Celebrate Black Culture in Third Ward.
My foot steps onto Alabama St. I don’t know if you know, but Alabama is one of the most intriguing streets of Houston. With one walk down Alabama, you will have many things to taste and many things to learn. Come with me. Its going to be a long day today. We better get something to eat.
Our first stop is the Breakfast Klub. To Houstonians, it is the best place for southern favorites. People come from all over to eat here. You can tell for the line that wraps around the building every morning. While you wait, you can enjoy the latest mural from Reginald Adams of George Floyd. Floyd’s last words stretch the wall: “I CAN’T BREATHE.” You can cross the street to see individual murals of Barack and Michelle Obama. The smell of buttery grits, southern fried wings with waffles, pancakes, bacon, and fried, crispy catfish fill the air and make the wait well worth it. The wings and waffles are so good I feel like my name is Shug and Ceilie is in the kitchen. Breakfast Klub is open for breakfast and lunch.
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln published the Emancipation Proclamation that freed all slaves. Word finally got to Texas a whole two years later on June 19, 1865. Freed slaves called this day Juneteenth. Four freedmen: Reverend Jack Yates, Richard Allen, Richard Brock, and Elias Dibble pooled together money to purchase a 10 acre plot of land for $800. They called it Emacipation Park. It was mean’t as a celebration venue for the Colored People’s Festival on Juneteeth. During the Jim Crow era, it was the only park that black people could go to. Fast forward to 2017, Emancipation Park reopened after a $33.6 million dollar renovation and the renaming of Dowling St (named for the confederate general Richard Dowling) to the more appropriate Emancipation Ave. In 2019, Emancipation Park was named a UNESCO Slave Route Project Site.
If you walked from the Breakfast Klub to Emancipation Park, it might be time for a snack. Good thing Crumbville, TX is right next door to the park. This bakery is owned by Miss Ella as the neighborhood calls her. She makes e-dub-a-licious cookies, brownies, and cookie-stuffed cupcakes. Yes, I said cookie-stuffed cupcakes. Neighborhood favorites are her vanilla cupcake stuffed with an oreo, vanilla-peachy cob-a-licious, and her strawberry white chocolate chip cookies called Cookie Minaj. Miss Ella wants everyone to feel welcome here. It is not uncommon for someone to drop by for a cookie and stay for hours. Miss Ella is a sweet as her treats. Everyone who enters her bakery gets a warm hug from Miss Ella at no charge. Check her website to get availability and make sure you order the night before for curbside service.
As you are licking your fingers clean from one of Miss Ella’s cupcakes, look across the street. You are looking at Project Row Houses. At one look, you would think that it is a row of white shotgun houses, but it is so much more. When Rick Lowe and his other founders created this nonprofit, they wanted it to “empower people and enrich communities through engagement, art, and direct action. It does just that. A cultural hub for Third Ward, it includes historic sites like the Eldorado Ballroom, the Row homes that are used for art exhibits, a community room for workshops and poetry readings, the outside for open markets and incubations for young mothers and young businesses.
I didn’t even mention the Buffalo Soldiers Museum and the Ensemble Theatre. We could turn back or we could turn right onto Almeda to meet some singles and enjoy some nightlife. There’s this cool wine bar. Let’s go.