Celebrate Black History and Heritage in NC with Tours, Museums and Food

The Southside neighborhood of this mountain city was once home to a thriving district of Black-owned businesses called The Block. It’s blossoming once again with new establishments, art and cuisine.

The area south of Pack Square, known as The Block, was the central district to hundreds of Black-owned businesses from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries.

Today, the neighborhood is experiencing a resurgence thanks to local businesses like Hood Tours, a walking and driving tour company run by DeWayne Barton, who is passionate about sharing the stories of Black Asheville. One stop on the tour is the YMI Cultural Center. Originally the Young Men’s Institute and the crown jewel of The Block, YMI opened in 1893 (during the Jim Crow era) as a safe space for Black men, with a library, gym and a variety of classes. Now, YMI hosts cultural events and art exhibits and resides next to Noir Collective AVL, a boutique shop and gallery showcasing Black artists.

Durham’s Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice is more than a building. It’s a portal into the creative force and boundary-busting tenacity of a revolutionary who changed history. The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray was an Episcopal priest, writer, LGBTQ+ figure and human rights activist. Murray also became the first Black person to receive a doctorate of the science of law from Yale Law School in 1965.

Aya Shabu, founder of Whistle Stop Tours, says standing on the front lawn of Murray’s childhood home marks one of her favorite experiences in Durham. “History will touch each of us differently according to our own pasts, identities, wounds and dreams,” she says. As an artist and city tour guide, Shabu paints a vivid picture of Black heritage, using history as her brush. “Architecture, music, monuments, narratives, food and culture are revealed as living and sacred,” she says.

Shabu’s guests encounter the past through song, dramatic storytelling and other performances. They leave knowing intimate details about Murray’s Grandma Cornelia; Stephen Slade, the innovator of Durham’s bright leaf tobacco; and other locals. The priority for Shabu is bridging the past and present via engagement. “Tourgoers are actively in their bodies,” Shabu says, “performing ritual, creating human sculptures to make sense of information, and moving with a call to action from the start of the tour.”

Located in the former FW Woolworth store, this is where four NC A&T State University freshmen sat at the “whites only” lunch counter in 1960 as a means of nonviolent protest against segregation. Take a tour to view photography, artifacts and interactive galleries that explore how the sit-in sparked an entire desegregation movement.

Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

Dedicated to Charlotte’s first Black mayor, the Gantt Center celebrates excellence in the arts, culture and history of people of African descent. Encounter quilt designs from the Underground Railroad era; an array of rotating exhibits; and engaging music, dance and theatrical performances.