STORIES

Mama Dip’s Kitchen, located at 408 W Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill, commemorated what would have been its founder Mildred Council’s 95th birthday on Thursday, April 11, 2024.

In 2023 Barbara Foushee was the first Black woman elected as mayor of Carrboro and the second Black person to hold the office.  Foushee has served on Carrboro’s town council for six years. Foushee grew up in eastern North Carolina and graduated from Saint...

Lillian Lee is one of those guardians of the Chapel Hill community who puts her arms around the town’s soul, holds its close and tries to protect it. And she’s done an amazing job. In 1965, during her husband Howard’s graduate school years, she joined a colleague —...

One of the great moments in civil rights history took place in Chapel Hill on May 6th, 1969. That’s when Howard N. Lee was elected mayor of this town. In so doing, he became the first African American elected mayor in a predominantly white southern town since...

Tressie McMillan Cottom is a sociologist, professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, columnist for the New York Times, and a 2020 MacArthur Fellow. Her 2017 book, Lower Ed, has been cited by influential American policymakers, among them the esteemed...

Rebecca Clark (1915-2009), a former UNC Chapel Hill staff member, African-American political activist, and civil rights organizer, fought against unequal pay and workplace discrimination. Clark worked briefly as a housekeeper at the Carolina Inn in the late 1930s and...

By James Dupree | Photography by John Michael Simpson Trading in his chef’s hat for farmer’s boots, Howard Allen followed his calling to cultivate a beacon for community and sustainability “I had no intention of being a farmer at first,” says Howard Allen, owner of...

Superior Court Judge Carl Fox has been a fixture in Orange and Chatham County courtrooms since 1978, when he first began his law career as an assistant district attorney. “After nearly 40 years of practicing law in the same community, I’ve made many, many friends and...

Meet Kiara Sanders, the visual artist behind the African American Trailblazers mural. This mural honors twelve Black leaders from Chapel Hill and Carrboro who helped shape and improve our community. The mural features twelve African American pioneers who were vital to...

Sharing a meal with Carrboro resident Braxton Foushee, in a public restaurant, is as pleasurable as it is busy. Just as you’re about to lift a fork someone stops by to say hello and to get his advice on a particular issue. And then just as you’re about to dig in, two...

There are a few things to know about Chapel Hill resident, Jim Merritt, to understand the kind of man he is. In 2008, Jim Merritt was appointed to the Chapel Hill Town Council after sitting council member Bill Thorpe died. It was a decision that was made through a...

LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant serves as the Director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History. A proud native of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, she wholly and critically grapples with the profound questions that inform our understandings of gender,...

In the October 2022 edition of OUR STATE magazine, editors feature the delicious success of Chapel Hill native, Annette “Neecy” Council, daughter of the late Mildred Council, of Mama Dip’s Kitchen on Rosemary Street.  In her own words: “I remember watching my mother...

Al's Burger Shack is known for exceptional burgers, dogs, and shakes from the best local ingredients. That means North Carolina pasture-raised beef, custard and cheese from local dairies, and vegetables from local farms. At Al’s Burger Shack (located in downtown...

MISSION & HISTORY EmPOWERment, Inc.’s mission is to empower individuals and communities to achieve their destiny through community organizing, affordable housing, and grass roots economic development. Chapel Hill is a vibrant community that is ever changing and...

Chieko Murasugi was born in Tokyo, raised in Toronto, and based in San Francisco for 20 years before moving to North Carolina in 2012. She has degrees in Experimental Psychology (BA McGill, Ph.D. York U) and Studio Art (BFA York U, MFA UNC-Chapel Hill). She has...