June 24, 2025 • 8 mins
Useless Facts you didn't ask for, a Juneteenth Celebration with Maya Angelou roots, and a legendary Black neighborhood in Winston-Salem older than Eatonville?? Yeah, we're going from plantation to Safe Bus to Serena Williams in under 10 minutes on today's episode of I Didn't Know, Maybe You Didn't Either!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I welcome back. Know it alls to another episode of
I Didn't Know. Maybe you didn't either. I'm your host,
b Dot and I steal am on a high from
Juneteenth weekend. I would absolutely love to see how you
celebrate it. Send me any videos or pictures to IDK
myde with an underscore before it and at the end.
(00:22):
That's how you reach us on our Instagram. But this
June team was different for your boy b Dot. Yeah, man,
like I actually party right in the treefow. They turned
all the way up too, and it's what new the
first community June teen celebration and the Treefow went down
in nineteen ninety nine right behind the YMCA on waterworks. Yep,
freedom and hot dogs right behind the y For that,
(00:43):
we gotta thank miss pat Mardia Stepney. She kicked that
thing off after a Kwanza meeting one night, cause you know,
black folks don't let a good cultural moment go to
waste ever. Now, by two thousand and six, the year
I graduated from Winston Salem State University, the vibe was
so strong that doctor Maya Angel pulled up. Yeah, she
was speaking truth on a panel about race at the
(01:04):
Urban League. Now, you know you're doing something right when
doctor Maya Angelou showed up and steal I rise.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
What's funny about all this? Though?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I was here in Winston Salem and never heard word
about the June Team celebration. And I guess it's because
we wasn't in school around that time. This was summer break.
Wasn't no professor saying, hey, make sure you participate in
the June Team festival downtown. Anyways, this year marked twenty
five years of turning up for Freedom and the Tree Fox,
and they had be dot hosting the festivities. And here's
(01:33):
a fun fact. North Carolina actually ended slavery before Texas.
June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five is when they got the
word in Galveston. But May twenty first, eighteen sixty five, Oh,
Reverend SG Clark at the African Moravian Church said, black folks,
Ye're free, and we got to shout out the goat.
(01:55):
Cheryl Harry. Cheryl Harry is a legend in the trade.
She'd been riding for this movement since day. She built
Triad Cultural Arts, wrote a book on local Black history,
and steal throws festivals that bring us all together. She's
a Winston Salem native. She's an anti grad. I'm talking
a true community icon. So I appreciate Triad Cultural Arts
(02:15):
for having me at Bailey Park hosting the Juneteenth Festival.
Ten thousand people out there, we singing, line dancing, food trucks,
and vendors, all in nine hundred degree temperature.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
It was hot.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It was hotter than a klansman that found out his
daughter was dating a black man, do you hear me?
And we stayed hydrated as we was minding our black
business for June.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Team.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And now I'm back with another episode for you. But
I will be honest, I'm very tired because I'm in
the process of moving, and moving sucks.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
When was the last time you moved?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I mean packing up all of the items just to
move them somewhere, to unpack all of the items, and
then the cleaning you gotta do. It's obnoxious. So for
today's episode, I've got three of the most useless facts
you'll ever need in life.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
About movie.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Your first useless fact, the average American moves eleven point
seven times in their life. That's almost a dozen fresh starts.
And I'm well above the average. I'm at least at
about twenty five different moves. I just got a hold
of my transcripts from school, and I went to three
different elementary schools for fifth grade alone. Your second useless fact,
(03:24):
the number one item most commonly broken during a move
is the TV remote. Not the TV, not the lamp,
the dang remote. That joint disappears like a father, that
old child support. And your third useless fact, have you
ever heard the phrase moving house? Well, that phrase dates
(03:46):
back to the eighteenth century, when folks literally moved their houses.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Back then, instead of packing up and relocating your stuff,
you put the whole damn house on logs and just
drag it somewhere new. Now that's off the jains. Those
have been your three useless facts about moving. The average
American moves eleven point seven times in their life. The
number one it the most commonly broken during a move
is the TV remote, And the phrase moving house dates
(04:14):
back to the eighteenth century, when folks literally moved their houses.
Speaking of moving houses, they tried to do that in
the trade Foe to Happy Heills. Are you familiar, let
me hit you real quick before Baldwin, before the cookouts
and side eyes and East Winston.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
That was happy Hell.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yes, Happy Hell the oldest black neighborhood in Winston Salem.
Matter of fact, it's older than Eatonville, Florida. If you're
not familiar with Eatonville, Florida, sounds like you need to
check out more of the podcast because we definitely have
an episode on it. But Eatonville they get all the
press for being the first incorporated black town in America,
But Happy Heill was out here decades before that, just
(04:53):
chilling in the tree fold And I didn't know. I
didn't know.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I didn't know. No, I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So dig back in the seventeen sixties, the Moravians snatched
up three thousand acres because you know how them colonizes did.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
This looks nice, we'll take it.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Then, around eighteen fifteen, a doctor named Frederick Schumann ran
a plantation on it. But here's the plot to us,
My guy had a conscience. He later freed all the
enslaved people on his land, and some of them dipped
out to become the first African Americans to settle Liberia.
