Madison Crenshaw

Buckhead for Black Lives

“It was a very large group of friends who just really wanted to make a difference,” explains Madison Crenshaw, one of the leaders of Buckhead for Black Lives, a movement founded by recent high school graduates and college students in Atlanta after George Floyd’s death. A few text messages about how they could respond to police violence turned into a few social media posts promoting a demonstration, which turned into 2,000 people showing up to march to the Governor’s Mansion.

Joe Biden turning Georgia blue a few months later emphasized what Buckhead for Black Lives and similar protest movements can accomplish. “It was an eye-opener, because it can be hard to fathom how events can really impact people and drive them to go out and vote,” Crenshaw says. “That’s what we saw with the social unrest in the summer. People want to see change on the legislative level that helps communities of color.”

Crenshaw says Buckhead for Black Lives is now raising awareness for the Senate runoff races in Georgia, and that the group will work to hold the Biden administration accountable. “I think a lot of the time young people are not looked to as leaders,” Crenshaw says. “This really taught me that we can speak up, use our voice, and make a difference.”