My significant other (S.O. from here on out) took a trip to
Atlanta for New Year’s Eve and I got a chance to show him my old stomping
grounds at Spelman and around the Atlanta University Center. Wow. I
got really nostalgic for the days when Packard Hall was still a dorm (UM
PHIIII!) and I was just a curly-headed girl from Cali running around Atlanta
with the sorors, trying to figure out how the world worked. I’m pretty sure Pete Rock’s “Reminisce” was
playing in my head the whole time I was showing S.O. the campus and telling him
stories about freshman year ’96 (I still ain’t told him about Freaknik ’97). I travel back down South with some
regularity, but since moving to Dayton, my memories of living in Atlanta have
become much sweeter. Yes, there are
still things I hate about Atlanta—bougie negroes, the traffic, and the lack of
an identifiable soul or spirit (Yes, Atlanta, I know you were burned down in
the Civil War, but one would think you would have found your stride by
now). But there are definitely things I
miss. Like the nightlife, decent
weather, and the charm of southern folks (see, here in the Midwest we have all
of the racism of the south but none of the charm). I also miss HBCUs. Spelman, specifically. I miss the cafeteria that serves TWO kinds of
grits with every breakfast (I don’t even like grits. I just always liked that
they’re there). I miss R&B and Hip
Hop being played at every event (felt like a family reunion every Friday
afternoon at Market Fridays). And
perhaps most significantly, I miss being in a dynamic community of black women
who are on the verge of taking over the world.
I can recognize that my life in Atlanta was exceptional and
not the experience of most black folk. I
realize that Dayton is like Anytown, U.S.A. and truly represents what life is
like for the majority of Americans. I
can even admit that my experience here in Dayton has been humbling and
eye-opening on many different levels.
But can’t I just reminisce sometimes about living in A
Different World?
