Back in February 2018, YHC and the PAX honored Jackie, Walt and Wilt as part of Black History Month. In thinking about a remix of that routine, one idea that emerged for 2019 was a focus on Bull City’s Black entrepreneurs – past and present: what if we took a tour of a few downtown Durham businesses that highlight our city’s vibrant cultural diversity? That was the working theme this past Thursday morning at the Bullpen.

WARM-UP
Seal Jacks x 20 IC
Windmills x 10 IC
WMH x 10 IC
Smurf Jacks x 20 IC
Partner up with one PAX grabbing a cinder block and the other two bricks…mosey.

THE TOUR
Saltbox, 608 N Mangum Street – Celebrated Chef Ricky Moore started this restaurant in 2012 and has since expanded to a 2nd location on Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. as well as a food truck. Fresh-caught NC fish every Tue-Sat starting at 11a. Get there early (as we did)!
7 years x 3 locations later = 21
Partner 1: 21 IC Curls with Cinder Blocks
Partner 2: 21 IC Dips with Bricks on Benches
Flapjack

Black Wall Street, West Parrish Street – In the 1800s, a four-block stretch of West Parrish Street was dubbed Black Wall Street, led by businesses like Mechanics and Farmers Bank and North Carolina Mutual. John Merrick and Charles Spaulding were the boundary-breaking founders. Spaulding was known in his time as one of the leading Black entrepreneurs not just in Durham, across the U.S.
Partner 1: Lunges half block with bricks held out to side
Partner 2: Drama Walks half block with cinder blocks overhead
Flapjack

Beyu Caffe, 341 West Main Street – Founder Dorian Bolden graduated from Duke in the early 2000s and made his way to New York City…but Dorian experienced a significant loss and a low point in his life that led him to follow a call — to create a diverse community space where people could just be themselves and connect with one another. That dream became the first seeds planted of what would become Beyu in 2004. Recently, Dorian expanded to Duke’s campus and word on the street is he’s creating a new music venue soon. Read Dorian’s full story here.
15 years of pursuing a dream…
Partner 1: 15 OYO “Beyurpees” IC (burpees with bricks)
Partner 2: AMRAP Plank Jacks on the Cinder Blocks
Flapjack

Carolina Theatre, 309 West Morgan St – Go early for a show and check out the third floor to see a visual history of how Carolina Theatre played a role in the history of segregation moving toward integration in Durham.
Partner 1: Step Ups x 20 IC
Partner 2: Jump Ups x 20 IC
Flapjack

Lenny Mojo Hand G – If you’ve ever been to the Durham Farmer’s Market on a Saturday morning, you’ve no doubt heard the funky sounds coming from the guitar of Lenny Mojo Hand G right in front of Vega Metals and across from the food trucks.
Partner 1: AMRAP Goblet Squat with Cinder Block
Partner 2: Smurf Jacks with Brick x 15 IC
Flapjack

Ran out of time, but wanted to catch:
Dame’s “Almost Famous” Chicken & Waffles, Moving from Main Street to the Corner of Foster and Corporation – We ran out of time, but one final stop would have been Dame’s. Founded by Damion “Dame” Moore, you haven’t had breakfast in Durham unless you’ve had some schmear and (in their own words) “smack yo’ Mama good!” fried chicken.

MARY
Long mosey 4 blocks + uphill to put the bricks and blocks away

ANNOUNCEMENTS / PRAYER
The Bull! (in October)
Weenie Roast is being sent (in Durham) to launch a new house church – he asked for prayer in their discernment with regard to that next step
Two Face had a baby. Prayers for sleep and good health for all.

COTS
It might seem strange to have this white guy talking about Black history month. In fact, it might make some folks a bit uncomfortable. Our culture is so divided over race and ethnicity and it makes me particularly dismayed because it hits close to home – literally.

You see, my M is from Haiti. She immigrated here when she was 6. Her family had limited opportunity on the island of Hispaniola, so they moved to America. Here they’ve built a better life while serving as soldiers in the Army and the Marines, helping neighbors in need as nurses and in law enforcement, building businesses as entrepreneurs and much more.

But they experience ways of being in our country that I never will, and I believe that the key to overcoming our contentious cultural divides is through education and empathy. If we can see a bit of ourselves in others, we become connected. And in that connection, we play a part in putting together that more perfect union.

So that’s my SOTU for you this week. And my appeal: find one thing you can do to expose yourself or your family to Black history this month. You’ll be blessed by it — and we’ll all become a bit better for it. Aye!