For those who live out of Durham, NC let me tell you about The Know Bookstore. It’s a local institution, a black owned and black themed business that is a bookstore, restaurant and cultural gem. It’s the only spot in town where you can pick up a copy of Native Son, beautiful art (not the kind of “artwork” found at the beauty supply store) and get a plate of collard greens, catfish and white bread to go along with everything. All without the nasty attitude that some black owned business employees seem to posses.
The people who own the land (The McLaughlin Family) where The Know sits want to open the Mok’e Jazz & Cultural Center at the same address. The plan for Mok’e is to combine interests in jazz, visual art and food into an establishment to “empower, educate, entertain and enrich life for people in that part of Durham.” Huh? What are we talking about, practice? This is what The Know already does. The McLaughlin’s offered Mr. Bruce an opportunity to participate in the growth….for a price. The land owners would run the new cultural center, museum gift shop, food cafe, and maybe a book store. Mr. Bruce, if he decides to keep The Know in the same spot, would have to buy food from the land owners for jazz night, pay rent for jazz night and have 400 sq. feet for the bookstore. Oh and the rent would go up on that too.
Now the City Council and the public is beginning to be split down the middle. You have two black business owners going head to head over an issue that is heating up. The area where The Know sits is ripe for gentrification. It’s right up the street from NCCU and close to Southpoint Mall (who some refer to as “The White Mall”. Northgate is called “The Black Mall”). I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 5 years businesses that sit near The Know get entangled in similar battles.
So now the question is Growth or Greed?
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