Latest news with #ArtheniaJoyner
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Surviving participants of Woolworth sit-ins honored ahead of anniversary
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)— The remaining surviving participants of Tampa's Historic Woolworth sit-ins were honored Thursday ahead of the 65th anniversary of the demonstrations. According to the City of Tampa, the movement helped shape the city's Civil Rights history. Numerous speakers were in attendance like Senator Arthenia Joyner, Mayor Jane Castor, and Shirley Lowry, widow of Rev. A. Leon Lowry. You can watch the event in the video player above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tampa's Path to Equality Part 6: The 'Tampa Technique'
The Brief In 1960, Tampa benefited from having the first southern governor to denounce segregation, the first mayor to help integrate the lunch counters and black and white community leaders who helped keep the peace. Rev. A. Leon Lowry, who helped integrate the lunch counters in 1960, helped negotiate another period of progress and peace. The riots played out, law enforcement policies changed and Tampa committed to increased job training and other investments. TAMPA - Tampa is celebrating the anniversary of its first sit-in at the end of Black History Month. On February 29, 1960, peaceful protests of segregation helped take down Jim Crow Laws in Tampa, and inspired efforts to integrate lunch counters across the nation. In 1960, Tampa benefited from having the first southern governor to denounce segregation, the first mayor to help integrate the lunch counters and black and white community leaders who helped keep the peace. Tampa also had one of the most successful hubs of black-owned businesses and neighborhoods south of Harlem along Central Ave. What they're saying "Central Avenue was the mecca of black businesses," said Arthenia Joyner, who participated in Tampa's sit-ins. That is, until the powers-that-be decided to build the interstate through the community. Many of the properties around Central Ave. were condemned. "It was just a dream for me to have that exposure as a kid. And it was all gone," Joyner said. READ: Tampa's Path to Equality Part 4: The Sit-ins Stores and homes ran down, good paying jobs were scarce and black families struggled to get loans from banks to shop for homes elsewhere. "There was something called redlining," said civil rights historian Dr. Steven Lawson. "They've literally circled areas where blacks would not have access to." Resentment simmered until it exploded. Riots broke out on June 11, 1967, after police shot and killed a fleeing robbery suspect. At the time, Tampa NAACP leader Bob Gilder said, "I feel there are many causes. This (police shooting) is just the straw that broke the camel's back." Fires and looting destroyed or heavily damaged much of Central Ave. that remained. Tampa forgot how it became the nation's bellwether for race relations just seven years before. It lost sight of what the rest of the nation called the 'Tampa Technique'. "The 'Tampa Technique' was a product of people who cared and who believed and reasoned and believed in dialog," Dr. Lawson said. READ: Tampa's Path to Equality Part 2: The Awakening Rev. A. Leon Lowry, who helped integrate the lunch counters in 1960, helped negotiate another period of progress and peace. The city withdrew forces and trusted young men who lived in the reeling community to help restore order. The riots played out, law enforcement policies changed and Tampa committed to increased job training and other investments. They also re-learned the value of dialog, negotiation and nonviolent resistance. "You've got to have people who are making themselves heard and present. And then you hope a kind of 'Tampa Technique' will resolve these issues," noted Lawson. What's next The 'Tampa Technique' and the story behind the city's civil rights movement is now playing out on stage in a play called, 'When the Righteous Triumph." In 2025, the producers at Stageworks partnered with the Straz Center to host it at the Jaeb Theatre starting on March 6. In the final part of his series, FOX 13's Craig Patrick meets the writer and cast, and shows how the lessons of Tampa's sit-ins can inspire more positive change. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The Source Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Craig Patrick. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tampa's Path to Equality Part 2: The Awakening
The Brief Students leading sit-ins at a segregated lunch counter in Tampa back in 1960 led to the integration of lunch counters throughout the city. The story of Tampa's civil rights movement is different from the conflicts seen in Birmingham and Selma. The full story never received the national attention it deserved on purpose. TAMPA, Fla. - One of the most important and least known chapters in Black history played out in Tampa. On February 29, 1960, students led sit-ins at a segregated lunch counter, and it led to the integration of lunch counters throughout the city. The story of Tampa's civil rights movement is quite different from the conflicts of Birmingham and Selma. PREVIOUS: Tampa's Path to Equality Part 1: The First Steps It served as a guiding light for the rest of the nation. "There was no violence," said Arthenia Joyner, who participated in the first sit-in. "There was leadership on both sides." The full story never received the national attention it deserved on purpose. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube "The press found out about this afterwards. And it went well," said civil rights historian Dr. Steven Lawson. FOX 13 combed through boxes of records at the University of South Florida and Tampa city archives and digitized our station's old news films to piece them all together. The city we know today looked much smaller in 1959 and had a different feel than the rest of the south. "Tampa was unique, because Tampa had been the Ellis Island of so many foreigners that came here as Tampa was developing," said retired judge and oral historian E.J. Salcines. "You had Spanish, you had Cubans, you had Italians, you had Greeks in Tarpon Springs," noted Lawson. READ: Insurance premiums soaring for Bay Area homeowners However, Tampa was also a tangle of contradictions — a cigar industry in decline, in a city on the move, and a city blended by race and divided by race. "Segregation was still very much a part of life in Tampa. Everything that we did was separate," said Dr. Cheryl Rodriguez, a USF professor of Africana Studies. In its 1950s heyday, Tampa's African American community on Central Avenue was the Harlem of the South. "And my God, on the weekends, everybody dressed up and came Central Avenue," Joyner said. "You were immersed in a world of people who cared about you." However, it was also a world in which white supremacists lynched Blacks, and the Ku Klux Klan rallied outside Joyner's home. MORE:State leaders say we are paying for storm damage that never happened "I remember so well telling my dad I was afraid when they marched, and we out the window and saw him, and he said, 'don't worry, I'll protect you. But you know, everybody doesn't love you. We do. Don't worry. I'll protect you,'" she said. That empowered students like Arthenia Joyner to challenge injustice at just the right moment — February 29, 1960 — and in just the right place — the City of Tampa. Tuesday evening at 6 p.m., FOX 13 Chief Investigator Craig Patrick will continue his series with a look at what set the players and pieces in motion. The Source The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13 Chief Investigator Craig Patrick. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app:Apple |Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
