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with the Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning office. While I was there, I gained perspective about municipal government processes, community outreach and urban design in a way that no college course could provide. In college, we did a case study on the effects of Interstate 81 being built through the heart of Syracuse's black community and how that created concentrated minority poverty. When I learned that Interstate 75 did the same thing to Pleasant Hill, I realized that I, as a black man, need to be in the planning field to make a difference in my community in a way outside of marching and protesting. Tell us about your activities in the community, especially what you are most excited about. Recently, I have been working on rehabilitating Greenwood Bottom, a historically black community in downtown Macon. In order to build up this community, you have to have a catalyst. In my opinion, economic catalysts are the most sustainable models for community building. Last summer, I was awarded a $5,000 grant for the Emerging City Champions program to start a food truck park in the Greenwood Bottom area. We have also installed a Black Lives Matter mural in the area and have been awarded $18,000 through the Downtown Challenge Grant. With the additional funding, $3,000 will go toward setting up a neighborhood association for Greenwood Bottom and $15,000 will go toward erecting a mural on the oldest operating business in Greenwood, which is Harrell and Son's Barbershop. As you look to the future, what are your professional and personal goals? In 2020, I created my own business so I can serve as an example of the entrepreneurial spirit I want to encourage among young people in the area. I eventually want my business, the Geneva Company LLC, to acquire property in historically black neighborhoods across America and revitalize these communities through social entrepreneurialism. Greenwood Bottom was an economic hub of black Macon prior to integration. I am excited to see Daude Harrell and Brandon Harris, who were raised in Harrell and Son's Barbershop, buying and renovating spaces in the area to create opportunities for small businesses. As I learn from them, I hope to grow my business to follow in their footsteps. What are you personally committed to accomplishing in Macon and why? I am dedicated to seeing Greenwood Bottom restored to its glory because Macon needs to learn to love black history and black people. The Greenwood Bottom movement is about empowering the community. Appreciating black history means appreciating a broader narrative of events and expanding the scope of understanding. All people should be able to appreciate black history and culture. It is our shared story here in Macon. I am committed to teaching the community about our local black history that is less well known. Right now, what is the best thing going on in Macon? The best thing going on in Macon is the renewed investment in downtown by people of diverse backgrounds. When people see diverse businesses coming to downtown, the stability of the community is stronger. To reference my environmental background, diversity in ecological terms increases the resiliency of a population. We need diversity to ensure resiliency and attain stability. What have you learned about yourself or people during 2020? 2020 was the year of the pivot. This year showed us that remaining nimble is most important in these times. Policing has to change, personal protection equipment is now a wardrobe accessory, and our economy is more unpredictable than Macon weather. Remaining nimble and shifting with the times is key following this global reset. We have to reevaluate how we rebuild our sense of community following the pandemic and an open-air food truck park was an idea that came out of this situation we find ourselves in. What needs to change to encourage continued progress in our city? I would love to see CEOs, government leaders and community leaders step away from their desks and get up close to the communities they serve or to the demographics they hope to reach. The average person will not go to most public meetings, so leaders hosting these meetings cannot effectively lead using the same tactics. Being on the ground in plain clothes makes you relatable and personable, and that is what this city needs most. People need people, so remaining humble and not leading with social status or position is what will help our city prosper. What would be a missed opportunity in Macon? We are missing an opportunity now by not recognizing the black history that black intellects from Macon have contributed to our country. Henry McNeal Turner was the first black post master, the first black chaplain in the United States Colored Troop and a Ga. House of Representatives member who took over 500 African-Americans back to Africa after the reconstruction era when Jim Crow laws were enacted. John Oliver Killens was nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes and co-founded the Harlem Writers Guild, which helped organize black writers like Maya Angelou to use their voices to support various civil rights and liberation movements. William S. Scarborough was the first African-American member of the Modern Language Association, which created the MLA format we use for research papers. What do you consider your greatest achievement? My greatest achievement was losing an election. I learned so much about myself in that moment because less than a month after the election I won the ECC grant that got me back in the community and forced me to set up my business. The process was the achievement, because of the growth that came from defeat. I learned that the position does not make the person, and meaningful work happens in the trenches. 38 maconmagazine.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021