Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Jacksonville Alumnae Chapter welcomes first new Deltas in a decade”
2 days ago

PHOTO ESSAY | Jacksonville Alumnae Chapter welcomes first new Deltas in a decade

After 10 years, the Jacksonville Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta welcomed new members in front of a cross section…

Featured image for “Edward Waters president battles old HBCU perceptions as university grows”
Edward Waters University has been located in Jacksonville's New Town neighborhood since 1904. The university has called Jacksonville home since 1982. | Ben Brown, Special to Jacksonville Today
March 4, 2024

Edward Waters president battles old HBCU perceptions as university grows

For Faison, outdated impressions of Edward Waters are especially irksome as he leads the university through historic firsts.…

Featured image for “New trolley stop called a ‘game changer’ for Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center”
Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine will add a trolley stop in front of the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center in February 2024. The move was part of a communitywide effort to embrace St. Augustine's Black history. | Old Town Trolley Tours of St. Augustine
February 19, 2024

New trolley stop called a ‘game changer’ for Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center

Old Town Trolley Tours and Attractions will add a stop at the museum to help St. Augustine promote its historic…

Featured image for “OPINION | Joy is not an afterthought”
Beyonce performs in Cleveland, Ohio, on Nov. 4, 2016. | AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
February 14, 2024

OPINION | Joy is not an afterthought

I write a lot about the ongoing injuries to Black people to connect the dots of history to this present…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | 6 Black cultural heritage sites to visit in town”
February 6, 2024

THE JAXSON | 6 Black cultural heritage sites to visit in town

In honor of Black History Month, here are six historic African American cultural heritage destinations in Jacksonville to visit.…

Featured image for “Remembering Harriet Beecher Stowe in her former community”
A photograph of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family in front of their Mandarin Road cottage. | Mandarin Community Club
February 6, 2024

Remembering Harriet Beecher Stowe in her former community

A pavilion along Mandarin Road will mirror the architecture of the long-gone cottage where one of Mandarin’s most historic figures…

Featured image for “Visit St. Augustine unveils Black history app”
An Emancipation Proclamation parade proceeds through St. Augustine circa 1922. | St. Augustine Historical Society
February 5, 2024

Visit St. Augustine unveils Black history app

Visit St. Augustine announced the app Monday in an effort to spotlight the extensive history of African-descended people in the…

Featured image for “Fort Mose begins reconstruction of 18th century community”
Fort Mose State Park is the site of the first free African community in what is now the United States. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
January 19, 2024

Fort Mose begins reconstruction of 18th century community

More than 100 people gathered Friday to break ground on a reconstruction of Fort Mose, the first free African settlement…

Featured image for “St. Augustine and Amelia Island vie for state’s Black history museum”
St. Johns County leaders have identified a West Augustine site, near the former location of Florida Memorial College, as a potential home for a Florida Museum of Black History. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
January 10, 2024

St. Augustine and Amelia Island vie for state’s Black history museum

An eight-member task force will meet Friday as it seeks to select a location for the Florida Museum of Black…

Featured image for “Library lands $1 million grant for Black history collection”
This is part of the Jacksonville Main Library’s African American History Collection. | Dan Scanlan, WJCT News 89.9
January 10, 2024

Library lands $1 million grant for Black history collection

The grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation is the largest private donation in the library’s history.…

Featured image for “Jacksonville civil rights patriarch Lloyd Pearson dies at 102”
Jacksonville civil rights icon Lloyd Pearson reflected on his 102 years during a December 6, 2023 conversation with Jacksonville Today.
December 18, 2023

Jacksonville civil rights patriarch Lloyd Pearson dies at 102

Lloyd Pearson Jr., the grand old man of Jacksonville’s civil rights struggle, died Sunday afternoon. He was 102.…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | The history of Jacksonville’s Moncrief neighborhood”
October 17, 2023

