The Alarm “A Black Mecca takes care of its own, irrespective of outside involvement.”— Rev. Tarzene Livingston Atlanta risks losing its claim to that title if it continues to overlook the real infrastructure holding its Black communities together. Small Black businesses—97 percent of all Black firms, generating $10.4 billion annually—and small Black churches, with hundreds of congregations contributing an estimated $1.5 to $1.7 million each in local economic activity per year, are not side...

Fifty years ago, Atlanta and cities across the nation made bold promises to bring Black businesses into the mainstream of economic life. Mayor Maynard Jackson in the 1970s pushed for equity in contracting, opening long-closed doors. Congressman Parren Mitchell fought at the federal level to establish minority business set-asides and legal protections. Both men made history, yet half a century later, Black entrepreneurs are still fighting many of the same battles. Despite Atlanta’s reputation...

Executive Summary Atlanta’s Black community commands between $70–85 billion in annual spending power , yet most of those dollars leak out of the local economy—captured by corporations that spend over $3.5 billion each year  to attract Black consumers while reinvesting little back into the community.   The 5% Solution , a key component of the original CitiWorks  framework, presents a tangible strategy to reverse this trend. By redirecting just 5% of the existing Black consumer spending...