What is Durham’s brand?

We’ve called ourselves the City of Medicine, the Bull City, a tech hub, the foodiest town in the south! But none of these quite capture the essence of what’s happening here—and what has always happened here.

We are a city built on transformation. From tobacco warehouses to tech campuses. From factory floors to food halls. From mill towns to maker spaces. From movements for labor justice to movements for Black futures. Durham doesn’t sit still. It rethinks. It reworks. It remakes.

Reinvention is in our DNA.

In early 20th-century America, most pathways to business success for Black Americans were blocked by segregation, racism, and systemic denial of opportunity. The mainstream economy—especially in the South—was built on networks of generational wealth, nepotism, and exclusion. For Black entrepreneurs, there were no family fortunes, no “old boys’ clubs,” no easy loans from friendly banks.

But in Durham, something remarkable happened. On Parrish Street, Black visionaries didn’t just try to climb the ladder built by white America—they built their own. They created businesses not just for profit, but for community uplift, mutual support, and generational change.

North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company:
Founded in 1898, it became the largest Black-owned insurance company in the world. Its founders pooled resources, educated each other, and hired Black professionals at every level—creating a pipeline of opportunity that didn’t exist elsewhere.
Mechanics and Farmers Bank:
Provided loans and financial services to Black families and entrepreneurs who were denied by white-owned banks. It wasn’t just a bank; it was a cornerstone of economic self-determination.

The Spirit of Starting From Nothing

The Black Wall Street of Durham was not about reproducing white capitalism—it was about survival, dignity, and building something that could last. Every dollar earned and reinvested was a small act of resistance and hope. The businesses were often family-run, community-supported, and deeply invested in education, housing, and social progress.

Yes, these businesses operated in a capitalist system, but their goals were often broader:

Economic Independence: So Black families could own homes, educate their children, and weather hard times.
Community Wealth: Profits were often reinvested locally, supporting churches, schools, and civic organizations.
Role Models: Black business leaders became symbols of what was possible, inspiring the next generation.

The legacy of Black Wall Street is why Durham still feels different today. The city’s entrepreneurial spirit is rooted in the knowledge that sometimes you have to build your own table, not just ask for a seat at someone else’s.

The legacy of Black Wall Street lives on in every side hustle, every co-op, every creative reuse project, and every founder who starts with a dream and builds something real.

Many of the people and families moving here from Chicago or New York are fleeing incredibly high cost of living but looking for a reinvention. One that is close to nature, and close to a city but not too big of a city. A place where they can work remotely on their computer job to pay the bills and work in their shed refurbishing furniture.

The mayor is calling for a reimagining of Durham. I’m calling for a rebrand of Durham.

Let’s stop selling ourselves short with labels that don’t capture who we are. “The City of Medicine” tells one part of the story. It’s time we tell the whole thing.

From my point of view we are Durham: The City of Reinvention.