The Guild

Last year, the Atlanta After Property cohort visited sites around Atlanta, including the Municipal Market in Sweet Auburn, Bellwood Quarry in Grove Park, and The Guild’s community-owned properties in Capitol View. Along the way, participants learned about the history of each site and attended panel discussions with local changemakers like Nigerian sculptor artist Olu Amoda, Beltline visionary Ryan Gravel, and artist Kimberly Binns of the Praise House Project.

Their visit culminated with the studio’s third volume, an exploration of how we can separate urban design and architecture from property’s capitalistic value based in power and ownership. Participants envisioned a metro Atlanta based in collective stewardship and care.

Led by architect Emanuel Admassu () and based at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (), Atlanta After Property, seeks to separate urban design from the historical commitment to building borders, by redefining traditional backyards, giving futures to neglected spaces, designing public transit that puts riders’ needs first, and much more. Dive into the full report at the link in our bio.

1. Sites included in Atlanta After Property’s tour⁠
2. Director of Development Antariksh Tandon details The Guild’s community-owned property frameworks⁠
3. Atlanta AfterProperty cohort visits the construction site on Dill Avenue⁠
4. Illustration of Tuxedo Park in Buckhead showing what it looks like when a backyard becomes serves to help a property function as its own city⁠
5. A reimagining of how we can use backyards for communal society⁠
6-11. Reimagining and remembering the Atlanta University Center’s “Fire Commons,” neglected historic residential buildings damaged by multiple fires⁠
12. Current MARTA transportation methods and routes⁠
13. Public transportation designed for underrepresented riders

So honored to have ’s help in beautifying ’s space with a stunning mural of Palestinian poet and professor . Organizers created the mobile, volunteer-run liberation library in honor of Alareer's life and legacy. In December 2023, an Israeli airstrike killed Alareer, 44, and his family members in Shajaiya, northern Gaza. Refaat Library has since held pop-ups and other events across the city, lending books about Palestinian history and liberation, Black liberation, global indigenous experiences, community healing, and more to children and adults. Read Alareer's 2011 poem “If I Must Die” below.

Repost from • • • Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to for inviting the Refaat Mobile Library collective to leave a stamp on the Multi-Use Radical People’s Hall, one of our favorite organizing homes in this city. The mural, painted in honor of the martyred Palestinian poet and professor (who said upon a 2015 visit to Atlanta that he’d fallen love with the pro-Palestine, demilitarize movement here) is a replica of our Krog Street Tunnel mural featuring Refaat’s poem, “If I Must Die.” Although short, the poem, originally written in 2011, served as Refaat’s will to the world, according to friend Yousef M. Aljamal. “It spoke of Refaat’s love for life—how we knew him very well—and that death would be imposed on him. In his death, Refaat wanted to bring about change, even after death, by saying, ‘let it bring hope.’”
“IF I MUST DIE”
BY REFAAT ALAREER
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze—
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself—
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale
Original Refaat illustration credit:

Photos for Social Change is a photovoice project featuring stills and narratives from Southwest Atlanta — Ashview Heights, Atlanta University Center, Capitol View, and the West End. For the past few months, residents and students have been documenting life in their neighborhoods on film. Along with taking photos, the documenters did workshops and had discussions about strength, weaknesses, and change in their neighborhoods. Come out and witness the culmination of their hard work at See Our Voices, a public exhibition, on Monday, Sept. 16 at .⁠

The education series wraps up TOMORROW Tuesday, August 6, at . Join us from 5:30-8pm as we walk through the details of the Community Stewardship Trust (CST), including how to sign up, the tiers of community investment, and how governance will work once the CST opens this fall. **This workshop is required for folks who want to be community investors when the CST opens this fall.**

The Guild’s CST model helps residents in Black and brown neighborhoods thrive and build power in place, shape their neighborhoods, and directly benefit from development. Currently, the CST holds three properties: 918 Dill Ave. and 890 Dill Ave. in Capitol View, and The MURPH in West End. There are six steps to the CST process:

1. Property identification: Community members identify abandoned commercial and mixed-use properties. Residents of Capitol View were trying to “buy back the block” and identified 918 Dill Ave. for the CST
2. Community design: Community members aid in property design, centering the needs
of those who will ultimately live in and co-own
CST properties.
3. Acquisition & development: The Guild handles permits and financing, completes construction or renovation of the property, and leases
4. Tenant move-in: Tenants pay rent to cover mortgages, repairs, and maintenance at their respective property.
5. Community investment: Community investors purchase shares for $10-$100+ per month.
6. Investor profit share: Extra cash goes back into community investors’ hands

After the workshop is over, it’s time to celebrate! All of our workshop attendees have worked so hard and dedicated their time to learning about our community-owned property initiatives. We want to celebrate YOU. Let us know you’re coming at http://bit.ly/solidaritysummer24, or hit the link in our bio.

