ATLANTA — Beacon Hill was once a thriving Black community—home to families, churches, and Black-owned businesses. Wanda Sims Watters, who grew up in the neighborhood with her seven siblings, recalls a time of connection and community. 

 “Very thriving, very much so,” Watters said. “We had businesses—we had our own grocery stores, our cafes, our cab companies, funeral homes, about six churches in the Beacon Hill area.”

Beacon Hill, also known as “the Bottom” because of its low-lying land, eventually became desirable for development, and Black families were forced out and subjected to redlining, intimidation, and even threats of violence.

Watters remembers being in second or third grade when her family was told to stay indoors one weekend because a Ku Klux Klan rally was coming through. 

“It was very frightening. At that age, I didn’t know a lot about the KKK, but I knew enough to be afraid,” Watters said.

Today, Beacon Hill’s story is at the center of a local effort to heal the community. A reparations task force  has been established to explore how displaced families can be compensated for what they lost.

“We need to dig deeper and stop sanitizing the history,” said Rhana Wheeler, a professor at Oglethorpe University. “It’s going to be hard to hear and hard to grapple with, but if we don’t tell the truth, we’ll keep repeating it.”

Wheeler acknowledges not all municipalities may be able to offer direct compensation, but she said exploring all options is essential.

Watters now serves on the task force and looks forward to healing the community.

“It’s a great feeling to contribute,” she said. “Back then, we didn’t know how much we were being mistreated—or how much that mistreatment would cost later. Like generational wealth or like the property where my parents lived, and the small amount we got when we were told to move, that they paid us wasn’t enough to do anything for but today’s time, and we don’t own it.”

 The task force will provide yearly updates and hopes to complete its work within three years.