Category: News

  • ‘Teach the unvarnished truth:’ Thompson, Frost condemn Florida’s Black history standards

    ‘Teach the unvarnished truth:’ Thompson, Frost condemn Florida’s Black history standards

    Several of Central Florida’s Black leaders and descendants of victims of the Ocoee and Rosewood massacres on Saturday denounced the state’s controversial African American history standards. State Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, hosted the “Speak Out Town Hall,” which featured U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost. The event, held in the gymnasium of the James R. Smith Center…

  • State should be ashamed of slavery education plans

    State should be ashamed of slavery education plans

    In the Orlando Sentinel, July 29, 2023 GUEST COLUMNIST, Harry Coverston State should be ashamed of slavery education plans I am a sixth-generation Floridian, the descendant of slavers. I had nothing to say about my ancestors. But I have a lot to say about how we understand them today. I am also a fourth-generation teacher.…

  • The Yard

    The Yard

    ATJ hosted a community screening and panel discussion of the documentary film, The Yard in March 2019. The Yard details the discovery of a  former slave market site buried underneath a church parking lot in Memphis. On the site there also existed a marker dedicated to Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forest, one of the founders of the KKK. The…

  • Rosewood, Florida, marks 100 years since race massacre. Here’s what happened

    Rosewood, Florida, marks 100 years since race massacre. Here’s what happened

    CNN —  In the years after World War I, Black people were thriving in the central Florida town of Rosewood when a White mob driven by racial animosity decimated the entire community within days. Rosewood became the site of a horrific massacre 100 years ago, during the first week of January in 1923. This rural town was…

  • Ocoee Remembrance 2022

    Ocoee Remembrance 2022

    Ocoee Remembrance activities were held on November 4-6, 2022, to commemorate the Voting Day Massacre of November 1920. One event, a Unity Festival, dedicated to fostering unity among the diverse elements of the Ocoee community, was held in Bill Breeze Park on Saturday, the 5th. That afternoon was a day of remembrance and community engagement.…

  • Interview with Bill Cowles, Supervisor of Elections

    Interview with Bill Cowles, Supervisor of Elections

    ATJ Member Charley Williams recently interviewed Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles about the August Primary. Questions and answers follow:  Bill, our Aug 23rd Florida Primary is coming up. Is there something for every voter on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation? Yes. There is a ballot for ALL Voters in Orange County. Besides…

  • Orange County Regional History Center

    Orange County Regional History Center

    ATJ partnered with the Orange County Regional History Center on an exhibition to further educate the public about the Ocoee Massacre.Yesterday This Was Home: The Ocoee Massacre of 1920, took place from from October 3, 2020 to April 4, 2021. Previous Next