Historically utilized in Black and indigenous communities, community land trusts (CLT) recognize housing as a human right. CLTs traditionally focus on permanently affordable home ownership but have been used more recently to acquire and preserve affordable rental properties.

CLTs are especially important in Atlanta, and Georgia as a whole, because tenants don’t have protections like rent control and just cause evictions, in which would prevent landlords from enacting absurd rent hikes and expelling tenants without lease violations. The People’s Community Land Trust (PCLT), a partnership with , , and , focuses on taking residential properties off the market to eliminate the financial pressure for housing to create profit.

On Saturday, August 3, from 11:30-2:30pm at , our team of facilitators — Monica Johnson (), Tim Franzen, Matthew N., David Ferris, Foluke Nunn (), and Avery Ebron (), will walk through the history of CLTs in the Black freedom struggle, how they manifest, and how you can support the PCLT right here in Atlanta.

MASKS REQUIRED. Lunch will be provided. Go to bit.ly/solidaritysummer2024, linked in our bio, to register.

We’re halfway through the workshop series! Good governance is the key to running any group or organization, and it’s especially important for running a fair, transparent, and participatory community stewardship project — and keeping the project aligned with its stated values. Governance guides the details of community stewardship, including property acquisition, finance management, and much more. Ultimately, governance practices shape how resources are distributed and used.

Join us at on Thursday, August 1, from 5:30-8pm, for The Guild’s next session on stewardship and governance. Been wondering what it means to go in on a property as a community? This workshop is for you! Facilitators and will teach exactly how community stewardship works, from what decisions need to be made, who makes them, and how we're governing the .

MASKS REQUIRED. Dinner will be provided at each session. Join the movement at the link in our bio or visit bit.ly/solidaritysummer2024.

The Guild is growing! We’re hiring an Operations Manager to facilitate daily operations, ensuring efficient and effective implementation of our programs and initiatives. In addition to project and financial management, the Operations Manager will support the development and property management of the and the . The salary range for this role is $67,000-$75,000/year.⁠
⁠
Employee benefits include:⁠
-Health insurance reimbursement⁠
-Paid parental leave⁠
-Unlimited paid time off⁠
-Professional development funding⁠
⁠
This role is based in Atlanta, GA. Remote candidates must live in Georgia and be available to commute to the metro-Atlanta area regularly. ⁠
⁠
Interested? Email your resumes and a brief cover letter as attachments to [email protected] and copy [email protected] using the subject “Application for Operations Manager Position.”

Applications will be accepted until Friday, August 23, 2024. The target start date for this role is mid-September 2024.

Full job description: https://www.theguild.community/careers/operationsmanager/

ldwiththeguild

The real estate industry as it is works as an “invisible hand” at the root of social inequality, influencing and sustaining issues like the housing crisis, overpolicing, lack of food access, the racial wealth gap, underfunded schools, and more. Through shared real estate, we can disrupt the cycle, make housing affordable in our neighborhoods, and put control in Black residents’ hands. Community land trust members and tenants can invest in property together and collectively benefit from the profits that corporate entities use to exploit Black communities.

This Saturday, July 27, from 11am-2:15pm, we’ll be diving into community investment and sharing what makes it the most viable option for creating a world that isn’t bound by the rules of capitalism. We’ll walk through different investment options, the financial practices that drive projects like the , and how to tell whether a real estate project is healthy.

Lunch will be provided. Come through! Link in bio for tickets, or go to bit.ly/solidaritysummer2024.

Since 2020, The Guild has been laying the groundwork for a local solidarity economy through building community-owned models of land, housing, and real estate. As Atlanta’s first opens for community investment this fall, we’re hosting — a series of workshops to prepare residents to join this movement of community ownership.

Each session includes lunch or dinner. Here’s a snapshot of what to expect:
✊🏾Intro to the Solidarity Economy: Ever joined a susu or joined with others to make a bulk-priced purchase? You’ve participated in the . Learn more about how to put values of democracy, mutual aid, and community ownership into practice.

🏗️Community-Owned Real Estate Development: Atlanta isn’t a majority-Black city anymore. Learn how community ownership can give power back to Black residents and build community wealth.

💵Finance & Community Investment: What are the benefits, limitations, and potential returns of various investment options like stocks, REITS and the Stewardship Trust? Get a clear idea of how to put your money where your values are.

🤝🏾 Stewardship & Governance: We can build a new world, but how do we run it? Let’s talk about different governance models, including cooperative/community governance and how to overcome some of the challenges they present.

🏘️Intro to the People’s Community Land Trust: Land trusts emerged from the Civil Rights Movement as a direct response to housing and land discrimination. Learn how the land trust movement continues to ensure affordable housing opportunities in Atlanta and beyond.

