Pinellas group to teach Black history as Florida limits lessons on race

Source: Tampa Bay Times

Pinellas group to teach Black history as Florida limits lessons on race

Jeffrey S. Solochek, Tampa Bay Times
Tue, April 25, 2023 at 11:48 AM EDT

It’s been nearly 60 years, but Jacqueline Hubbard still vividly recalls the Freedom Summer that found civil rights activists registering Black voters and teaching them literacy and civics in Mississippi.

As she considers the trajectory that Florida and much of the nation are on today, with laws restricting the way race-related issues are taught in schools and universities, Hubbard said it dawned on her “we are almost back where we began.”

So the retired lawyer, who grew up during segregation and Jim Crow, is leading an effort to make sure teens learn the truth about Black history. With a summer Freedom School, based on the 1964 model, the St. Petersburg branch of Association for the Study of African American Life and History aims to teach children about the celebrations and hardships.

“As a community desirous of racial healing and reconciliation, we can only change the future by honestly acknowledging Black history in America — which is our past — confronting it, (and) vowing to make our best efforts not to allow overt racism to ever win again,” said Hubbard, who leads the association chapter. “It is necessary now.”

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