History is “the most potent cultural weapon in our final onslaught on inequality , ” Pauli Murray proclaimed in a 1957 speech at the Stanford L. Warren library in Durham. Learning African American histories was “ discovering the qualities of mind and spirit which had given us strength, endurance and dignity in spite of our slavery experience and in spite of continued humiliation—qualities and traditions which could be of value not only to ourselves and our children but to our fellow Americans.”
In the spirit of that final onslaught Murray envisioned, historic sites, like the Pauli Murray Center, where narratives that confront power are front and center, can sustain the momentum of the daily street protests and widespread calls to dismantle systemic racism across the globe. “[T]rue emancipation lies in the acceptance of the whole past ,” Murray shares in her 1956 book, Proud Shoes, and now is a time when we must face up to “ the degradation as well as the dignity of my ancestors.”
Pauli Murray and the West End neighborhood in which she grew up are cornerstones of this history despite being little recognized and now threatened with erasure. These impactful stories, like the ones shared at the Carroll Street Block Festival, represent the promise of Durham, the spirit of self-determination that the working-class African American residents of the West End so embodied.
Our street, Carroll Street, tells the whole story of this impending loss. Long-time homeowners are being besieged by eager developers to sell their property.
Recently constructed McMansions are beginning to tower over former mill houses, overshadowing efforts from affordable housing developers to maintain the architectural feel of the neighborhood and invite working-class families to keep calling the West End home. We cannot lose these neighbors and these stories.
Less than 2% of historic register sites in the US commemorate African American history. Even fewer elevate LGBTQ history. We need these anchors now more than ever. These are the places where we can dismantle the systemic miseducation of white supremacy. These are the places where we can celebrate the qualities of mind and spirit that sustained the activists on whose shoulders we now stand. These are the places where we need to educate ourselves and generations to come so that the Movement For All Black Lives grows stronger and stronger.