What I do at Capital B Atlanta
I’m Capital B Atlanta’s community engagement editor, which means it’s my job to know the word on the street. Consider me your direct link to our newsroom. If there’s something happening in your neighborhood that you think isn’t getting enough attention, or if you want to help us decide what stories to tell, join our team of community ambassadors. Feel free to say hi if you see me out at a community meeting, farmers market, or elsewhere!
Why I came to Capital B Atlanta
It seems so natural to have a robust media outlet centering Black folks in Atlanta, yet the resources needed to create one have been missing in Atlanta for a very long time. The summer of 2020 was a pivotal moment for many of us. I realized that the value alignment I sought from my work was unlikely to exist in a space that didn’t center Black people and our reality in this country. As a writer and editor at Creative Loafing, I sought out stories almost exclusively about people of color. Through the About South podcast, I unlearned my own misgivings about what it means to be “from the South,” especially Atlanta. In my previous role at CARE USA, a social justice nonprofit, I came to understand the weight of the choices I made with other people’s stories. It became evident that my purpose right now is to support and uplift Black people, especially the most marginalized among us. Ultimately, I came to Capital B because, in the immortal words of Issa Rae, I’m rooting for everybody Black.
What I love most about Atlanta
It might sound tired, but I love Atlanta’s Blackness! I’ll never forget the moment in my early 20s when I learned that the US is only 13 percent Black. I looked around like, “Thirteen percent where?!” Plus, when you’re Black and you’re from here, you have unexpected connections to famous Black folks: Donald Glover and I went to the same elementary school and rapper OG Maco dated my college roommate.
What makes me happy
I love TV like Oprah Winfrey loves bread. (I also love bread.) I’m always rewatching a show I’ve seen a thousand times, taking my time with something new to me, and frantically trying to keep up with seasonal programming, especially Bravo’s.
The song I’m listening to on repeat right now
“Looking Up” by Paramore
My favorite Black storytellers/creators
Television producer and writer Yvette Lee Bowser has been making magic my entire life. My favorite projects of hers could begin and end with Living Single, but Lee Bowser also wrote, created, and/or produced other contemporary classics such as Half & Half, Happily Divorced, The Exes, and Dear White People. I live for the jokes and the characters of the Lee Bowser universe. They’re the antidote to bad days.
Where you can find me
Twitter – @joadanso
Email – adjoa.danso@adjoadanso