THE JAXSON | The history of Jacksonville’s Moncrief neighborhood

Known as the District of Soul, Moncrief is a historic neighborhood located a few miles northwest of Downtown Jacksonville. Here…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | 13 historic Eastside photographs”
October 10, 2023

THE JAXSON | 13 historic Eastside photographs

A photographic journey into the history of Jacksonville’s Eastside, one of its oldest urban neighborhoods and now home to the…

Featured image for “THE JAXSON | Getting to know the Edward Waters University historic district”
September 26, 2023

THE JAXSON | Getting to know the Edward Waters University historic district

Part of Edward Waters University was added to the National Register of Historic Places last year. These 6 buildings make…

Featured image for “OPINION | Jacksonville should act to reverse the legacy of racist housing policies”
September 20, 2023

OPINION | Jacksonville should act to reverse the legacy of racist housing policies

The U.S. government created ghettoes.  Government action produced racially segregated communities in the U.S., including in Jacksonville. This was no…

Featured image for “Black scholars will mobilize in Jacksonville next month”
August 29, 2023

Black scholars will mobilize in Jacksonville next month

Leaders of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History say they won’t be deterred by racial…

Featured image for “1619 Project founder denounces Florida’s social studies standards”
Nikole Hannah-Jones is the founder of the 1619 Project and the founder of the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 10, 2023

1619 Project founder denounces Florida’s social studies standards

As school starts this week in Northeast Florida, Nikole Hannah-Jones says students are getting a whitewashed version of African American…

Featured image for “OPINION | VP Harris exposed DeSantis’ weakness ”
Mayor Deegan greets Vice President Kamala Harris in Jacksonville in July of 2023.
July 23, 2023

OPINION | VP Harris exposed DeSantis’ weakness 

VP Harris spoke truths about Gov. Ron DeSantis that Florida’s disempowered Democrats lack the platform to fully get over on…

Featured image for “OPINION | New African American history standards eschew context  ”
Richard Twine Collection
July 19, 2023

OPINION | New African American history standards eschew context  

The prevailing narrative of Florida’s new social studies standards, and in our country writ large, is that Black Americans are…

Featured image for “‘You don’t see a lot of Black, female pilots.’ This Riverside graduate aims to be one.”
May 29, 2023

‘You don’t see a lot of Black, female pilots.’ This Riverside graduate aims to be one.

This Riverside High graduate plans to enroll in Jacksonville University’s School of Aviation.…

Featured image for “OPINION | The real life implications of erasing history”
February 15, 2023

OPINION | The real life implications of erasing history

What came home from school was a list of people, places, or things the students could portray. Out of two…

Featured image for “OPINION | Rinse and repeat”
A group of demonstrators gather at dusk in Shelby Farms Park in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers following a traffic stop, in Memphis, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. Tyre, who had a hobby in photography, frequented the park to photograph sunsets. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
February 1, 2023

OPINION | Rinse and repeat

The hashtags that now date back a decade, and centuries of crimes against humanity, are the reason A.P. African American…

Featured image for “Some Black groups say they were left out of Jacksonville’s bicentennial, so they’re holding their own events instead”
Hazel Gillis is the president of the James Weldon Johnson chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Her organization, and Black-led groups in town, feels left out of Jacksonville's bicentennial celebration that is slated for June. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
May 17, 2022

Some Black groups say they were left out of Jacksonville’s bicentennial, so they’re holding their own events instead

Celebrating the city’s two centuries of history – warts and all – was the challenge the Jacksonville Historical Society was…

Featured image for “Independent Florida water providers are shutting down. American Beach’s doesn’t want to be next.  ”
Bobby Dollison has been maintaining two wells that provide clean drinking water from the Florida aquifer to a few dozen American Beach residents. | Claire Heddles, Jacksonville Today
May 1, 2022

Independent Florida water providers are shutting down. American Beach’s doesn’t want to be next.  

Construction will begin soon on a new water and sewer system in American Beach, the historically African American community in…