A Tour de Roosevelt chat with Julian Hipkins - A Dap Project Conversation

Experienced educator and school leader Julian Hipkins III organized the first annual Tour de Roosevelt, a community bike ride through the neighborhoods where Roosevelt students live. The Tour was not just a great event to support the high school, but also a personal triumph for Hipkins. During the pandemic, his young daughter learned to ride a bike, and he found it increasingly harder to walk alongside her as her distance and speed increased. After years away from the bike, he hopped back on, and soon began regular solo rides to clear his head. These rides connected to his earlier reading about biking infrastructure and community building, and sparked the idea for a community ride. The collective joy of a good ride helped to restore what the months of stress and isolation had broken. The Dap Project chatted with Julian about what the ride meant to him, the influence of his Morehouse education, and the music that brings him joy.