walked past.  When she asked me who lived here, I said it was predominately African Americans.  She was flabbergasted as these houses reminded her a lot of what she saw growing up within an Indigenous community, except these row houses were a lot worse for wear.  That was an eye opener for me because that comment only further intensified the social inequalities we saw before us. 

We finally arrived at Dr. King’s birth house, but it was closed for renovation.  From there, we made our way over to his tomb to pay our respects.  Along the way, Carrie reminded me it was Juneteenth – a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery.  Another comment that caught me off guard and humbled me for a few moments.  What were the chances that we would visit a key part of the American Civil Rights Movement on a day that celebrated the end of slavery in the United States following the American Civil War?  The timing of our visit was impeccable.  I couldn’t have planned for a better day to return to Sweet Auburn.