Food, faith, and the everyday struggle for black urban community

Black churches have received little attention in geographic scholarship. This article employs archival and textual research, extensive participant observation, and semi-structured open-ended interviews with volunteers to examine the day-to-day actions and overall goals of a historically prominent black Protestant church in Atlanta, GA, USA. Specifically, the volunteer-run emergency food program is understood as a black geography riddled with contradictions that reveal the complexity of black people more broadly. ‘Emergency soul food’ is an imperfect yet complicated short-term solution for those coming in to be served. Outside of the food program, volunteers’ hopes and dreams for Auburn Avenue are based on a romantic remembrance of the neighborhood. Ultimately, their prescriptions for the future are a mixture of black socially conservative values and visions to create an alternative black geography with affordable housing for all.