New Hope AME Church in Buckhead is bringing back its annual programming of Jazz on The Green Saturday, September 17th at 6PM. The concert is open to music lovers, bring your chairs and appetite. New Hope AME will offer the best barbecue and fried fish for your enjoyment. This annual fundraiser was paused during the Pandemic, but the music is back, featuring Akira Renae, Everard Harris, and Dianna Wilson. They will honor Chef G. Garvin and Poet Hank Steward. I speak with Pastor David F. Richards III about his church and Jazz on The Green.
Richards shares that the church is on the site of an 1850s campground where the enslaved, indentured, and freemen of color came for praise and worship. In 1869 a landowner named Smith purchased the 4 acres of land so that the people who worked in the neighborhood would have a place to worship. 2 acres housed a church and a school. The other two acres were for a cemetery. They have found over 600 graves and identified close to 300 plots. Richards declares that New Hope AME Church is one of the oldest churches in Buckhead.
I ask Richards about Jazz on the Green. He shares that this is an event for the entire family. The event is high energy and diverse. Neighbors in the mansions surrounding the church will also pull up a chair. Richards is proud of the fact that Jazz on The Green transcends many of the false barriers that keep people from coming together.
Richards also speaks about the food. There will be chef-prepared meals featuring barbecue and fried fish. Jazz on the Green is taking place this evening, Saturday, September 17th, at 6PM at New Hope AME Church 3012 Arden Road Atlanta. You can call 404. 261-4393 for more information.
For more information on New Hope AME Church in Buckhead