Strangers Clean Up CNN Center Atlanta Following Night of Out of Control Riots

Strangers show up to clean up CNN Center Atlanta after a nights of riots.

Strangers picked up glass and scrubbed graffiti at CNN Atlanta

The worst and best of Atlanta

CNN Center Atlanta has seen the worst and best of this city in a span of less than 20 hours.

People began to gather Friday afternoon in Downtown Atlanta protesting a number of police officer shootings including the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Things were peaceful for many hours.

They eventually got out of control. Someone set a police car on fire. Others smashed the windows of CNN Center and McCormick and Schmick’s restaurant.

Protests outside CNN Center Atlanta rage out of control. Credit: CNN.

Others with spray paint defaced the giant CNN landmark that has stood outside the building for decades.

When you really love a place

I watched from my home in Midtown Atlanta feeling sick to my stomach. It’s not about comparing what was happening to this building where I worked for 12 years to the tragedy of people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor losing their lives.

It’s an “AND.”

A giant AND.

What is happening across this country is terrible.

AND

CNN is an amazing place and all this beating up of “The Media” is exhausting.

AND

Atlanta is better than this.

Online sorrow

So many current and former CNN expressed their sorrow on social media platforms.

I woke up this morning knowing what I had to do.

I grabbed a mask, some gloves, trash bags, my favorite CNN hat and jumped on MARTA to head Downtown.

I had to help clean up.

What I came upon outside CNN was nothing short of incredible.

Strangers descend on CNN Center

Strangers with no connection to the company show up to help clean up CNN Center Atlanta after a night of riots.

There were all sorts of folks already there. They showed up with brooms, dust pans, cleaning solutions and got to work.

Folks of all colors and ages were working together to clean the place up.

Two strangers work together to clean out shards of glass from the landscaping outside CNN Center Atlanta.

I connected with a young woman named, Jo, who had a broom and a spare dust pan. She swept. I scooped.

She told me she came down because she wanted to be part of the solution.

My new friend, Jo. She did the sweeping. I scooped up using her dustpan.

Clearly, CNN executives had also already had some crews out to get to work.

The most welcome sight was the giant CNN logo scrubbed of most of the graffiti paint.

The giant CNN logo looking so much better than last night.

One couple showed up with a cooler and passed out free bottles cold water.

Employees from Chick Fil A passed out sandwiches to volunteers.

Yes, there are still some shattered windows.

Two women pick out shards of glass from the shattered windows of CNN Center Atlanta.

Still work to be done

There is much work to be done.

But this is what Atlanta is about.

As a long time member of “The Media,” a term I abhor, it just felt so good to see so much support and love from the community that is the birthplace of CNN.

This is not to suggest we do not have some big problems to address in our country.

Nor is it to suggest that CNN is perfect.

It was my professional home for 12 years.

I love and adore the dedicated journalists I worked with and who continue to work there today.

Thank you, Atlanta.

Life after CNN

Any interest in life after CNN? You might want to check out my latest book,

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