What is Black Atlanta known for?

Black Atlanta is known for its thriving Black culture, Black-owned businesses, historically Black colleges (HBCUs), Civil Rights history, world-class nightlife, music scene, and a booming Black entrepreneurship ecosystem. Atlanta is often called the 'Black Mecca' of America. BlackAtlanta.com is your guide to all of it.

What percentage of Atlanta is Black?

Approximately 51% of Atlanta's city population identifies as Black or African American, making it one of the most Black-majority major cities in the United States. The Atlanta metro area has the second largest Black population in the country.

What are the best Black Atlanta events this weekend?

BlackAtlanta.com is the #1 source for Black Atlanta events — from nightlife and day parties to brunch, networking, concerts, and rooftop events. Visit blackatlanta.com/Scene for the latest Black Atlanta events this weekend.

Where can I find Black-owned businesses in Atlanta?

BlackAtlanta.com hosts the largest directory of Black-owned businesses in Atlanta, GA — including restaurants, bars, salons, fitness studios, professional services, real estate, and more. Visit blackatlanta.com/Guide to browse the full directory.

What neighborhoods are popular in Black Atlanta?

Popular Black Atlanta neighborhoods include West End, East Atlanta, Cascade, South Fulton, Buckhead, Midtown, Downtown, Decatur, and Camp Creek. Each has a vibrant community of Black-owned businesses and cultural events.

The index

History & Civil LifeGlossary Term

The Atlanta Student Movement

The 1960 campaign of Atlanta University Center students — sit-ins, picketing, and marches — that forced the desegregation of downtown Atlanta's lunch counters and other facilities that had excluded Black residents.

Reviewed Oct 25, 2026By BlackAtlanta Editorial3 sources cited

What to take away

1Organizing began in early February 1960 among Atlanta University Center students at the site of the former Yates & Milton Drug Store, inspired by the Greensboro sit-in.
2Morehouse students Lonnie King, Julian Bond, and Joseph Pierce were among the original organizers.
3The first Atlanta sit-ins came on March 15, 1960, organized in part by Spelman students Ruby Doris Smith and Gwen Isles, with more than two hundred students participating.
4The campaign produced the desegregation of public and private facilities that had denied service or access to people of color.

How it started

In early February 1960, Morehouse College students Lonnie King, Julian Bond, and Joseph Pierce met at the site of the former Yates & Milton Drug Store, an informal gathering place for students of the Atlanta University Center. They were inspired by the student sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and laid the groundwork for what became a defining phase of the civil rights movement.

What they did

On March 15, 1960, Spelman students Ruby Doris Smith and Gwen Isles, along with Julian Bond and other students, organized the first sit-ins, and more than two hundred students took part. The campaign grew into sustained marches, picketing, and sit-ins across the city.

What changed

The pressure worked. The campaign resulted in the desegregation of public and private facilities that had denied service or access to people of color — and it forced Atlanta to live up to its own slogan, "a city too busy to hate."

Why it matters here

The student movement turned the Atlanta University Center into a political engine. The students who organized it did not leave after graduation — many stayed and ran the city, which is a large part of why Atlanta's Black political class arrived when it did.

Where this still needs work

Dates here come from the city's own history page and the SNCC Digital Gateway. Add a contemporaneous newspaper or archive citation before publishing an hour-by-hour account of any specific action.

Sources

1
Atlanta Student Movement
City of Atlanta (AtlantaGa.gov)
2
Atlanta Student Movement
SNCC Digital Gateway
3
Students and Strategy
Atlanta History Center · secondary source

Reviewed Oct 25, 2026 · BlackAtlanta Editorial

Something here is wrong, out of date, or missing a source? An editor checks every correction.

Keep going

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Faith & CommunityInstitution

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History & Civil LifeGlossary Term

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NeighborhoodsNeighborhood

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