As he packs up his floor mats and gymnastics equipment, James Jones is stressed.
Since 2019, Jones has been inviting Black boys in Georgia’s Clayton County to join his James Jones Gymnastics Academy, an operation he primarily runs solo.
Now, the gymnastics coach is searching for answers as the lease for his current Metro Atlanta gym expires this week. Some of the boys he currently trains have outgrown the current space, a former office within a shopping plaza.
“The ceiling is only 13 feet high. And so when we first came here, the boys were small. These boys are teenagers, and most of them are almost 6 feet,” Jones, who also works as an attorney, says as he packs up his things. “They’re literally kicking the ceiling.”
Stringent zoning restrictions are preventing him from moving elsewhere within the county, he explains.
