Atlanta, GA: Two Gentrifying Boutiques Vandalized on Thanksgiving

The following anonymous communique was sent to IGD and we republish it below. The actions were undertaken against gentrification, a process which is pushing out the homeless, poor, and working-class communities of color while making urban areas unaffordable and unlivable to the majority of the people whose labor keeps them humming. 

Last night, on the early morning of November 23, we vandalized the veneer of two boutiques on Memorial Drive in the Cabbagetown neighborhood of Atlanta. We used a fire extinguisher filled with white paint to completely cover the glass windows of Sock Fancy (a designer sock company, complete with a sock vending machine), and Brother Moto (a specialty coffee shop, designer clothing boutique, and faux motorcycle co-operative.) Like many Atlanta neighborhoods, Cabbagetown was once a working class neighborhood comprised predominantly of workers from the old Cotton Mill, which has been transformed into expensive condominiums. On Memorial Drive, abandoned factories once decorated with iconic graffiti have been torn down and luxury condos and Sprouts (a “green” grocery store chain) are being built to replace them.

We used simple means to accomplish our task and we hope to see more free actions taken against gentrification and capitalist developments. We hope to continue cultivating a clear sense of possibilities in our neighborhoods and in our lives, to know what streets are unlit at night, which yards have fences, who will not snitch, and how far we can free ourselves from the soulless rhythms of the American way of life.

Greetings to the Olympia Stand and everyone living the good life.