Read by Claudia Hines. Read transcription below:
Black August in the Park, 2026
“Your Blackness is welcome here.” And it sure was.
Black history. Black resistance. Black culture. Black music. Black joy. Black community. Gathered together, learning, dancing, celebrating, remembering, and just simply being.
It was something powerful about standing and walking and being in a space where our history ain’t tucked away in a corner. It was hanging from the rafters. As we walked through the corridor, you could read it, you could learn it, you could feel it. If you look up, you could see it on the big screen.
It was where our freedom fighters were named, where our stories are told, where our people filled the park, Central Park, from daylight until nightfall. We were existing, you know, inside this huge community, celebrating.
I saw a pregnant woman with her partner, walking, enjoying themselves. I saw babies, some in wagons, even a little new baby. I saw mothers. I saw partners. I saw families. And that’s what it’s about.
Black August isn’t just something that we attend. It’s something you feel. It was like a family reunion, and it really was. I saw certain people that I knew were going to be there, and it’s like we reunite at Black August. We felt there. I could feel our history, our resistance, our people, our joy.
Black August in the Park, 2026. And yes, my Blackness was very much at home.
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Claudia Hines
Coordinator, Black Breastfeeding Coalition
Claudia Hines is a Certified Birth Doula (CD, DONA) and prenatal yoga teacher who coordinates Breastfeed Durham’s Black Breastfeeding Coalition, where she leads community engagement, promotes breastfeeding equity, and fosters supportive spaces for Black families. She brings more than two decades of experience across human services and corporate finance, with past roles as an Autism Support Professional at the Autism Society of North Carolina and in finance at Reichhold and Clarkston Consulting. Claudia holds an associate’s degree in accounting from Durham Technical Community College and studied early childhood education at North Carolina Central University. She enjoys teaching yoga, homesteading, and creating nourishing spaces for families.