Blog
A collection of weekly reflections written by BLK South community and board members.
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There Are Children on Grant Street Again
There are children on Grant Street again! In Durham’s Historic Hayti neighborhood, a new generation is discovering what it means to belong to a community shaped by generations of Black history, faith, resilience, and love. As my sister and her family make Grant Street their home, I reflect on the sacred gift of intergenerational relationships, the wisdom of our elders, and what it means for children to be woven into a neighborhood’s living legacy. Perhaps the future of our historic Black neighborhoods is not only found in what we rebuild, but in the stories, relationships, and traditions we pass down.
How a Neighborhood Conversation Led to the New York Times
What began as a conversation after a neighborhood meeting became an unexpected partnership between the Grant Street Community and Duke University's Edible Atlas Lab—and just four months later, that collaboration was featured in The New York Times. This is the story behind the headlines, and why our neighbors' decades-long vision for a grocery store in the historic Hayti District remains at the center of it all.
National attention was never the goal. Our hope is that this moment helps amplify what residents have been advocating for all along: healthy food access, equitable investment, and a future shaped by the people who have faithfully called Hayti home for generations.