durham inc.
THE FUTURE OF BLACK BUSINESS IN DURHAM TRENDS OF GROWTH AND OPTIMISM AMID A CHANGING CITYSCAPE BY ORLANDO WATSON | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
here’s an exhibit at the entrance to the Tower at Mutual Plaza, a historic landmark and once the tallest building in Durham, that refuses to be ignored. A multimedia display chronicles Durham’s Black business community – one that developed and sustained both the nation’s largest and oldest Black-owned insurance company, North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance as well as the second-oldest Blackowned bank, Mechanics and Farmers Bank. Those two institutions set Durham apart from other cities with economic centers known as Black Wall Street and earned praise from both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois. When Du Bois visited in 1912, he noted that the Black community’s “social and economic development [was] perhaps more striking than that of any
86
|
durhammag.com
|
similar group in the nation.” There are other well-known Black Wall Streets – Tulsa, Oklahoma, comes to mind. But Durham has the unique distinction of its largest businesses – NC Mutual and M&F Bank – still present in the city nearly a century later. The credit belongs to ongoing community support for Black businesses coupled with the optimism and resilience of Durham’s striving Black entrepreneurs who would not be deterred despite the hostility of racism and tragedy of urban renewal projects in the 1960s, like N.C. Hwy. 147, which displaced more than 4,000 households and 500 businesses. I also toured Provident1898 – a coworking community and self-described “reimagination of one of Durham’s most historic landmark buildings, located beneath the corporate lobby of the Tower. My guide was Justin Minott, founder of Nolia Coffee, now Nolia Market. “Alone, you
december 2021 / january 2022
can go fast; together, we go far,” he said while reflecting on the legacy of Black Wall Street. “We have not quite tapped back into the power of togetherness, the power of proximity and the power of collisions that happen when we’re in similar spaces,” Minott said. “This place, especially here in the historic North Carolina Mutual building, has the potential to be that for people.” Provident1898 hosts an event series to build community among the multiracial alliance of businesses and business-support organizations operating within its doors. Memorabilia and signage of businesses from a bygone era are sprinkled throughout the coworking hub and serve as portals to Durham’s past.
Utopia Spa & Global Wellness’ Naya Powell, and Beyu Caffé’s Dorian Bolden at an American Underground happy hour with other entrepreneurs.
An art exhibit featuring Claire Alexandre’s “Of Soil and Sky,” co-organized by Provident1898 and 21c Museum Hotel, graces the walls, wrapping passersby in an embrace. Provident1898, like the Tower lobby exhibit, shares the stories of Black businesses in Durham – both past and present – and invites people to contribute to its next chapter.