Not the street, I'm talking about the country. Yeah, that's right,
(05:38):
before folks were trying to leave North Carolina to get
to Atlanta. Happy Hell folks was on boats headed for
West Africa. But some stayed and they did what black
folks always do. They turned scraps into something sacred. They
bought land, they built homes, they laid down roots held.
By eighteen sixty seven, they had the first black school
in the county. By the nineteen twenties, Happy Hill was
(06:01):
popping shotgun houses, churches, a theater, night spots, stores, kids
outside playing double Dutch to the street lights came on.
This wasn't just a hood, this was a community. And
y'all shout out the Safe Bus Company sidebar. We got
a full episode on this as well. But forget about Uber,
forget about Lyft. Back in the day. Black drivers in
(06:22):
Winston Salem put their money together in the nineteen twenties
and said, listen, we gonna ride our own way. They
made a black owned transit system and Safe Bus number
three fifteen, Oh, that's the one that hit Happy Hill
Gardens route in nineteen sixty five. This that rosa Parks era.
So while other cities was out there arguing about where
black folks could sit on the bus, Happy Hill folks
(06:43):
was like, nah, fam we own the bus. It even
got love and Jet and Ebony magazines and you know
you certified when you make jet.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
But then came to fade.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
In the fifties and the sixties, they built those fourteen
blocks of the neighborhood for a housing project and introduced
Highway fifty too expansion. They called it urban renewal. We
call it neighborhood erasure. Then in two thousand and four,
even Happy Hill Gardens got knocked down. I'm talking gentrification
walked in like it paid rent. But now the comeback
(07:15):
is upon us see Habitat for humanity. They build the
new homes and most importantly the stories being told. Enter
Tiffany Luard. Personally she's my producer and my strategist in
my career, but she's also founder of the Shoe Collective
that's producing a brand new documentary series on Happy Hill
about the people, about the legacy, about the land, and
(07:36):
how we keep what's ours hours. It's all about preserving
the culture while the block trials the change tips, capturing
the real the aunties with the stores, the families that
never left, and the folks who made Happy Heel what
it was. And still is. Oh, and before I go,
I would like to say, there's even a connection from
Happy Hill to Venus and Serena Williams's early tennis routes
(07:59):
in this story. From the Hill to the Grand Slam,
It's all connected. Don't sleep. So next time somebody say,
man Winston Salem ain't got no real Black history, you
look them in the eye and say, Happy He'll walked
so your gentrified wine bar could run.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either,
I welcome back. Know it alls to another episode of
I Didn't Know. Maybe you didn't either. I'm your host,
b Dot and I steal am on a high from
Juneteenth weekend. I would absolutely love to see how you
celebrate it. Send me any videos or pictures to IDK
myde with an underscore before it and at the end.
(00:22):
That's how you reach us on our Instagram. But this
June team was different for your boy b Dot. Yeah, man,
like I actually party right in the treefow. They turned
all the way up too, and it's what new the
first community June teen celebration and the Treefow went down
in nineteen ninety nine right behind the YMCA on waterworks. Yep,
freedom and hot dogs right behind the y For that,
(00:43):
we gotta thank miss pat Mardia Stepney. She kicked that
thing off after a Kwanza meeting one night, cause you know,
black folks don't let a good cultural moment go to
waste ever. Now, by two thousand and six, the year
I graduated from Winston Salem State University, the vibe was
so strong that doctor Maya Angel pulled up. Yeah, she
was speaking truth on a panel about race at the
(01:04):
Urban League. Now, you know you're doing something right when
doctor Maya Angelou showed up and steal I rise.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
What's funny about all this? Though?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I was here in Winston Salem and never heard word
about the June Team celebration. And I guess it's because
we wasn't in school around that time. This was summer break.
Wasn't no professor saying, hey, make sure you participate in
the June Team festival downtown. Anyways, this year marked twenty
five years of turning up for Freedom and the Tree Fox,
and they had be dot hosting the festivities. And here's
(01:33):
a fun fact. North Carolina actually ended slavery before Texas.
June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five is when they got the
word in Galveston. But May twenty first, eighteen sixty five, Oh,
Reverend SG Clark at the African Moravian Church said, black folks,
Ye're free, and we got to shout out the goat.
(01:55):
Cheryl Harry. Cheryl Harry is a legend in the trade.
She'd been riding for this movement since day. She built
Triad Cultural Arts, wrote a book on local Black history,
and steal throws festivals that bring us all together. She's
a Winston Salem native. She's an anti grad. I'm talking
a true community icon. So I appreciate Triad Cultural Arts
(02:15):
for having me at Bailey Park hosting the Juneteenth Festival.
Ten thousand people out there, we singing, line dancing, food trucks,
and vendors, all in nine hundred degree temperature.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
It was hot.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
It was hotter than a klansman that found out his
daughter was dating a black man, do you hear me?
