The Atlanta University Center represents one of the greatest concentrations of historically Black higher education in America, bringing institutions such as Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta together within a landscape that helped shape generations of Black leadership. Don't just drive past and say: “Those are the HBCUs.” Get out. Walk.

Because you're standing inside one of the most important concentrations of Black educational power anywhere in America. Spelman. Morehouse. Clark Atlanta. Morris Brown. The history of Atlanta University. And the broader institutions and communities surrounding them. Think about the generations who came through here.

Teachers. Doctors. Artists. Writers. Business leaders. Ministers. Activists. Politicians. Civil Rights leaders. And generations of Black students who arrived in Atlanta believing education could change not only their lives but Black America itself. Giants have walked these steps. W. E. B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Alice Walker, Pearl Cleage, and so many more.

The AUC also became an important center of student Civil Rights activism. Atlanta's sit-in movement drew heavily from students at these institutions, connecting the intellectual life inside the classroom with direct action outside of it. That's what we want travelers to feel. You're not touring three attractive college campuses. You're walking through an engine of Black America.

And if you've never visited an HBCU before, this is one hell of an introduction.