African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties

Durham and Orange Counties have vibrant and active African American communities. Throughout the region's unjust past, generations have shown extraordinary strength and resolve. Floyd McKissick became the first African American student at the University of North Carolina School of Law after Thurgood Marshall argued for his admittance in court. The struggle for civil rights in Durham shaped the poetry of Jaki Shelton Green, one of the state's most esteemed wordsmiths. More recently, local leaders