However, Hobson saw another part of Atlanta during those years, too: blighted, struggling black communities left behind or left out of the city’s progress.  As a graduate student at the University of Alabama, he decided to focus his research on Atlanta. 

“It was a niche I understood, and I knew Atlanta was not what it seemed,” Hobson says. “ I acknowledge that Atlanta is a unique place for black people in America.  It represents the highest achievements of black people since the Civil War, but there are several black Atlantas, and people don’t want to admit that.  The city has done great things, but that’s not the only story.” 

Hobson coined the term “The Black New South,” a school of thought that focuses on the experiences of black people in a post-1965 South, challenging trends often overlooked by scholars.  His work provides a holistic perspective on the national and international implications of the region’s history, culture, education, politics, health disparities, religion and business. 

“No one’s really looked at how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped change the politics of the American South and how those changes have played out on the ground in different areas,” he says. 

Another of Hobson’s ideas, “the Olympification of a city,” explores the implications of franchising a city for big sporting events like the Super Bowl, Pan-Am Games or World Cup. 

“It’s about what cities do to market themselves for the world and asking who the real winners and losers in local communities are,” he says. 

Hobson has also done comparative studies between Atlanta’s Olympic experience and those of other cities, such as Athens, London, Melbourne, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City. 

“The things that happened to Atlanta’s black communities are relevant to the experiences of other Olympic cities,” he says. 

Providing a broad perspective on issues ranging from black political power to gentrification, Hobson was the chief historian for two recent documentaries. “ Maynard” details the life and legacy of Maynard Jackson, who was elected in 1973 as Atlanta’s first black mayor and the first black mayor in the Deep South, while Ken Burns’ “East Lake Film Project” explores the history of public housing with a focus on East Lake Meadows in Atlanta. 

Though critical of Jackson in his book “Legend of the Black Mecca,” Hobson says he deeply admires the mayor and his accomplishments that shaped the city, including curbing police brutality, expanding public transit and the airport, and helping to create a black merchant class through affirmative action programs that opened up contracts for black vendors. 

“In doing research around the city, you cannot speak ill of Maynard Jackson.  Even his harshest critics talk about how great he was,” Hobson says. “ A lot of things that keep Atlanta afloat as a very inclusive city still hinge on Maynard Jackson.” 

“Maynard” director Sam Pollard didn’t initially think he needed a historian but changed his mind after he interviewed Hobson. 

“I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed and charismatic he was on screen,” Pollard says. “ He provided wonderful context throughout the film that turned out to be very important.  Every time he came on the screen, I said to myself, ‘Man, was he the right choice.’  His ability to give us the history in a warm and personal way was fantastic.”