About the Founder
Our founder, Monica T. Davis, is passionate when it comes to the preservation of African American architecture. Monica has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Interior Architecture and Post- Baccalaureate Historic Preservation Certificate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Monica recently completed a Master of Preservation Studies Fellowship program at Tulane University, where she obtained experience teaching design principles to undergraduate students. She has 10 years of architecture experience that includes designing historic shotgun houses. She is the proud owner and principal designer of Rinascita Designs, LLC. Her passions consist of educating others by rebirthing historic structures into affordable housing solutions.
Rebirthing Our Cultural Kingdom Foundation (R.O.C.K.) was formulated to celebrate, educate, and preserve the African American historic district’s cultural heritage and communities. After seeing the demolition of several shotgun homes in East Wilson NC, the R.O.C.K. Foundation was born out of an urgent need to save as many of the remaining historic shotgun houses in the East Wilson Historic District. Our organization celebrates distinctive African American houses that contribute to the revitalization of impoverished, historic neighborhoods.
These indisputably historic homes have important stories to tell about the social, economic, political, and cultural, and demographic histories that would be lost, perhaps irretrievably, if these last shotgun houses are left to decay and deteriorate. Studying the East Wilson Historic District’s architecture, landscape, and community is an essential first step towards understanding the contours of black cultural landscapes as they evolved in southern cities
Our Vision
Our vision is to educate, celebrate, and preserve the cultural heritage of African American historic districts while empowering their minds. The rehabilitation of an individual’s finances, paradigms, and future are imperative to our organization. By educating and changing the mindset of individuals in poverty through the rehabilitation of a community’s structure, landscape, and bringing the community together as One for a greater good, we are confident that we can make a serious impact.
