Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
The 4th Wednesdays at the Center of Fall 2021 welcomed Brandon J. Williams, a Duke Alum and a community builder who believes in the power of everyday people to transform society. For eight years and counting, he has been a resident of a historically Black working-class neighborhood in Durham, NC, called Walltown. Brandon used to lead a youth organization in the community and is now organizing with neighbors to resist gentrification and displacement.
Walltown was founded in 1906 by George Wall, a formerly enslaved man who moved from Randolph County to Durham, NC, to work for Trinity College(eventually Duke University). Since then, the neighborhood has been home to generations of Black working-class families who, in the face of structural racism, have embodied a spirit of self-determination and resilience. When Northgate Mall, under the ownership of the Rand family, sought to encroach upon residential space, residents organized to keep their land. Now that the mall is in a state of redevelopment, Walltown has organized again.
The presentation highlights the organizing efforts of the Walltown Community Association (WCA), who since 2018, has been hard at work translating the needs, concerns, and desires of residents into a strategic vision. In the talk, Brandon Williams discussed how local history and storytelling activated new and old residents for political engagement, the power of data and maps to advance community organizing efforts, and discussed policy implications for affordable housing and city planning.
Professionally, he works as a consultant for Frontline Solutions, helping clients in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors achieve their wildest dreams by building tools, models, and ventures that create far-reaching impact. Brandon is twice a graduate of Duke University holding a B.A. in African & African-American Studies and English (2006) and an M.Div with a Prison Studies certificate (2013).
Wednesdays at the Center is a series organized by the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke and the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies.
Learn more: https://igs.duke.edu/series/wednesdays-center-series
The 4th Wednesdays at the Center of Fall 2021 welcomed Brandon J. Williams, a Duke Alum and a community builder who believes in the power of everyday people to transform society. For eight years and counting, he has been a resident of a historically Black working-class neighborhood in Durham, NC, called Walltown. Brandon used to lead a youth organization in the community and is now organizing with neighbors to resist gentrification and displacement.
Walltown was founded in 1906 by George Wall, a formerly enslaved man who moved from Randolph County to Durham, NC, to work for Trinity College(eventually Duke University). Since then, the neighborhood has been home to generations of Black working-class families who, in the face of structural racism, have embodied a spirit of self-determination and resilience. When Northgate Mall, under the ownership of the Rand family, sought to encroach upon residential space, residents organized to keep their land. Now that the mall is in a state of redevelopment, Walltown has organized again.
The presentation highlights the organizing efforts of the Walltown Community Association (WCA), who since 2018, has been hard at work translating the needs, concerns, and desires of residents into a strategic vision. In the talk, Brandon Williams discussed how local history and storytelling activated new and old residents for political engagement, the power of data and maps to advance community organizing efforts, and discussed policy implications for affordable housing and city planning.
Professionally, he works as a consultant for Frontline Solutions, helping clients in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors achieve their wildest dreams by building tools, models, and ventures that create far-reaching impact. Brandon is twice a graduate of Duke University holding a B.A. in African & African-American Studies and English (2006) and an M.Div with a Prison Studies certificate (2013).
Wednesdays at the Center is a series organized by the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke and the Duke University Center for International and Global Studies.
Learn more: https://igs.duke.edu/series/wednesdays-center-series
