"He had about 130 acres of land," said Bright.
It was land purchased in Faison, a small town that sits in Sampson and Duplin counties
This land was purchased during a time when Black ownership wasn't celebrated in the Jim Crow South. It was unheard of because of systemic racial practices, but Dave Bright Sr. wanted to change that and his family's future. He did both.
"Blacks didn't really have much back then ... but he stood up," said Bright.
His family is finally sharing this story nearly 82 years after the first plot of land was purchased.
Born in 1910, Dave Bright Sr. became a farmer and businessman. He was widely known across Sampson, Wayne, and Duplin counties.
"Not only did he own the land, but he also sharecropped a lot of land for a lot of the people in the neighborhood. White and Black respected him," said Bright's nephew Robert Sampson.
Farming meant freedom and financial independence for the Brights. Everyone in the family worked on the farm, including Sampson.
"No one in our family ever had to work for a White man. Not that we mind it or would be a problem, but we never had to because he had enough work for everybody," said Sampson. "We all worked as a family when we would harvest our tobacco right down his way. All my mother and family, sisters, and aunt, we'd all be there as a family unit.
For sisters Judy Jones and Katrina Miller, their childhood was spent in these fields alongside their grandfather. Back on the land, the two pointed out what used to be a tobacco barn and horse stable. They reflected on the memories created.
"Children need to know where they come from. They need to know their roots. They need to know their ancestors. What's going on, what happened," said Miller
Jones, the oldest granddaughter, added, "He wanted to leave, like, a legacy for us. He wanted to leave us the land. So we would have somewhere to put a home. This keepsake. Keeps his name."
It's a name that's now etched on this five-mile stretch in Faison, which is a lasting reminder of Bright's legacy and the influence he had on this community.
"Everyone around him knew who Dave Bright was. White and Black have ate in his house, at his table, at one time or another. drank some of his moonshine. And he treated them with respect. They treat him with respect. And that's how he got the legacy that he did," said Sampson.
It's a legacy that's carried on by the next generation of the Bright Family.
"He made it possible for me," said Bright's great-nephew, Brian Sampson.
He's reaping the harvest sown generations ago.
"To me, Dave Bright means possibilities. It means endless possibilities," said Brian Sampson. "There's nothing that can stop us from doing whatever we can do. And his land symbolizes that.
Some of that land remains in this family during a time when Black farmers have lost nearly 90% of their land since 1910, according to the American Bar Association.
"Standing on his land means to me is power, strength, beauty. Black is strong," Sampson reflected. "It means that we can do anything."
It also means a promise fulfilled.
"I was raised here and I wanted to stay here until I pass away. I just want to keep the name going," said Bright.
Dave Bright Sr. died in 1972.