DURHAM – Minister Paul Scott will be remembered for his steadfast community activism. 

Family, friends and community celebrated the life of the “minister of truth” at the Bull City Kappa Community Center during Juneteenth weekend. Scott was born in Fayetteville on March 7, 1967, and recently passed away from health complications. 

Pan-Afrikan flags, wristbands and Black, red and green cupcakes were distributed in the name of his organization, the Black Hoodie Brigade. As a member BHB in Durham’s historically-Black West End and Braggtown communities, which Scott called “Braggtown Liberation Block,” he regularly distributed free books on Black culture, history and politics to youth. 

Scott’s daughter, Nia Hicks, told The Tribune about his genuine care for the community.

“He truly cared about everyone he came in contact with, even if they weren’t a part of his activism or in his community,” Hicks said. Whenever she had a question, Scott handed her a book. “And he would follow up with me and ask, ‘did you read it yet?’” she said. “I’d have thousands of other questions to ask him, and he’d tell me ‘that’s OK, that’s my expectation.’”

After Hicks had her children, Noah and John, she said Scott’s motivation grew. “He made it known, like, ‘I want Durham to be a safe place for my grandkids to grow up. I don’t want to have to hear or see anything happen to them, so what can I do now to change that climate?’” she said.

Scott’s wife, Tracy, said the same. “He definitely loved Durham,” she said. “And he would stand up for his city. He always said that when his time was done, that the next generation would need to take the work over and keep that activism going. That’s what he hoped for.” 

For his birthday this year, Scott posted on Facebook a list of ways folks could do just that. 

“Join some Revolutionary movement in Durham to crush the existing system and create a better one for our children or start one yourself,” he wrote. “Instead of having our youth look up to people just because they went to prison, teach them about real political prisoners like Assata Shakur,  Mutulu Shakur, George Jackson, Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton, chairman Fred Hampton, Geronimo Pratt.”

One way Scott’s nephew, Ronald Clinton Jr., described him was “militant,” but only in arming the Black community with knowledge of their history and culture. “He was brilliant,” Clinton Jr. told The Tribune. “His spirit and legacy will always live on.”

Scott was passionate about hip-hop music and using art to revolutionize and radicalize. “He was a hell of a DJ,” Clinton Jr. said. “He was always rapping, and we’d talk about conscious rap.” 

Upon news of his passing, hundreds of Facebook posts lauded his exemplary dedication to knowledge as a means to build community power. 

“I first got connected with Minister Paul Scott as a Hip Hop journalist. We would build on the culture and his passion for what it meant to Black folk and its impact across the world,” wrote Raleigh community activist Dasan Ahanu. “He appreciated young artists and had a way of offering insights and information and not judgement.” 

A woman whom Scott affectionately named “Spitfire,” remembered him for his calm demeanor. The two met through work to get an energy drink called “Cocaine” removed from shelves in primarily Black areas. 

“He was passionate but calm,” Spitfire said. “If he was really angry, he would voice it with words and find a book that had to do with it. It was more about the knowledge that he gave me to help me learn how to navigate these certain systems.”

Organizer Efiotu Jagun said Scott kept every child to whom he distributed books in mind and checked up on them. Scott even gave Jagun a book because of a testimony she shared during public comment at Durham City Council. 

“It was refreshing to have someone care about younger people,” she said. “He would ask them what they thought about the book or what book their siblings were reading.” 

For many in Durham and beyond, Scott’s death is not the loss of a leader and activist, but a passing of the torch. 

“It wasn’t about him,” Hicks said. “It was always from the heart and about the community.”

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