Durham

Durham is a city located in North Carolina, USA.  It is the 5th largest city in the state, with a population of 187,035.  The origin of Durham's nickname "Bull City" was a fortunate marketing error.  John Green of the Blackwell Tobacco Company named his product Bull Durham Tobacco after Colemans Mustard, which used a bull in it's logo, and which Green mistakenly thought was produced in Durham, England.  By the time James B. Duke of the American Tobacco Company purchased Blackwell Tobacco Company in 1898, Bull Durham was the most famous trademark in the world.

Today, Durham, NC is known for several things including Duke University, the Durham Bulls minor league team (which the movie "Bull Durham" was based on), and an increase in gang activity.  Some of which has recently appeared in national news headlines.  Durham's overal crime rate index based on the final 2006 FBI Crime Report is 13,823.  From that total, 1,957 of those were violent crimes and 11,866 were property related crimes.

Covering that increase in gang violence is "Welcome 2 Durham", the eye-opening documentary that illustrates how gang violence is no longer the exclusive domain of the large urban cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.  The 180 minute film, directed by Christopher "Play" Martin (formerly of the pioneering rap group Kid N Play) details the troubled violent lives in the racially and politically complex city of Durham, NC.  Through unprecedented access to their subjects, the film offers a frank and unblinking look into the lives of local gangs and details how the nationally known Bloods and Crips spread far beyond the city of Los Angeles.

An excerpt from the film portrays the delicate balance of Durham's Holloway Street.  On one side of the street you have Folk and Crip, and on the other side, Bloods.  The close proximity of these boundaries make for tense relations between these gangs.  People who relocate to Durham report that though smaller in size, Durham carries the same intensity of gang violence similar to that of bigger cities across the nation.

Gangs

Gang Name: 

  • Bloods
  • Crips
  • MS-13
  • Folk
  • Gangster Disciples

Local Contacts

  • Campaign 4 Change - An anti-gang, crime, and drug diversion, founded by Vegas Don, the former leader of one of the most ruthless street gangs in Durham, The Northern Vice.
  • Men of Vision - A collaboration of caring, talented, and resourceful men in the Durham, NC community who have organized to effectuate a brighter, more promising future for at-risk youth.  The goal is to reverse the high rates of drop-out, incarceration, homicide, and unemployment among African American males and their families.  For more information, contact the Durham Police Department of Public Relations at 919-560-4322 Ext. 263.

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