BlackAtlanta Reference
WHO TO
KNOW
The people building, feeding, teaching, defending, and running Black Atlanta — written up, checked against public sources, and never for sale. If someone deserves to be here, put them forward.
The profiles
5 PROFILES PUBLISHED
Andre Dickens
Mayor of Atlanta · City of Atlanta
Atlanta's mayor runs the largest budget in the city's history and sets the terms on housing, public safety, and the intown growth that decides who can afford to stay. Dickens holds that office during the decade when those decisions land.
Dr. Bernice A. King
CEO · The King Center
The King Center sits in Atlanta and answers a question the country argues about constantly: what the King legacy actually requires. Bernice King runs it, and her answer is a curriculum rather than a monument.
Tyler Perry
Founder · Tyler Perry Studios
Perry made ownership of production the strategy and did it in Atlanta. His studio is a major reason the city is a production base for Black film and television rather than only a place Black creators pass through.
Pinky Cole
Founder and CEO · Slutty Vegan
Cole built a Black-owned food brand in Atlanta that became a cultural phenomenon before it became a franchise — and then used the platform to hand ownership to other people.
Ryan Wilson
Co-founder and CEO · The Gathering Spot
The Gathering Spot gave Black professionals in Atlanta a private membership room of their own — the kind of infrastructure where deals, partnerships, and civic projects actually start.
The standard
HOW SOMEONE GETS IN
Documented work, not adjectives
We look for things that can be pointed at: businesses built, records released, institutions run, work published, neighbors served.
A real footprint in Black Atlanta
Influence here means influence here. Citywide reach is welcome, but the work has to touch Atlanta in a way a resident would recognize.
Never for sale
Profiles are editorial. There is no paid tier, no sponsored profile, and no way to buy your way into the index.
What will not get you in
- —Paying for placement — there is no paid profile option
- —Follower counts on their own, without documented work
- —Anyone who has not been told they are being put forward
- —Unverified claims we cannot check against a public source
Every profile shows where it came from and whether an editor verified it. Nominations are reviewed by a person, and we contact the nominee before anything is published.
KNOW SOMEONE THE CITY SHOULD KNOW?
Self-nominations are welcome. Tell us what they have built and where it can be checked.