And we stayed hydrated as we was minding our black
business for June.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Team.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
And now I'm back with another episode for you. But
I will be honest, I'm very tired because I'm in
the process of moving, and moving sucks.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
When was the last time you moved?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I mean packing up all of the items just to
move them somewhere, to unpack all of the items, and
then the cleaning you gotta do. It's obnoxious. So for
today's episode, I've got three of the most useless facts
you'll ever need in life.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
About movie.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Your first useless fact, the average American moves eleven point
seven times in their life. That's almost a dozen fresh starts.
And I'm well above the average. I'm at least at
about twenty five different moves. I just got a hold
of my transcripts from school, and I went to three
different elementary schools for fifth grade alone. Your second useless fact,
(03:24):
the number one item most commonly broken during a move
is the TV remote. Not the TV, not the lamp,
the dang remote. That joint disappears like a father, that
old child support. And your third useless fact, have you
ever heard the phrase moving house? Well, that phrase dates
(03:46):
back to the eighteenth century, when folks literally moved their houses.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Back then, instead of packing up and relocating your stuff,
you put the whole damn house on logs and just
drag it somewhere new. Now that's off the jains. Those
have been your three useless facts about moving. The average
American moves eleven point seven times in their life. The
number one it the most commonly broken during a move
is the TV remote, And the phrase moving house dates
(04:14):
back to the eighteenth century, when folks literally moved their houses.
Speaking of moving houses, they tried to do that in
the trade Foe to Happy Heills. Are you familiar, let
me hit you real quick before Baldwin, before the cookouts
and side eyes and East Winston.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
That was happy Hell.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yes, Happy Hell the oldest black neighborhood in Winston Salem.
Matter of fact, it's older than Eatonville, Florida. If you're
not familiar with Eatonville, Florida, sounds like you need to
check out more of the podcast because we definitely have
an episode on it. But Eatonville they get all the
press for being the first incorporated black town in America,
But Happy Heill was out here decades before that, just
(04:53):
chilling in the tree fold And I didn't know. I
didn't know.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I didn't know. No, I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So dig back in the seventeen sixties, the Moravians snatched
up three thousand acres because you know how them colonizes did.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
This looks nice, we'll take it.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Then, around eighteen fifteen, a doctor named Frederick Schumann ran
a plantation on it. But here's the plot to us,
My guy had a conscience. He later freed all the
enslaved people on his land, and some of them dipped
out to become the first African Americans to settle Liberia.
Not the street, I'm talking about the country. Yeah, that's right,
(05:38):
before folks were trying to leave North Carolina to get
to Atlanta. Happy Hell folks was on boats headed for
West Africa. But some stayed and they did what black
folks always do. They turned scraps into something sacred. They
bought land, they built homes, they laid down roots held.
By eighteen sixty seven, they had the first black school
in the county. By the nineteen twenties, Happy Hill was
(06:01):
popping shotgun houses, churches, a theater, night spots, stores, kids
outside playing double Dutch to the street lights came on.
This wasn't just a hood, this was a community. And
y'all shout out the Safe Bus Company sidebar. We got
a full episode on this as well. But forget about Uber,
forget about Lyft. Back in the day. Black drivers in
(06:22):
Winston Salem put their money together in the nineteen twenties
and said, listen, we gonna ride our own way. They
made a black owned transit system and Safe Bus number
three fifteen, Oh, that's the one that hit Happy Hill
Gardens route in nineteen sixty five. This that rosa Parks era.
So while other cities was out there arguing about where
black folks could sit on the bus, Happy Hill folks
(06:43):
was like, nah, fam we own the bus. It even
got love and Jet and Ebony magazines and you know
you certified when you make jet.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
But then came to fade.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
In the fifties and the sixties, they built those fourteen
blocks of the neighborhood for a housing project and introduced
Highway fifty too expansion. They called it urban renewal. We
call it neighborhood erasure. Then in two thousand and four,
even Happy Hill Gardens got knocked down. I'm talking gentrification
walked in like it paid rent. But now the comeback
(07:15):
is upon us see Habitat for humanity. They build the
new homes and most importantly the stories being told. Enter
Tiffany Luard. Personally she's my producer and my strategist in
my career, but she's also founder of the Shoe Collective
that's producing a brand new documentary series on Happy Hill
about the people, about the legacy, about the land, and
(07:36):
how we keep what's ours hours. It's all about preserving
the culture while the block trials the change tips, capturing
the real the aunties with the stores, the families that
never left, and the folks who made Happy Heel what
it was. And still is. Oh, and before I go,
I would like to say, there's even a connection from
Happy Hill to Venus and Serena Williams's early tennis routes
(07:59):
in this story. From the Hill to the Grand Slam,
It's all connected. Don't sleep. So next time somebody say,
man Winston Salem ain't got no real Black history, you
look them in the eye and say, Happy He'll walked
so your gentrified wine bar could run.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either,
Host
Brian "B Daht" McLaughlin
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