Bankhead (Atlanta)

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Bankhead is on the west side of Atlanta, Georgia. It's surrounded by Grove Park on the west, West End on the south, Vine City on the east with Berkely Park and Home Park on the north. At its center is MARTA's Bankhead station and Maddox Park. The schools that serve the neighborhood are Grove Park Elementary, A.D. Williams Elementary School, Basoline E. Usher Elementary School, Carter G. Woodson Elementary School, Alfred Blalock Elementary School, Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr. Honors Preparatory School, Harper-Archer Middle School, and Douglass High School.

In 1953 white residents near Bankhead Avenue protested two black families moving into the neighborhood, and police patrols were called in.

Rap stars such as T.I., Young Dro, P$C, Dem Franchize Boyz, Bohagon, D4L and Citty have lived there. Monica, an R&B singer has also lived there. Dem Franchize Boyz' recent hit music video, "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It," is set in Bankhead Plaza. In addition, T.I., P$C, and Young Dro recorded a song entitled 'Bankhead' on T.I.'s album, King. Bankhead has also become the home of popular hip-hop dances such as the "Shoulder Lean," the "Poole Palace," and the popular favorite, "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It."

Its name comes from Bankhead Highway (which has recently been changed to Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway), whose route passes through the neighborhood. The neighborhood gave rise to the Bankhead Bounce, a type of urban dance and later a song (by Diamond in 1995) about it.

Some revitalization has begun in the area with projects such as the English Avenue Yards, which houses an artist community consisting of approximately 20 studio spaces, the workshop for the Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta Ballet and Atlanta Opera. In addition new lofts are scheduled to be built by Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy and Oliver Street, as well as a new Shell gas station that is currently under construction across the street.

The Bankhead neighborhood has also been the location of one movie shoot in September 2006. One Missed Call (a remake of a Japanese horror movie to be released in 2007) was partially filmed at the abandoned school building by Donald Lee Hollowell Pkwy and English Ave.

The most distinguished of all Bankhead alumni, T.I., is known to frequenetly praise the neighborhood in which he was raised. One particular ode, Bankhead, on his "King" album is all about the trials and tribulations one experiences in said neighbrhood.