This case study highlights work from those who participated in our Healing our Highways program, an initiative that aims to inspire creative ideas and activities to build knowledge, connections, and power within disadvantaged communities most harmed by transportation systems and climate change. Buford Highway is a dangerous seven-lane corridor lacking pedestrian safety features, resulting in numerous fatalities. The Buford Highway People’s Hub are tackling these inequities through the Healing Our Highways project. They combined youth education with a photowalk to empower the community to document life along the corridor.
Background
Atlanta and its surrounding communities have been deeply impacted by decades of infrastructure decisions based in racism, and Doraville is no exception. Located northeast of Atlanta, Doraville’s population of nearly 11,000 is diverse, largely made up of immigrant families from across the globe, and has a rich cultural fabric as a result. The community is situated along Buford Highway, a corridor that is home to the highest concentration of foreign-born residents in the country. Despite being heavily trafficked by pedestrians, Buford Highway’s seven lanes are extremely dangerous. With few sidewalks and no median, Buford Highway has been the epicenter of an alarming number of pedestrian fatalities.
The Buford Highway People’s Hub sought to address the inequities experienced by those living along the corridor, bringing community members together to learn and capture life along Buford Highway through photography. Their Healing Our Highways project consisted of two main parts: youth education in collaboration with Escuelitas, an established bilingual education program, and a photowalk that drew from the work of local artist Victoria Garcia to allow community members to document their community with their unique perspectives.
Taking Action
While the Buford Highway People’s Hub has already been working to highlight the inequities faced by communities along the corridor, the education provided through the Healing Our Highways program about leveraging data, climate, and transportation equipped the team with knowledge and framing that allowed them to more effectively connect the issues faced by their community as infrastructure-related. The team also found the connections they forged with other like-minded artists extremely valuable.
“We had a group of between 12 and 15 people, and I had shared with them the Dangerous by Design report. Those who are familiar with Buford Highway totally understood. So I think people felt very motivated, which I was excited about.” -Victoria Garcia, Photographer & Organizer
The funding and support provided by the Healing Our Highways program allowed the Buford Highway Peoples Hub to continue its ongoing work and to build more community interest in connecting with their shared spaces through art and mutual learning.