Spaceships on Auburn: A ThrdSpace Salon

364 Auburn Avenue Northeast,Atlanta GA 30312

13 June, 2021

Description

ThrdSpace is kicking off our summer salon series with Spaceships on Auburn: Radical Black Imagination in Community Building As we begin inching back into the world following quarantine, how do we build back stronger communities and more fulfilled lives? In response to this question, ThrdSpace is hosting three salons that invite participants to explore how we (re)build culturally relevant, intellectually stimulating, and environmentally sustainable communities? We have found that the answers to these questions may very well be hidden in the past. Our first salon, Spaceships on Auburn, brings together an interdisciplinary group of urban planners and science fiction writers to discuss the concept of world-building and its relationship to developing culturally relevant communities of the future. Event Highlights: Exhibit of architectural renderingsA book fair of black science fiction authorsA conversation about the future of Auburn Avenue as we know it with Milton J. Davis, Chenee Joseph, and Clint Fluker ThrdSpace Reading Room, a curated space that highlights relevant books, readings, and ephemeraChenee Joseph is the Executive Director of the Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC). In this role, she is responsible for leading HDDC’s real estate development strategy, leveraging resources to drive affordable housing development, commercial real estate acquisition and development, and build partnerships within the wider community. She works closely with the Board of Directors to set and execute the strategic direction and fundraising efforts for the organization. Joseph joined HDDC in 2018 with the goal of continuing its legacy of equitable redevelopment in the Sweet Auburn district and beyond. Clint Fluker is the Curator of African American Collections at Emory University (Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library). He designs cutting edge approaches to higher education in areas of research, publishing, and pedagogy. Clint develops programming and manages projects to highlight scholarly work that utilizes art and digital platforms. Clint received his Ph.D. in American Studies at Emory University’s Institute for Liberal Arts, with a research focus on contemporary movements in black speculative fiction. He is also a graduate of the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2017. Milton J. Davis is an award winning Black Speculative fiction writer and owner of MVmedia, LLC, a small publishing company specializing in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Sword and Soul. MVmedia's mission is to provide speculative fiction books that represent people of color in a positive manner. *Image courtesy of Milton J. Davis from his book Dark Universe: The Bright Empire