Black-owned businesses are keeping Atlanta trailblazer Lottie Watkins' legacy alive. They just have one request.

In southwest Atlanta, Black-owned businesses are keeping the history of their neighborhoods alive – and it all starts with a cup of coffee.

A simple request

Connected to Cafe Bartique is The Ke'nekt Cooperative, founded by Kiyomi Rollins, a longtime Westview resident. The space, which hosts a coffee shop, is located inside an old mechanic shop.

The shop describes itself online as a "Black liberated third space where the community gathers to exchange ideas." People can gather to work and share ideas, symbolic of other places like churches, barbershops and corner stores where Black culture flourishes.

"It is literally rooted in the history of third spaces in communities that are historically under-resourced, underserved, or Black legacy neighborhoods," Rollins said. "When you look at the bedrock of the civil rights movement, people met, gathered, talked innovative ideas in spaces such as the Ke'nekt." 

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