Booker T Washington referenced Durham, North Carolina as a “City of Negro Enterprise.” When he visited in 1910, he cited the ambition and tenacity of its residents to build and grow a bustling community.   When W. E. B. Du Bois came to Durham in 1912, he expressed similar sentiments, he said this area of North Carolina had an “unparalleled level of black entrepreneurship”.  Unfortunately, as with many urban areas in the United States this community was not left unscathed by Urban renewal initiatives in the 1960s which had a destructive effect on Durham’s black business community, especially in the Hayti and Parrish Street communities.

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Hayti Reborn is a revitalization project inclusive of the redevelopment of the community surrounding Fayetteville Street Corridor without displacing the community and while ensuring their needs are at the core of all development plans.