As the fifth presidential debate gets underway in my hometown of Atlanta in about an hour, I just really need to take a minute to talk about the significance of this event happening at Tyler Perry Studios. 
A test of political imagination will play out in a most improbable setting that first required tremendous imagination from a black man who was homeless 30 years ago and is today worth $600 million. There is no more Atlanta story.
Like, I knew this wasn’t a small thing, but I didn’t realize what a huge deal it was until I was actually walking around tonight. The debate is being held on the Oprah Winfrey set. Let that sink in. 🤯
Most of the debates have been and will be held on college campuses. But to come to Atlanta — the Black Mecca, Black Hollywood — meant that this debate had to be different. It needed a setting worthy of this moment. Tyler Perry Studios is that setting.
Not being at all hyperbolic when i say the following: 2020 is a singular time in our democracy. This studio is a singular place in America. In Atlanta, a historic night has met a historic venue.
I got my start as a young journalist covering the city’s black electorate; Atlanta is a microcosm for a large swath of black voters: professional, middle class, politically engaged, and always with eye toward our cultural legacy.
The symbolism is so thick tonight, and what Atlanta represents for Black America also cannot be understated. With 100 days to go until South Carolina, black political and economic power are on display tonight.
Much is still unknown, but as we move closer as a nation to deciding next year’s Democratic nominee, the backdrop for tonight’s conversation highlights what’s at stake, who will decide and what is truly possible in this country.
