as i sat at my desk today, i could hear crowds start to gather for the MLK Day parade/march/rally.

every year since the mid 80’s - since before it became a national holiday - there has been a parade/march/rally on MLK Day in atlanta. it starts downtown, on peachtree street, with a few marching bands and some black fraternities. as it moves through the city, winding up at the king center, groups & organizations file in from the sidewalk. by the time it gets to its destination, there are a lot of people and it’s kind of crunk - a peaceful crunk, but crunk nonetheless. when i was a tween, my family would go to the final leg of the parade and watch. i learned the word “redbone” at an MLK Day parade; some male spectators were good and drunk by the time a dance team sauntered by and they yelled, “what’s good, redbone?” i looked at my father. “light skinned,” he said with a shrug and a chuckle.

my current office is a block from the start of the parade route, so it doesn’t last very long. it’s still nice to watch though, either from my window on the 22nd floor or from in front of my building. earlier i took a little break and went downstairs to get a snack & check things out. i ended up walking behind two white women, definitely from elsewhere, exiting the trade show at the merchandise mart. they were each pulling oversized purses on wheels and they were getting jostled a bit. suddenly they took in their surroundings; their eyes widened and one leaned in to the other, whispering frantically. i gotta be honest with you - it was pretty funny.

it reminded me of my friends who have relocated. they’ve all told me that when they tell someone that they’re from atlanta, they hear the same thing: “atlanta, huh?…a lot of black people there, huh?”

sure, atlanta is a spot of blue in a big red state, but the racial tension is still pretty high. i will say this for the (white)people of atlanta: they at least see black people. they interact with them every day. it’s damn near impossible not to in this city. i helped a white friend get a job here and while showing him around, i asked him if he was okay being around black people. he was, of course, and he maybe thought that i was crazy, but i told him, “look. there are a lot of black people in atlanta. and you may be okay with that in theory, but i’ve known some people who were not used to it and it freaked them out.” i just don’t want anyone to suddenly look up and find that they’ve wandered into an MLK Day parade and clutch their pearls.