Unless WE Tell It . . . It Never Gets Told!

Unless WE Tell It . . . It Never Gets Told! focuses on the Black history and the Civil Rights History of Jacksonville, Florida, and examines racism in Jacksonville, Florida, the state of Florida, and America. The book consists of two sections, “Real Stories about Blacks in Jacksonville, Florida” and “Confronting Racism.” It is Rodney L. Hurst Sr., civil rights activist, and author of the award-winning personal account of Jacksonville’s 1960 sit-in demonstrations and Ax Handle Saturday, It was never about a hot dog and a Coke®! second book. Stories of the historical achievements of great Black Americans —including Blacks in Jacksonville, Florida—are woefully unknown, as are many stories about the Civil Rights Movement. Unless WE Tell It . . . It Never Gets Told! tells some of those stories while also focusing on racism. In the academic arena there is a saying, “If it is not written down, it did not happen,” and Black history is seldom written on the pages of American history. Racism is also subject matter that does not make its way onto the pages of American history, and is often treated as a taboo subject or a four-letter word. Those who tire of hearing about racism should ask yourselves, what if you were Black and had to live through the daily vulgarity of racism? If you sit in a history classroom and only read about the contributions made by white Americans and white Europeans, then the “learning field” is never level. It is downright dishonest that American history as portrayed in history textbooks essentially makes the statement that Blacks made no salient contributions to this country. Blacks helped to develop this country before, during, and after slavery. You have to teach the truth without regard to what the textbooks proclaim.

Rodney L. Hurst Sr. is a civil rights activist and the author of It was never about a hot dog and a Coke(R)! In that personal account of civil rights demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida, Hurst recounted with clarity the bloody events of August 27, 1960-the day that came to be called Ax Handle Saturday-when two hundred whites with ax handles and baseball bats attacked members of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP who were peacefully sitting in at segregated lunch counters. It was never about a hot dog and a Coke(R)! is the winner of more than a dozen awards, including the USA Book News Book First Place Gold Medal Award for Multicultural Nonfiction, and the Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal in Nonfiction. Hurst speaks extensively on civil rights, racism, and Black history. In addition to his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, he served two four-year terms on the Jacksonville City Council, was the first Black to co-host a television talk show in Jacksonville (on PBS Channel WJCT), and was one of the original thirteen national recipients of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Television Fellowships. He loves classic rhythm and blues and Motown music.