Our Story

Every decision we make is shaped by a clear sense of purpose. Through every step, we've focused on staying true to our values and making space for thoughtful, lasting work.

Hobson City Network is committed to preserving the history of American descendants of chattel slavery, and curricula, with the goal of empowering communities through education, historical engagement, social researchers, and collective action. By offering geographically rich programs, research-driven projects, and community-centered events, we aim to provide the intellectual tools necessary for mobilization, self actualization, and meaningful societal change.

Our goal is to host a platform in which opportunity, learning, and community all thrive together.

Our founder is a proud graduate of Shelton State Community College and Columbia University. More importantly, she is a proud native of Hobson City, Alabama, a community where she was born, raised, and surrounded by family, neighbors, and generations of shared history. With family on every street corner and deep roots throughout the town, Hobson City is not simply where she grew up; it is the community that shaped her values, aspirations, and commitment to service.

While attending Shelton State, she was selected to participate in Representative John Lewis’s Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative, a U.S. Department of State program that brings together emerging civic leaders from the United States and India to advance civil rights, social justice, and inclusion. Inspired by the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the program explored nonviolent approaches to addressing social challenges and building stronger communities. Participants spent two weeks traveling throughout the American South and two weeks in India studying leadership, civic engagement, and social change.

Following the program, participants were able to develop Civic Action Projects to address needs in their home countries. Inspired by her experience, she launched a third-grade summer literacy program for children across Calhoun County that combined reading enrichment with the history and stories of Hobson City. What began as a single summer initiative Hobson City Hands became Hobson City Network.

Today, Hobson City Network continues to provide educational and enrichment opportunities for youth while expanding its work into research, civic engagement, and historical preservation. Through academic articles and partnerships, community programming, and an ever growing archival project, we are committed to preserving the stories of historic Black towns and settlements across the South while investing in the next generation of leaders.

Our mission is simple: honor the past, serve the present, and help build a stronger future for our communities.

Hobson City, Alabama

Hobson City is one of the most historically significant Black American municipalities in these United States. Located in Calhoun County adjacent to Oxford and near Anniston, Alabama, it was incorporated in 1899 and is recognized as Alabama's first incorporated municipality governed entirely by Black Americans.

The community emerged during the post-Reconstruction era, when many Black Americans in Alabama, encouraged by Booker T. Washington’s ideology, sought opportunities for self-governance, landownership, and economic independence despite the growing restrictions of Jim Crow segregation. The town was originally known as Mooree Quarter and later became Hobson City, named in honor of Richmond Pearson Hobson, a naval hero and congressman from Alabama. Incorporation in 1899 gave Black residents a rare opportunity at the time to exercise local political authority, own and manage municipal institutions, and shape community development autonomously.

Hobson City and communities like it were created as places where Black Americans could build businesses, schools, churches, and civic institutions with greater insulation from white-supremacy than was available elsewhere under segregation.

Throughout the twentieth century, Hobson City established itself as a home to generations of families who contributed to the economic, cultural, educational, and political life of the region. Despite facing systemic discrimination, limited resources, and economic challenges, residents maintained a strong tradition of civic engagement and community pride; principles that continue today despite region and systemic neglect.

Hobson City, along with Tuskegee, Eatonville, Grambling, and Mound Bayou, is also a member of the Historic Black Towns and Settlements Alliance (HBTSA), a national network dedicated to preserving, protecting, and promoting historically Black towns, settlements, and communities throughout the United States. The Alliance works to support heritage preservation, economic development, historical research, tourism, and collaborative partnerships among these historically significant communities.

Make it stand out.

  • 2024 Hobson City Hands Program

  • A Children's Book from the Collection

  • 2025 Hobson City Hands Program

  • Donated Space in Hobson City, Alabama

  • 2025 Hobson City Hands Program

  • 2025 Hobson City Hands Program

  • Children's Books from the Collection

  • 2024 Hobson City Hands Program

  • 2024 Hobson City Hands Program

  • 2024 Hobson City Hands Program

Meet the Founder

Kaleah Bailey, AA, BA

Raised by Sharika Bailey McGrue and Gordon McGrue, both lifelong members of the Hobson City, Alabama community, the Ms. Bailey was instilled with a deep appreciation for service, family, and community from an early age. Her parents continue to make meaningful contributions to civic , economic, and community life in Hobson City, and their example helped shape her commitment to preserving and strengthening the places that shaped her. She is also the proud sister of a large and loving family and a devoted aunt to four nephews whom she cherishes like her own.

Her educational journey began at Oxford Elementary and High School before continuing to Shelton State Community College and later Columbia University, where she completed her undergraduate studies. Throughout her academic career, she has been driven by a desire to better understand the world and the systems that influence people's opportunities and lived outcomes.

Her scholarly interests focus on the intersections of law, race, history, political theory, and economic inequality. In particular, she is interested in examining how economic status, racial identity, and historical structures shape lived experiences across geographic location and specific societies. This intellectual curiosity has guided both her academic pursuits and her community work.

As the founder of Hobson City Network, she has worked to connect education, historical preservation, and civic engagement in ways that empower future generations while honoring the legacy of historically significant communities.

She plans to attend law school and continue developing her work as an advocate, scholar, and community leader. Through both her professional and academic pursuits, she remains committed to advancing justice, preserving history, and expanding opportunities for underserved communities.

While many scholars have influenced her, she notes Angela Davis, Kimberle Crenshaw, Robert C. Smith, Eric Foner, Kwame Ture, Huey P. Newton, W. E. B. Du Bois, Homer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Hobbes, Machiavelli, and John Rawls as some of her favorite contributors to academia.

Meet the Board of Directors

  • Jeslyne Kelley

    SOCIAL COORDINATOR

    Bio pending…

  • Kelika Bailey Emory

    DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS


    Kelika Emory is a dedicated community advocate, communications professional, and outreach leader committed to strengthening connections, expanding opportunities, and serving communities through meaningful engagement. She plays a vital role in promoting the organization’s mission, building community trust, and ensuring residents are knowledgable of valuable programs, resources, and opportunities. Her professional background in real estate and automotive sales has equipped her with exceptional communication, relationship-building, and public engagement skills that she applies to community development and outreach initiatives at Hobson City Network.

    Kelika is the mother of three sons: the late Austin Emory, Blake Emory, and Camden Emory.

  • Gordon R. McGrue

    DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

    Bio pending….

  • ZaKerria Hawkins

    DIRECTOR OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

    Bio pending…

  • Mayor Alberta McCrory

    GOVERNMENT LIAISON


    Mayor Alberta Cooley McCrory is a dedicated public servant and community leader who has served as Mayor of the Historic Town of Hobson City, Alabama, for more than two decades. As the leader of Alabama's first incorporated municipality governed by African Americans, she has championed infrastructure improvements, historic preservation, community development, and economic growth while working to preserve Hobson City's unique legacy and cultural heritage. In 2024, Mayor McCrory was recognized nationally with the National Mayor of the Year Award for her commitment and governmental efforts.