If you didn't, don't worry, because the organizers clearly didn't know about us, either.
Some of the nation's most important institutions -- The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -- chose the theme.
But in the list of key figures and institutions that embody that theme -- the artist Jacob Lawrence, the cosmetic industry pioneer Annie Malone, and the National Urban League -- organizers forgot or overlooked the national importance of Parrish Street in downtown Durham.
Parrish, also called "Black Wall Street," was the cradle of black entrepreneurship in the 20th Century and home to black-owned icons like North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company and Mechanics & Farmers' Bank. The existence of a strong, black middle class gave rise to North Carolina Central University in 1910, which (let's not forget) was the first publicly supported liberal arts school for black students.
In 1912, W.E.B. DuBois lauded the "singular group in Durham" that led the thriving black economy, saying "This is surely progress." Booker T. Washington also visited the area and used it as a model in his argument that black prosperity and entrepreneurship would eventually induce white leaders to treat the black community with dignity and respect.
And even though the lens of history casts a cloud over the necessity for black communities to build their own, segregated economies, the ingenuity and persistence of Durham's early black entrepreneurs should always remain a huge point of pride for our region.
It was wrong, but perhaps understandable, that the scholars who organized the "Black Economic Empowerment" theme overlooked Parrish Street's place in history. The once-resilient section of downtown declined sharply as major thoroughfares routed traffic away from the old business core, and Parrish Street, like the rest of the area, is only now regaining its footing.
Still, it's a shame that a national conversation about black economic power missed a key opportunity to draw attention to both the history and future of downtown Durham.
