BLK South

BLK South Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from BLK South, Nonprofit Organization, 600 Park Offices Drive Suite 300, Durham, NC.

BLK South seeks the development, vibrancy, and well-being of underserved, underdeveloped historic African American neighborhoods in the South through community development projects.

09/03/2026

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

In When History Rhymes, BLK South co-founder Kendall Dooley reflects on the courage required to recognize the patterns echoing from our past, name harmful rhythms in the present, and imagine new rhythms that can lead us toward healing.

This semester, our weekly reflections will explore aphorisms, quotations, and proverbs that have shaped and stayed with us. You’ll hear from BLK South board members and members of our broader community as they reflect on the words that inform their lives, faith, and work.

Subscribe to the BLK South newsletter so you don’t miss a reflection—and join us as we listen for the wisdom carried through words, history, and community.

🔗 Subscribe at blksouth.org or use the link in bio.

07/29/2026

This clip comes from Musical Holdouts (1975), a documentary that explores communities across the United States whose musical traditions endured despite the pressures of mass media and cultural assimilation.

One of the film's most powerful segments takes us to the South Carolina Sea Islands, where African American children carry on generations of songs, games, and oral traditions rooted in the Gullah-Geechee experience. The film reminds us that culture isn't only preserved in museums or archives—it lives in neighborhoods, on front porches, in churches, and in the everyday practices of ordinary people.

At BLK South, we believe these kinds of stories matter because they remind us that Southern Black communities have always possessed rich cultural knowledge and wisdom. Community development isn't just about building new things—it's also about protecting and nurturing the traditions that have sustained people for generations.

Thank you to Dime Store Radio for sharing this remarkable documentary. We encourage you to visit their page and watch the full film.

💬 What traditions from your family or community do you hope future generations never lose?

03/14/2026

John Perkins taught a generation of leaders that real community change begins with living there -- people choosing to love a place and the people in it.

For decades, Perkins called folks to move toward neighborhoods that had been overlooked—to listen, to build relationships, and to invest in the flourishing of the community.

His vision helped shape what became the movement and continues to influence work happening in neighborhoods across the country.

At BLK South, we’re grateful for elders like Perkins who showed that faithful presence, local leadership, and long-term commitment can help communities grow stronger for generations.

02/17/2026

Rev. Jesse Jackson (1941-2026) was a Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and political leader who became a prominent national figure in the movement for racial and economic justice. A close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and later founded Operation PUSH and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, advocating for economic empowerment, voter registration, and equal opportunity.

His life and leadership helped reshape American political imagination, widening the table and insisting that those long pushed to the margins belonged at the center of the national story.

02/03/2026

📚✨ It’s Book Club Night! ✨📚

Tonight, we gather around Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower—a story that reminds us that when the world refuses to imagine us, we must write ourselves in.

This virtual book club is a space to read together, think together, and tell the truth about the world we’re living in—and the ones we’re trying to build.

Although spots are full, you can still sign up for a potential opening or follow along on the Fable app at your own pace!

See you tonight!

🎥:

01/30/2026

On this national day of protest, “to be free” is a demand.

Nina Simone told the truth out loud, especially to and about the South. This song was written in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement, when freedom was painfully concrete: the right to live, to vote, to move, to breathe without fear.

For Southern Black communities, Nina gave language to what many felt but weren’t allowed to say. Her music carried grief, rage, tenderness, and hope all at once—church, protest, and prayer braided together.

Thank you for your life and legacy

01/20/2026

Let this song by aliahsheffield settle in as we prepare to read Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, February 3–March 3. Join us for weekly live online conversations, or read along through our Fable book club if you can’t make every session—or simply want space to process with others as you read.

Comment READ if you want to join, and we'll send you the link! 🙌🏾📚

This winter, we’re gathering folks across the South—and beyond—for a 5-week virtual book club reading Parable of the Sow...
01/16/2026

This winter, we’re gathering folks across the South—and beyond—for a 5-week virtual book club reading Parable of the Sower ✨

🗓 Tuesdays | 7:00–8:30 PM EST
📍 Zoom
📅 Feb. 3 – March 3

Set in a near-future America shaped by climate collapse and social fragmentation, Parable of the Sower follows Lauren Olamina, a young Black woman wrestling with survival, faith, and community in a breaking world. Through her vision of Earthseed—“God is Change”—Octavia Butler invites us to imagine new ways of living, believing, and belonging in the midst of upheaval. This is not an easy-hope story, but a deeply formative one.

Reading Schedule:
Week 1: Ch. 1–5
Week 2: Ch. 6–10
Week 3: Ch. 11–15
Week 4: Ch. 16–20
Week 5: Ch. 21–25

Important Note:
BLK South is Black-centered, not Black-autonomous. Our gatherings are rooted in Black history, experience, and ways of knowing, while remaining open to participants of all ethnicities who can enter with humility and care.

🔗 Sign up + book link in bio
📩 Zoom link sent a few days before we begin

12/11/2025

In the South, our people survived by staying human—by creating, laughing, improvising, and refusing to let the world steal our joy.

Black music was a lifeline. A way of remembering who we are and saying, “You will not crush the sacred in us.”

Born July 10, 1924, Major “Mule” Holley Jr. is a perfect example—turning a bass into a full conversation, letting his whole body speak, humming his soul into the strings. Creativity like this merged in a region where Black folks had to make their own freedom, sound by sound.

At BLK South, we honor this lineage.
We preserve it.
We build from it.

Because the South is sacred—not because of what was done to us, but because of what we created anyway. 🖤✨

_________

Here are three simple ways to support what we’re building in Durham and throughout the South:

1️⃣ Join our email list
Stay connected to reflections, neighborhood updates, and upcoming events.

2️⃣ Join our support team
Make a one-time or monthly donation to sustain our neighborhood programs, youth work, and community development efforts.
(Link in bio)

3️⃣ Share this post
Like, link, repost, or send it to someone who needs to hear it — it truly helps our work reach farther.

Address

600 Park Offices Drive Suite 300
Durham, NC
27709

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+14807798665

Website

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