Featured image for “Jacksonville demonstrators decry white supremacy, point fingers at DeSantis ”
Jacksonville teacher and activist Neil Jefferson was among the speakers during a demonstration decrying white supremacy on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. The incident was slated to celebrate the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but shifted into a demonstration following racial violence in Jacksonville's Grand Park neighborhood on Aug. 26. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 29, 2023

Jacksonville demonstrators decry white supremacy, point fingers at DeSantis 

A rally in James Weldon Johnson Park changed into a demonstration against white supremacy after Saturday’s racist shooting.…

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Sandra Thompson is one of the few Jaxons who attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. She was a senior at Florida A&M University at the time who was active in the NAACP and viewed attending the march the next step in her activism. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 27, 2023

Jacksonville labor leaders, March on Washington attendee reflect, 60 years on

Jacksonville’s own A. Philip Randolph’s activism and mastery of mobilization helped make the March on Washington a reality.…

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Kelly Frazier attends a memorial service for her father in June 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
August 3, 2023

Ben Frazier’s daughter assumes reins of Northside Coalition

Kelly Frazier has been a member of the Northside Coalition since her father founded it.…

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 “PHOTO ESSAY | Jacksonville’s 42nd Annual MLK Holiday Grand Parade”
More than 160 organizations, businesses, politicians, youth groups and stuend organizations participated in the 42nd Martin Luther King Holiday Grand Parade took place along Water Street on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
January 16, 2023

PHOTO ESSAY | Jacksonville’s 42nd Annual MLK Holiday Grand Parade

Hundreds marched in the 42nd annual MLK Holiday Grand Parade on Monday morning in Jacksonville.…

Featured image for “Jacksonville officials, local civil rights leaders continue to celebrate MLK. Separately. ”
Martin Luther King Jr. speaks in St. Augustine in June 1964. He was arrested in St. Augustine that month, alongside others from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, while attempting to eat in a segregated restaurant. | State Archive of Florida 
January 12, 2023

Jacksonville officials, local civil rights leaders continue to celebrate MLK. Separately. 

Friday will mark the fifth straight year Jacksonville will have separate breakfasts honoring Martin Luther King.…

Featured image for “PHOTO ESSAY | Jax Today’s 11 favorite images from 2022”
Jaguars punter Logan Cooke holts up his 11-month old son, Cooper, prior to the team's 2022 home opener. During Cooper's first NFL football game, his dad's team shutout Indianapolis 24-0. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
December 29, 2022

PHOTO ESSAY | Jax Today’s 11 favorite images from 2022

Jacksonville Today’s Will Brown shares his favorite images he’s captured over the past year.…

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The Confederate statue in Springfield Park. | WJCT News
December 14, 2022

OPINION | Remember, reconcile, repair

“Take ‘Em Down!” is an ineffectual narrative strategy to effect change.  Is it a demand of adamance? Absolutely.  A passionate…

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President Joe Biden speaks about student debt relief on Oct. 17th. | AP
October 19, 2022

OPINION | Requesting relief for the people

I am one of the millions of people who submitted an application for student debt relief. I attended the Florida…

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Artwork from the Deborah Roberts exhibit I'm, now on display at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens through Dec. 4th. | Cummer Museum
September 21, 2022

OPINION | Battle for the best of us

Over the weekend, I visited the Cummer Museum for the opening of the Deborah Roberts exhibition I’m. On a large…

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A scene from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021. | AP
July 27, 2022

OPINION | Hotbeds of hatred

On Jan. 6th, 2021, I sat beside my mother in my living room, eyes glued to the television watching the…

Featured image for “OPINION | I’ll take freedom over a holiday any day”
Fannie Lou Hamer, center, is pictured with Annie Devine, left, and Victoria Gray after the three were denied access to the U.S. House floor in 1965. | AP
June 20, 2022

OPINION | I’ll take freedom over a holiday any day

“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired…nobody’s free until everybody’s free…if I fall, I’ll fall 5 feet…

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Mourners outside Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, N.Y., a day after the mass shooting there. | AP
May 23, 2022

OPINION | Symptoms of a broken system

Imagine for a moment it’s a Sunday afternoon. You’ve just left church or brunch or finished a morning run or…

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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…

Featured image for “OPINION | The value of being”
Byron Leftwich, left, and Alton Brown, right. Photo attribution: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; JaxStrong, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
February 7, 2022

OPINION | The value of being

There’s a notion that has circulated in the Black community for generations: Black people have to be twice as good…

Featured image for “OPINION | I am American”
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Credit Gage Skidmore
January 24, 2022

OPINION | I am American

“African-American voters are voting at just as high a percentage as Americans.”  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made the offhand…

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Raymon Troncoso, WJCT News | The Florida Channel livestream
January 10, 2022

OPINION | Rebirth of a nation, state

Today marks the first day of the Florida legislative session. A session where our elected legislators will tackle a myriad…

Featured image for “OPINION | Ben Frazier makes his point”
A sheriff's deputy handcuffs Ben Frazier January 4, 2022. | Claire Heddles, WJCT News
January 9, 2022

OPINION | Ben Frazier makes his point

A week ago, the world hadn’t heard of Ben Frazier. The president of the Northside Coalition was known locally, but…

Featured image for “OPINION | What are we teaching our children?”
A Confederate monument in Springfield Park is covered with a tarp to prevent vandalism.
November 15, 2021

OPINION | What are we teaching our children?

City Council has withdrawn the Confederate monument legislation and may never take it up again —  an act of cowardice…

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…

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November 7, 2021

OPINION | Confederate Cowards

The wisdom of the Jacksonville City Council has always been a matter of debate.  This is the same group that…

October 19, 2021

OPINION | Take ‘Em Down

“I’m never living in the South again.”  This is what my mother says to me often. A New Orleans native…