Weekly Challenger Chronology & Tampa Bay African American History Research Guide

By Raven Joy Shonel, The Weekly Challenger, July 16, 2015.
Excerpt:
"Although State Representative Darryl Rouson did not get everything in the budget he asked for in the Special House Session that took place last month such as the expansion of health insurance coverage to thousands of Floridians, he was proud to vote on the budget for personal reasons.
Rep. Rouson secured $300,000 for a day of service project named in memory of his father, Dr. W. Ervin Rouson, at St. Petersburg College.
'I am not the man that my father was. He was of impeccable character and reputation. He was a community man who believed in community engagement,' he said on the House floor.
His father and mother, the late Vivian Rouson, met at Xavier University in New Orleans. After marrying and a short stint at MacDill Air Force Base, the family settled in St. Petersburg.
Dr. Rouson became the chief of guidance counselors at the segregated Gibbs Junior College, where he was recently inducted into their Hall of Fame. After integration he transferred to the Clearwater campus of St. Petersburg Junior College (SPJC) and became the director of Student Campus Life."

By Cindy Carter, The Weekly Challenger, Aug. 5, 2015.
(Story appears in Aug. 6, 2015 print edition.)
Excerpt:
“Before you send your children back to school, take them down to The Florida Holocaust Museum, located at 55 5th St. S, to receive a history lesson on the Civil Rights Movement through photographs.
Entitled 'This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Movement,' this exhibition comprised of 157 black and white photographs were taken in Mississippi and Alabama from 1963 to 1966.”

By Cindy Carter, The Weekly Challenger, Aug. 5, 2015.
(Story appears in Aug. 6, 2015 print edition.)
Excerpt:
"Just in time for the beginning of a new school year, the St. Petersburg College (SPC) Midtown campus is officially open for enrollment, and local residents and community officials couldn’t be happier.
....The new campus is named in honor of the late Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr., a longtime legislator and a Florida Commissioner of Education. Jamerson, a graduate of St. Petersburg College, was one of the most prominent politicians in the state of Florida and a fierce advocate for education."

By Cindy Carter, The Weekly Challenger, Aug. 13, 2015.
Excerpt:
"Johnnie B. Mack has been a staple in the community for decades. Her life and legacy was up for display for all to see Sat., Aug 8. People came from as far away as Texas, Maryland and all along the east coast to pay tribute to a woman that couldn’t help but touch the lives of every person she met.
'That’s a testimony to how many people love her,' said her son Kenneth Mack who is grateful for every day with his mom. 'What do you say for a woman that has meant so much to so many? There really isn’t anything to say except that she is everything.'
A resident of St. Petersburg since 1958, Johnnie worked for a brief time at Mercy Hospital before leaving the field of nursing and working privately as a domestic helper. She remained in this position until her retirement in 1989."

By Raven Joy Shonel, The Weekly Challenger, Sep. 17, 2015.
Excerpt:
"The Carter G. Woodson African American Museum in partnership with The Florida Holocaust Museum held a memorial candlelight vigil honoring lives lost while fighting to be acknowledged as American citizens during the Civil Right Movement.
The program included State Representative Darryl Rouson giving examples of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s. eloquent prose, his wonderful sense of humor and his prophetic words by reciting excerpts from three of his speeches.
The night was filled with song and poetry reflecting on the movement and the parallels with modern society. Andrida McCall Hosey became Fannie Lou Hamer when reciting excerpts from her famous 1964 speech 'I’m Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired.' And Gibbs High School student Jermaine Robinson performed a rousing monologue from the play 'Fires in the Mirror.'
When Terri Lipsey Scott, chair of the Woodson, was asked to be a part of the Florida Holocaust Museum’s Civil Rights Movement event, she decided to do a roll call."

By Puneet Sandhu, The Weekly Challenger, Oct. 1, 2015.
Excerpt:
“The Florida Holocaust Museum continues to commemorate the Civil Rights Movement and celebrate African-American history and culture with one of a number of events held throughout the city. Last Thurs., Sept. 24, a community conversation entitled ‘Voices of Experience: Personal Stories of the Civil Rights Struggle and Insights on the Voting Rights Act’ was held at Pinellas Technical College, St. Petersburg campus.”

By Raven Joy Shonel, The Weekly Challenger, Oct. 22, 2015.
Excerpt:
“The Florida Holocaust Museum presented an afternoon with one of the Civil Rights Movement’s giants, Bernard LaFayette. As University of South Florida Professor Ray Arsenault interviewed LaFayette, the standing room only crowd marveled at his life and career as a freedom fighter.”

By Frank Drouzas, The Weekly Challenger, Nov. 12, 2015.
Excerpt:
“At the Second Annual City of St. Petersburg Veterans Day Celebration on Nov. 11, Mayor Rick Kriseman presented the 2015 Honored Veteran Award to Master Sergeant Willie Rogers, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen who served during World War II.
‘Two thousand fifteen has become the year of Master Sgt. Willie Rogers in St. Petersburg,’ Kriseman stated, ‘and with good reason.’ The Mayor noted that not only did Rogers turn 100 this year, but also received the key to the city and was even honored with a portrait by the Veterans Art Center of Tampa Bay.”

By Raven Joy Shonel, The Weekly Challenger, Dec. 17, 2015.
Excerpt:
“This year marks the 50th anniversary of 12 black police officers that took a stand against Jim Crow laws and sued the City of St. Petersburg for discrimination -- and won.
In recent years the community has celebrated these brave officers, now known as the Courageous 12, who fought for the right to serve and protect their city, but little has been said about the women who stood silently behind their husbands in the fight for justice.”