The Black Enclave
The current political/social environment has exposed just how racist the U.S remains and I find myself longing for the days of my childhood where I was insulated from the overt and covert racism and bigotry. Measuring that, for me, was realizing it wasn’t until I was 13 years old that I was called a “nigger” to my face by a white boy while walking home from the bus-stop in the neighborhood my parents moved us to in New Orleans East.
That’s a story for another time.Our little Black enclave had just about everything you needed:
Alden’s Grocery Store
Bynum’s Drugstore & Pharmacy
The Bynum building also housed the St. Bernard Community Center
Big Boy’s Grill -the best hamburgers & fries!
Spider’s Gas Station & Convenience
Phillips Laundromat
I grew up on St. Denis Street in the same St. Bernard neighborhood that my father grew up. It was a Black enclave where every socio-economic was present - homeowners, renters, business owners whose businesses were in the neighborhood, middle & lower middle-class, working class - all within a 2 block radius of the St Bernard Housing Projects my grandmother raised 3 of her 5 children. The first Black mayor of New Orleans, Dutch Morial lived 5 blocks away on Harrison Avenue.
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