🥳Joining the Community Stewardship Trust/Celebration: Walk through the process of becoming a Community Investor in the , learning what that means and what you get in return. Then let’s party!

Spaces for these in-person sessions are limited. RSVP and join us at the link in our bio or go to bit.ly/solidaritysummer2024.

We're opening Atlanta’s first Community Stewardship Trust (CST) this Fall — a way for residents in the SWATS to collectively own properties so residents can build power and take back control of our neighborhoods from corporations and predatory investors.

To grow this movement, we’re launching — a series of workshops to prepare residents to join with us, invest in the CST and live into a different way of relating to land, property and each other: the solidarity economy.

Join us for one, a few, or all the sessions to dig deeper and build the community ownership/stewardship movement in Atlanta.
_________

Spaces for these in-person sessions are limited, so RSVP and join us at: https://www.theguild.community/program/solidarityseries/

All sessions include lunch or dinner. Workshops are priced on a sliding scale; if you are in need of free admission reach out to us at [email protected].

====== Workshop Descriptions ======

✊🏿 Intro to the Solidarity Economy

Ever joined a susu or joined with others to make a bulk-priced purchase? You've participated in the solidarity economy. Learn more about how to put values of democracy, mutual aid and community ownership into practice.

🏗 Community-Owned Real Estate Development

Atlanta isn't a majority-Black city anymore. Learn how community ownership can give power back to Black residents and keep legacy residents in their homes.

💵 Finance & Community Investment

What are the benefits, limitations and potential returns of various investment options like stocks, REITS and the Stewardship Trust? Get a clear idea of how to put your money where your values are.

🤝🏿 Stewardship & Governance

We can build a new world, but how do we run it? Let's talk about different governance models, including cooperative/community governance and how to overcome some of the challenges they present.

🏘 Intro to the People's Community Land Trust

Land trusts emerged from the Civil Rights Movement as a direct response to housing and land discrimination. Learn how the land trust movement continues to ensure affordable housing opportunities in Atlanta and beyond.

🎉 Joining the Community Stewardship Trust/Celebration

Are you still down? Walk through the process of becoming a Community Investor in the CST and understand what that means and what you get in return. Then let's party!

_____________
Spaces for these in-person sessions are limited, so RSVP and join us at: https://www.theguild.community/program/solidarityseries/

If you’re driving by our newest building on Dill Ave., do us a favor and scan that QR code. It’s an invitation to :

‼️ The real estate industry is stealing the land and legacies of Black and working-class people.

✊🏽 Our is an alternative real estate model to take back control of our neighborhoods, and build .

💌 DM us the word SIGNUP and we’ll DM you the sign-up form.

Congratulations to our Community Development Organizer ! She's got a freshly minted Masters in City Planning from Georgia Tech and she's joining the team full time! (And she celebrated a birthday last week!)

The practice of community development -- bringing community members together to make positive change -- is rooted in the Civil Rights movement and grassroots organizing. But it's since become industrialized, professionalized and taken out of reach for the people who should be at the forefront. Mary Jane has a deep background in both planning and community organizing, and comes to the role with heart and the technical knowledge to make a truly community-driven impact.

We're proud to call MJ a colleague and excited about growing together!

Check us out in this feature about communities taking control of development nationwide. Proud to be in this work with , and co.everything! ⁠
⁠
⁠
⁠

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/13/business/gentrifying-neighborhoods-community-coops.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk0.wmyA.lhxkGEAFEIuL&smid=url-share

The vibes are literally on deck this weekend at the block party! DJ is keeping us grooving while and keep us chewing! Come out to 890 Dill Ave. to kick back with us at the newest community-owned property in the !

RSVP: https://www.theguild.community/event/the-wayback-a-community-block-party/ ⁠
⁠

Another great tenant meeting with the ! Tenants mentioned appreciation for property improvements we’ve made and our responsiveness to their needs. CLTs create a vehicle to shift the dynamic from landlord and tenant to one of collective ownership and stewardship.

The tenants also called out what they see is an intentional strategy from public-private partnerships in the city to displace low-income Black residents from Vine City and English Avenue. And now they’re ready to organize with us to get more public dollars into permanently affordable housing ✊🏽

Have you RSVP'ed for The Wayback? 🏡🎉 We're throwing a spring block party to celebrate the neighborhood's beautiful past and the exciting future ahead that we’re building.⁠
⁠
Come join us for a day filled with great vibes, music, fun games (bring your kids too!), and mouthwatering free food and bevvies from and at 🌟 Don't miss out on this gathering that'll bring our neighborhood closer than ever before. See you there! ⁠
⁠
RSVP link is in the bio, or hit www.theguild.community/events⁠
⁠
#404