Freedom, Georgia!

A city founded by Black families. 19 Black families want to incorporate an American city of the 97 acres of land purchased in rural Georgia.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

A group of 19 Black families bought 97 acres in rural Wilkinson County, Georgia

They are trying to establish a "safe haven" community for Black families.

Real estate agent Ashley Scott says that history will be made in America. She surveys the nearly 97 acres of land she and a group of Black families bought in August.

"I'm hoping that it will be a thriving safe haven for people of color, for Black families in particular," said Scott to the local junk food media.

The land sits just east of Macon-Bibb County in a rural slab of Wilkinson County. Scott and her friend, investor and entrepreneur Renee Walters, didn't initially plan on buying a large plot of land, but they had a vision that was clear -- build a safe space for Black families.

"Being able to create a community that is thriving, that is safe, that has agriculture and commercial businesses that are supporting one another and that dollars circulating in our community, that is our vision."

They created this community in the wake of the Ahmaud Arbery shooting. They felt a need to build a community that treats everyone with the same respect.

"Watching our people protesting in the streets, while it is important, and I want people to stay out in the streets, bringing attention to the injustices of Black people. We needed to create a space and a place where we could be a village, a tribe, again," said Scott.

Two women got their family and friends to purchase land to create their own city.

The two women launched an initiative that would create a new city founded by Black families.

"We both have Black husbands. We both have Black sons. And I was starting to get overwhelmed and have a sense of anxiety when my husband will leave the house and go to work," said Walters. "So, it was like, OK, what can we do? And once I saw the post of Toomsboro going viral, about a town being on sale, I was like, 'Oh, this is perfect.'"

Scott and Walters reached to family and friends to see who might be interested in joining their effort.

Together, they created the Freedom Georgia Initiative to spearhead the purchase. They hope to incorporate the land they bought into a new city, called Freedom, Georgia.