Reel Durham is a human-centered series that tells the story of our city through the voices of its people.
[Writer, videographer, interviewer, editor]
The Largest Forced Labor Camp in the State
The picture that most people probably get in their minds when you say ‘enslaved person’ is a field worker somewhere being beaten by an overseer,” says Beverly McNeill, president of the Historic Stagville Foundation. “And yet in North Carolina there [was] a fairly large community of very, very skilled artisans that most people probably don’t know anything about.”
Read more: https://www.wearestorydriven.com/historic-stagville/
Recalling Tragedy
“But they knew in their gut I think that it couldn’t go back to being the same. That it was one of those continental divide moments. Before and after were inseparable.” Jeremy Kumin, a Duke alumnus and longtime Durham resident, reflects on his experiences on and following September 11, 2001.
Read more: https://www.wearestorydriven.com/remembering-911/
Community Against Hate
On the morning of August 18, 2017, residents of Durham, NC, received reports of a Ku Klux Klan rally at the Durham County Courthouse to occur at noon that day. Multiple groups within Durham responded by organizing counter-protests at the same location. This video shows some of the people, messages, and sentiments of that counter protest
Read more: https://www.wearestorydriven.com/building-block-identity/
A Family of Mavericks
Activism runs in the McKissick family. Charmaine and her siblings were among the first African Americans to desegregate Durham's public schools, following their father's legacy as the first African American admitted to the UNC School of Law, and their grandfather's service in the first African-American artillery unit.
Read more: https://www.wearestorydriven.com/dr-mac/
Retracing History
Joe Liles has charted Native American footpaths crisscrossing the Research Triangle for more than a decade. This Reel Durham episode follows Joe and his trail partner, Ken Hermey, as they identify pioneer wagon trails, old homesites, and river crossings along the Eno River.
Read more: https://www.wearestorydriven.com/triangle-trails/
A Healing Ritual
Brett Chambers has hosted an interactive open mic every Wednesday in Durham, North Carolina for more than 25 years. Cracking jokes, improvising, working the crowd — he creates a healing space for musicians and audience members to support each other.
Read more: https://www.wearestorydriven.com/bretts-open-mic/