Black History Month 2024
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Black History Month Events Around Town
MARTA Celebrates Black History Month
Feb. 29, 3-6pm
Join MARTA at the College
Park station for a special Black History Month event featuring live painting by a local artist, MARTA trivia, giveaways, the MARTA Market, and custom Black History Month Breeze cards.
Location: College Park station
Atlantic Station: Black History Month Movie Series & Market
Feb. 8 & 22 at 7pm, FREE Film screenings
Feb. 17-18 & 24-25, Shop with Sistahs Market featuring Black women vendors
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: Arts Center station + Atlantic Station Shuttle
Fox Theatre: Hamilton
Now – Feb 25
This revolutionary musical made history by combining a searing score of hip hop, R&B, and soul tunes with a multi-racial cast to tell the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton.
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: North Avenue station
Children’s Museum of Atlanta: Celebrate Black
History Month
Now – Feb. 29
Highlighting African American leaders in science, art, and innovation with interactive story times, hands-on activities, and experiments. Tickets $19.95 or less.
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: Peachtree Center station
National Center for Civil and Human
Rights
Now – Feb. 29
Workshops, film screenings, guided tours, and exhibitions commemorating the Civil Rights movement. Tickets $19.99 or less.
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: Civic Center station, or North Ave station + Bus 51
Hammond House: The Fabric of Our
Lives Exhibition
Now – Apr. 14
An art exhibition that draws on themes of domestication and “domestic arts” to uplift and honor people of African descent. Tickets $10 or less.
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: West End station + Bus 58 or 71
Hartsfield Jackson Airport
Art: Good Trouble: A Tribute to
Congressman John Lewis
Ongoing
This installation includes artifacts, videos, and photos commemorating the life of John Lewis, the Civil Rights icon and American hero who served as a Georgia congressman for over 30 years.
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: Airport station
Madame CJ Walker Beauty
Shoppe Museum
Ongoing
A museum devoted to Madame Walker whose beauty products made her the first female self-made millionaire in America.
More Info >
Nearest MARTA stop: Peachtree Center station + Atlanta Streetcar, Edgewood Ave.
Sounds of the Movement
Tune into this curated Spotify playlist featuring music Black Atlanta artists, as well as Black artists from the 1950’s and 1960’s, the height of the Civil Rights era.
Spotify Playlist >
MARTA Black History Trivia
Test your MARTA knowledge!
MARTA History is Black History
MARTA is proud to recognize some of the historic, barrier-breaking Black employees that helped make Atlanta and our transit agency what it is today! Here are some of the transit trailblazers that helped pave the way:
- Fred Brown, Govan Emerson, Henry Lee Spearman (standing), and Albert McWilliams and Charlie Frank Reeves (sitting) were the first Black bus operators at MARTA.
- Gail Blackmon is a retired receptionist and secretary who was one of MARTA’s first Black employees.
- Morris J. Dillard, Sr. was Director of Community Relations and one of MARTA’s first Black Executives.
- Coy Dumas Jr. is MARTA’s longest-serving bus operator and retired in 2023 after 50 years of service.
- Charlie Frank Reeves was the first Black Bus Operator Supervisor at Atlanta Transit in 1963, which was acquired by MARTA in 1971.
Bus Program Celebrating Civil Rights Icons
Honoring Atlanta’s Civil Rights History
Throughout 2024, MARTA will celebrate Atlanta’s Civil Rights leaders and their role in our history with specially designed buses. The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King bus was officially unveiled at The King Center on Jan. 4 in advance of the King Holiday observance. Other Atlanta Civil Rights icons will be honored with special buses in 2024, including:
- Juanita Jones Abernathy, who served on the MARTA Board of Directors for more than 16 years, advocating for transit equality and helping shape the Authority’s goals, especially with respect to customer experience.
- Congressman John Lewis, one of the original Freedom Riders who fought to desegregate the interstate bus system, and who was a tireless advocate for MARTA because he understood the important role public transportation plays in providing opportunity for all.
- Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery who served on the MARTA Board of Directors for 24 years, four as Chairman. He was among the first Black board members and played a significant role in bringing life to MARTA’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, ensuring minority businesses had a chance to proposer from the region’s investment in transit. His wife, Evelyn Gibson Lowery was also a Civil Rights champion and Dr. Lowery’s partner through every part of the Movement, including on the historic Selma to Montogomery march in 1965.
- Ambassador Andrew Young, who was a strong supporter of MARTA throughout its early years. As a member of the House of Representatives, he helped win federal funding for MARTA and supported the system throughout his time as Mayor of Atlanta from 1982 to 1990.
Black-Owned Restaurants & Businesses
MARTA encourages you to support Black-owned businesses and restaurants in celebration of Black History Month and all year long! There are many amazing options across the metro region. But don’t take our word for it - here are some recommendations from others:
Bookmark this page and check back for more events!