Atlanta City Councilmember Antonio Brown recently introduced residents to his vision of Atlanta in his newest mayoral campaign video.
The 3-minute video from Brown’s campaign website features scenes of the citynd excerpts from former Mayor Maynard Jackson’s speech on Atlanta’s inner city neighborhoods.
Brown is shown lauding Atlanta as the “birthplace of the Civil Rights movement,” and “a city that rose from the ashes to build a vibrant and diversified economy.”
“But in the Black mecca of the South, a city ‘too busy to hate,’ there’s a socioeconomic pandemic that has ravaged our city for decades,” Brown said, seen dressed in a black campaign hoodie as he sat in front of a dilapidated building.
Brown faces several challengers in the Nov. 2 race, including two fellow council members, Dentons attorney Sharon Gay, and Former Mayor Kasim Reed. Brown entered the race after Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms opted out of a reelection bid.
The video juxtaposes TV reports of homicides with Brown walking through parts of Atlanta filled with debris before he mourns “the endless cycle of crime.”
In May, his 2016 Mercedes was stolen after four people took off in his car while he was speaking to a business owner. Brown said the four “kids” need rehabilitation and he does not plan to press charges against them if they’re found.
In the video, Brown said he wants to support the city’s middle-class; the impoverished; and “the rest of Atlanta.”
“Unless we do something drastically different, our future will be filled with the same struggles of the past,” Brown said.
“As a councilmember, I fought for living wage jobs, access to affordable housing, food insecurity, and an equitable and just public safety system.”
Brown used the video to acknowledge his own struggles with poverty as his parents moved “in and out of prison.” He said “faith and determination” helped him to create a luxury shoe company before he was elected to council in 2019.
If elected, Brown said he will work with everyone to create “an inclusive ecosystem” that provides quality jobs and safe communities citywide. His full platform, which also focuses on business support and reforming city services, is on his website.
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