Featured image for “Sheriff is latest target of racist banners over Downtown”
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters talks about a deadly mass shooting at a Dollar General store on Aug. 27, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
October 18, 2024

Sheriff is latest target of racist banners over Downtown

A single-engine plane flew over Downtown on Thursday with a banner directed at Jacksonville Sheriff T.K.  Waters.…

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Mourners built memorials to the three people killed in the Dollar General shooting. | News4Jax
August 14, 2024

Marker will honor victims of racist Dollar General shooting

A ceremony is scheduled Sunday to unveil the marker and other tributes.…

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The St. Johns Cultural Council recognized Purcell Conway and Shed Dawson for their participation in the St. Augustine Beach wade-ins in June 1964. Their efforts to integrate a whites-only beach was part of a series of demonstrations during Freedom Summer. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
June 6, 2024

Waves of Change: Civil rights demonstrators return to St. Augustine

Protesters Shed Dawson and Purcell Conway are honored as a new museum exhibit commemorates wade-ins at a whites-only beach.…

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Jacksonville City Council member Terrance Freeman | News4Jax
May 20, 2024

Local hate crime bill called ‘cheap political pandering’

City Council member Terrance Freeman is opposing a proposed hate crime law in Jacksonville, calling it unnecessary and insulting to…

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City Council member Rahman Johnson speaks about new anti-hate legislation with co-sponsor Reggie Gaffney Jr., left, on Monday, April 22, 2024. | Casmira Harrison, Jacksonville Today
April 23, 2024

Battling hate crime: City leaders aim to triple penalties

New legislation in Jacksonville could triple fines and jail time for people who commit hate crimes.…

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Kenneth Nunn, left, and Benjamin L. Crump mourn for the victims of the Rosewood massacre during a wreath-laying ceremony, at Rosewood on Jan. 8, 2023. | Xinyue Li, Fresh Take Florida
October 18, 2023

Racism rises again a century later in Rosewood

David Allen Emanuel Sr. was convicted of hate crimes for menacing people who plan to memorialize the horrific racial violence…

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Diana Greene, left, speaks with Johnnetta Betsch Cole after a reading of banned and restricted books in James Weldon Johnson Park in Jacksonville. Cole, an anthropologist and former president of Spelman College and Bennett College, is a Jacksonville native. Greene, CEO of the Children's Literacy Initiative, is the former superintendent of Duval County Public Schools. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 25, 2023

Conference brings Black resistance to Jacksonville

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History read from the works of Black authors whose writings…

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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…

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A gunman opened fire around and inside the Dollar General in the Grand Park neighborhood on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. Three people died during a rampage fueled by racial animus. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
September 13, 2023

OPINION | This American life

Though it it comes as an affront to the immoral imbalance of white supremacy, disenfranchisement and early death be damned.…

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Jamil Davis of Black Voters Matter speaks to hundreds of people at James Weldon Johnson Park in downtown Jacksonville during a demonstration against white supremacy on Monday, Aug. 28, 2028. The rally was initially slated to observe the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but was switched following racial violence in Grand Park on Saturday. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 28, 2023

OPINION | This hate is ours to hold 

I didn’t want to write this, but here I am using my words to process a pain that runs too…

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March 22, 2023

OPINION | Don’t close your eyes

College DEI programs provide safe space and solace for those of us looking for community in a dominant culture that’s…

Featured image for “OPINION | The lie of invisibility”
Ami Polonsky, author of "Gracefully Grayson," spoke during a rally ahead of the Dec. 6th Duval School Board meeting. The district ordered her book for fifth grade classrooms in 2021 but decided to send it back after a review process.
January 4, 2023

OPINION | The lie of invisibility

Banning books eliminates an opportunity for students to expand beyond their own surroundings and worldview.…

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Protesters rallied May 4 in Jacksonville in support of abortion rights. Will Brown | Jacksonville Today.
May 16, 2022

OPINION | First us, then you

Restricting access to abortion is about control. Restricting access to the ballot is about control. Gerrymandering districts at any level…

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The late Justice Joseph Hatchette was the first Black Florida Supreme Court justice. | Florida Supreme Court
April 18, 2022

OPINION | I’m at a loss over racism

I am trying to understand racism. I know what it is. I know why it exists. I know the history…

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Quarters for enslaved people at Jacksonville's Kingsley Plantation.
January 31, 2022

OPINION | Erasing Black history does not erase Black people

In my other life, I write books and host a podcast. I am unabashed about centering the point of view…

Featured image for “OPINION | Relief and belief in justice are not the same”
People gather in front of a mural of Ahmaud Arbery painted on the side of The Brunswick African American Cultural Center in Brunswick, Ga.,
November 29, 2021

OPINION | Relief and belief in justice are not the same

“Verdict watch . . . one guilty but this is stressful.” I fired off that tweet after Travis McMichael was…

November 8, 2021

OPINION | Annoyance, Irritation, & Rage

I wanted to write a response to the recent stories about housing: one in this newsletter on the plan to…