On the banks where Peachtree Creek flows into the Chattahoochee River stands Atlanta, state capital of Georgia and largest city in the Southeast. Founded in the early 19th century, Atlanta was a small town with less than 10,000 people, known for being a major railway terminus in the Southeast. This made it an important logistic hub during the Civil War, until general Sherman burnt the entire city down during his March to the Sea. But like the Phoenix reborn from its ashes, the people of Atlanta rebuilt the city during the Reconstruction, and the population skyrocketed as a consequence.

Today Atlanta is a vibrant city with a large economy, hosting the headquarters of companies such as Coca Cola and Delta Air Lines, but beneath the façade lie simmering racial issues, with over 40 percent of the city population black and living under Jim Crow. Despite this, the black community of Atlanta has always strived to carve its own place in the city, by starting their own businesses; teaching in their own colleges; and campaigning against segregation. One black man in particular stands out in the fight for civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr., an Atlanta native who has brought the issues that black Americans face on a nationwide scale. Atlanta is in many ways a mirror of the South, a place of genuine Southern hospitality afflicted by racism, but it is also the only place where real change feels possible, and all its black citizens hope that one day they can claim the city as their own.