Public Hearing: YES ☐ NO ☒ Department: Board of Commissioners - District 2
SUBJECT:
Title
Commission District(s): Districts 2 and 6
Appropriation of $5,000 from the 2023 Reserves for Appropriation for District 2 to Support the Education and Honoring of the Community’s Historical Resilience at the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights Concert for Decatur’s Bicentennial Celebration.
Body
Information Contact: Commissioner Michelle Long Spears
Phone Number: 404-371-2863
PURPOSE:
To appropriate $5,000 from the 2023 Reserves for Appropriation for District 2 to Support the Education and Honoring of the Community’s Historical Resilience at the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights Concert for Decatur’s Bicentennial Celebration.
NEED/IMPACT:
The Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights Concert for Decatur’s Bicentennial Celebration offers an opportunity to both educate attendees on the history of Beacon Hill and to recognize, celebrate, and “welcome home” former residents referred to as the “Beacon Elders.” This appropriation will support a match request from District 6.
The Beacon Hill Concert Series started last year and is hosted in the greenspace that sits at the site of the historic Beacon School/Trinity High School, the Black schools during segregation and the heart of the once thriving Beacon Hill neighborhood; a Black community of homes, businesses, and churches within Decatur, before it was also assumed and destroyed under the guise of urban renewal in the 1950s and 60s. This year’s event is a symbolic part of the Decatur’s Bicentennial Celebration, driven by purpose, while aligning with multiple aspects of Decatur’s Strategic Plan. It is also very significant to African Americans throughout DeKalb County.
Connecting generations through the power of music, this concert event aims to bridge history and provide context for the experience of residents, business owners, community organizers and change makers who survived enslavement, emancipation, the Jim Crow era, and gentrification. Throughout this brutal history, generational cycles have been and continue to be woven into the fabric of community that makes Decatur the city that it is today.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Increase appropriations for the following account by the amount indicated below:
Non-Departmental - Unincorporated Fund - Transfer to Grant Fund (09130.611250.272.0000.0000) $5,000.00
Decrease appropriations for the following account by the amount indicated below:
Non-Departmental - Unincorporated Fund - Reserve for Appropriation (09130.579002.272.0000.0000) $5,000.00
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommended Action
To approve the appropriation of $5,000 from the 2023 Reserve for Appropriations for District 2 to Legacy Decatur and authorize the Chief Executive Officer to execute all the necessary documents/contracts appropriate for this award.