We know our CCI Fellows are amazing people, but it’s always great to see them making waves and being highlighted for their work. Alex Acosta (CCI Fellow 2017) and Max Blau (CCI Fellow 2019) are both bringing the community closer together during challenging times. Alex was a part of one of our very first Fellowship cohorts and we’re proud to have been a supporter of Soul Food Cypher since then. Max is a part of our most recent Fellowship cohort, where he launched the idea of Canopy Atlanta. We’re so proud of Max and Alex and the impact their work is making here in Atlanta.
Soul Food Cypher Featured in the AJC
Alex and Soul Food Cypher represent what it looks like when people in Atlanta build communities to support and love one another. Especially now, as social media “live events” add larger audiences in the place of in-person events, their community is only expanding.
In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, Alex explains,
"The cypher is about the power of speech and building a sense of community,” said Acosta. “We want to provide a space where people can speak into existence new opportunities for themselves.”
We featured Alex on our blog in 2017 where he shared how he found his passion for Hip-hop and realized the culture’s ability to unite people:
“One of the great things about my experience in Alpharetta was meeting two friends, Austin and Wahid, that introduced me to hip hop culture. I had seen hip hop; I heard about it, but I had not really experienced hip hop culture. Wahid is of Middle Eastern/Persian background, and Austin is Caucasian, but because of our shared appreciation of hip hop culture we came together as friends, and it was like we didn’t even see colors. And that’s when I really realized the power of hip hop culture.”
You can read the full AJC article highlighting Alex and Soul Food Cypher #dointhework, here.
For more info:
Visit Soul Food Cypher at www.soulfoodcypher.com and follow @soulfoodcypher on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Canopy Atlanta Launches Citizen Journalism
Max and his award-winning team are rebuilding journalism the right way: with people at the center of it. This week they launched Canopy Atlanta. Canopy has a bold goal to train and equip local journalists to tell original, unforgettable, and in-depth stories in collaboration with our region's overlooked communities.
According to a tweet from the organization, “In 2019, 15 local journalists gathered at a bar in Old Fourth Ward. We were frustrated about the declining state of Atlanta's journalism, even before the nation faced a pandemic and people protested over #AhmaudArbery, #GeorgeFloyd, and others. It was time for things to change.”
canopyatlanta.org
Each Canopy Atlanta issue will focus on a different neighborhood in metro Atlanta. Their first issue will focus on West End.
For more info:
Visit Canopy Atlanta at www.canopyatlanta.org and follow @canopyatlanta on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.