The Second Great Migration of Blacks
from the south to the north, east coast and the midwest took place
between 1940 and 1970. Blacks were seeking WWII industrial jobs
during this era. The film industry took cues as well producing black
films with back drops such as Chicago, Harlem and New York.
Blaxploitation films began to emerge in 1971 and continued showing a
theme of Blacks in midwestern and east coast cities.
After 1945 soldiers returned home from
the war and in turn produced the baby boom. The GI bill passed
allowing for new educational opportunities and this in turn developed
the black middle class. A fair amount of children of this population
of baby boomers would go on to attend HBCU's that are primarily
located in the southern states. Around the 1980's a Black Reverse
Migration began where Black families in high volume returned to their
southern roots. With the advancement of education for Blacks and
development of industries in Atlanta specifically a birth of young
black professionals puts a spotlight on Atlanta.
Media and film often follows the cues
of politics and socio-economics, therefore directors, producers and
film companies alike started to see the benefit of having Atlanta
which is viewed as this urban, progressive city full of opportunities
for Black people as a backdrop for movies, television series and
award shows.
The 1996 hosting of the Olympics in
Atlanta brought a surplus of attention, focus and economic boom to
the city of Atlanta as well, adding to the buzz. It was all of sudden
was viewed as the place to be for any young Black, educated
professional. I myself, moved to Atlanta in 2001 with the hopes of
being a part of this progression of Black professionals excelling in
various industries. Whether we believe art imitates life or that life
imitates art, there some negative aspects to the relationship between
the way Atlanta is perceived and the unedited and sometimes grotesque
content of Atlanta based films, specifically reality shows.
Currently, if you talk to people about the idea of Atlanta, it is
often diluted by ideas of Blacks living above their means,
exaggerated caricatures of Black men and women and the pie in the sky
Hollywood aspirations of so many whom can't keep real jobs.
Hopefully Atlanta can continue to move forward with the rich legacy and history it has and better leverage the film and media industry to promote a much more positive and enlightened view of the city and its residents.
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