Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Walton Team Wecycle.
Shawn, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a native Atlantan with a great heart for the city, and it’s faith as a social and economic driver and influencer of the world. I’ve been actively involved in the development and advancement of communities of color since the age of 14. My greatest inspiration to wanting to advocate for the conditions of African Americans came during my visit to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the featured site of Bloody Sunday. A site that serves as a checkmark towards our march for freedom. This field trip with my 10th grade social studies class lead to me joining the Dekalb Youth NAACP, to immediately begin working on voters registration and the removal of confederate flags on state buildings.
Social Activism to advance African American communities continued as an extracurricular activity throughout college where my activism ultimately lead me to a crossroads about how I will best serve my community: on the front lines or as an institution builder; or both. The front lines of Occupy Wall St., Troy Davis Rallies, and Black Lives Matter Protest left me traumatized and often time confronting law enforcement in ways that were often unsafe. More than outside forces, these times had me confront myself and others on the front lines too, suffering from trauma. The rigmarole of community development is just as emotionally taxing as well. I find myself smiling at this erroneous intersection because at least I’m on a bike, in a community. A community that has so much potential. I get to be at this intersection, often riding with my neighbors and learning how to make way for us all through an activity centered around joy.
Wecycle Atlanta has been the vehicle that allows me to enjoy a bike ride on the front lines that leads to visualizing the institutions and assets that are key parts of healing and developing African American communities. Realizing that Wecycle Atlanta is limited as more of a programmatic solution to community development, I’ve created The West Atlanta Youth LLC, a.k.a. The W.A.Y. as community development and property management entity; that coordinates assets in African American Communities toward more meaningful solutions that stabilize, stimulates, and sustain their ecosystems. We are currently focused on connecting the dots to create a food system in West Atlanta, that has been tangible for years. This is being done with an eager group of millennials that share the same passion for creating the next generation of economically stable and socially equitable communities.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to creating sustainable communities has been trying and full of conflict, but thankfully it conflicts that helps us grow. When we are confronted with problems or as problematic, we have to make the necessary adjustments; switch gears; tighten some things up, just so that you can continue on the path that passion has paved. Living up to potential and creating pureness around passion, is a personal struggle that often my authenticity and openness aids in understanding, and allows those close (and not) hold me accountable. These are just the internal struggles that I have to face before a completely uphill endeavor in community development. To pave away, not necessarily out of no way, but a way convoluted with misconfiguration assets throughout the community; but, assets none the lease. The road to birthing something new and/or becoming renewed requires struggle. To stay peaceful, and to keep my responses to faith-centered practices that involve how to handle adversity through patients and kindness, has given me hope in missing several potholes that lie ahead in creating a better community. More importantly, aiding in paving the way for the next generation to thrive in communities that we create through pressing through tough times.
Please tell us about your work.
I’m historically known for my work with Wecycle Atlanta Inc. We’ve specialized in getting families on bicycling and engaged in local farms and food systems. Our model has to get more Atlantan’s on W.H.E.E.L.S. (Worth Ethic, Health, Environment, Economics, Leadership, and Sustainability). On these wheels, we travel to black-owned businesses, and farms to support via financial and human capital. What set’s us apart from other bicycle organizations has always been our nativity to the environment. This nativity allots a deeper connection with the community we are seeking to aid in development. This nativity is also what makes developing these communities a top priority with The W.A.Y. Too often, youth and families that have participated in Wecycle Atlanta programming have been displaced from their homes in West Atlanta. With the W.A.Y., my team and I have been able to map resources that will ultimately allow constituents of West Atlanta to be stakeholders in the development of their communities, increasing their chances to stay and benefit from said developments.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Plans for the future include aiding West Atlanta’s Food System to come to complete fruition through The W.A.Y.’s “Every Body Eats” campaign, securing the infrastructure needed for the food system, and creating an economic driver through the food system to support families, S.T.E.A.M. centered education, and career paths for all. The biggest changes have come as it relates to my approach to sustainable communities. While once a devout believer in programming as a solution to community progress, I’ve realized without owned real estate, valiant efforts to create change can be interrupted by the displacement. Focusing on getting people the foods that we’ve grown, and aided grow over the past nine years is also a great focus moving forward. We will be utilizing bicycles, electric touring buses, and pedicabs to show people the budding food system in West Atlanta and how they can access it’s potential to nourish the communities in West Atlanta, and communities of color around the world.
Pricing:
- TED X Morehouse 2020 – $25
- Hello Spring Ride 2020 – $25
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shawnwalton.com, https://tedxmorehousecollege.com/shawn-walton/
- Email: TheWayATL@gmail.com
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