Circling the Herd: Houston’s Black Trail Riders, Placemaking, and the Liberatory Potential of Second Sites

Abstract

Recent scholarship on Black placemaking challenges the deficit framework of urban sociology. At the same time, more sociologists are now pushing for the recovery of long marginalized Black thinkers. This article advances both efforts. It begins by extending Du Bois’ idea of “second sight” to illuminate the critical and creative practices of “second site” production, conceptualized here as a communal process that reimagines and celebrates the centrality of Black communities in the ongoing, contested production of urban spaces. It then demonstrates that process through a case study of Houston’s Black trail riders, using evidence from 21 interviews and observations of rides and gatherings to detail the material and nonmaterial dimensions of second site production through space, place, and time. Results show how, despite urban development that attempts to marginalize Black communities, the trail riders intentionally create a second site that challenges the dominant spatial regime in durable and flexible ways.