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Uhuru Leader Outraged That City Is Discussing Returning Mural
OMALI YESHITELA Uhuru Founder
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
In 1966, Omali Yeshitela (Joseph Waller) and others were spearheading the Black Power Movement in the area. As a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Yeshitela participated in the American Civil Rights Move- ment in his youth during the 1950s and 1960s.
At the height of the move- ment in 1966, Yeshitela was arrested when he tore a mural displayed at City Hall from the wall. The mural depicted Black musicians serenading white partygoers, a scene Yeshitela considered a degrading carica- ture of African Americans.
Herman Goldner, who was Mayor of St. Petersburg at the time and a civil rights ad- vocate himself, rejected Yeshitela’s claim, saying he found nothing offensive in the portrayal of strolling trouba- dours and picnickers at Pass- a-Grille Beach. Goldner said he wasn’t a racist, and that all of the city’s minority groups “must mature to the point where self-consciousness is not a motivating factor for complaints.”
Yeshitela spent 2-1/2 years in jail and prison, and after his release, he was stripped of his right to vote until Governor Jeb Bush and three members of the Florida Cabinet restored his voting rights in 2000.
“In 1966, we were just get- ting organized in our efforts to police the police, and clean up our community,” said Yeshitela.
“We started protesting the announcement that the city was going to use $50 million to beautify downtown rather than use the money to improve the conditions in the Black community. It was during that time we told the city a mural adorning a wall in City Hall was offensive.”
In December 1966, Yeshitela snatched the mural from the wall, and now some 50 years later, a committee has been formed to replace the mural.
“I would have loved to have gotten an invitation to attend
Omali Yeshitela (sunglasses right) holds the mural he snatched from City Hall as he and other protesters march through downtown St. Petersburg.
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the initial meetings before a committee was put together. Now, they say my input is vital, because they want to jus- tify their actions.
“My position is why wasn’t I and the African Americans told about this before a com- mittee was put together? It seems they’ve already made up their minds.”
Yeshitela said because of where the mural was hanging made it more offensive to African Americans visiting City Hall.
“The funny thing is there was no opposition when the mural was put up, and no one ever mentioned it was going up. It went unspoken of until I tore it down.
“Now, they want the mural to be an act of symbolic signif- icance, but that’s not how they really see it. A $10,000 bid was sent out by the city for an artist to either copy the origi- nal mural or paint another one. They want something to
represent an idea that doesn’t exist.”
Yeshitela said after he snatched the mural from the wall, it was taken away from him when he was arrested, and when he inquired about its whereabouts, he was told it couldn’t be found.
“They could have put the mural back after they took it from me, but they knew it was offensive.
“The whole thing is a joke and I’m very offended. They want to do something to pat themselves on the back.”
Yeshitela said since his act 50 years ago, the relation- ship between the city and the African American community has gotten worse.
“When you look at the de- cline of Black owned busi- nesses, how can anyone say things are better?
“Every day, the bulldozer is gassed up, and ready to tear through another Black neigh- borhood.”
The controversial mural.
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