Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 11-3-17

Local
Library To Bear Name Of Former State Senator
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Wednesday, the Hills- borough County Board of Com- missioners voted 7-0 to name a library under construction in honor of a former State Sena- tor. The library is slated to open in early 2018.
Commissioner Victor Crist made the motion to name the library after Senator Arthenia Joyner. The mo- tion was seconded by Com- missioner Les Miller, Jr.
When contacted by the
Sentinel, Senator Joyner said, “It gives me great joy to know that a public library will bear my name.
“The written word has al- ways played a very important role throughout my life and it’s vital that books remain within reach of all people to educate, to inspire, and to enrich our lives. This library will do all of that and more.”
The Arthenia Joyner Uni- versity Area Community Li-
brary will be located at 13619 N. 22nd Street, Tampa, 33613.
About Senator Joyner
A native of Lakeland, Sen- ator Joyner graduated from Middleton High School, and was accepted at Florida A & M University, where she earned
her degree in 1964.
It was during her early
years that she first revealed what was to become a lifetime of activism in the fight for Civil Rights. She took an active role in two sit-ins at theaters and churches.
She was arrested twice.
After graduating from FAMU, Senator Joyner re- turned to Tampa and taught at Booker T. Washington Junior High School for a year. She then continued her education at the Florida A & M Univer- sity, School of Law, graduating in 1968.
However, after she gradu- ated, she experienced another form of discrimination. She found firms were not eager to hire a Black female lawyer.
SENATOR ARTHENIA JOYNER
With the help of her father, the late Henry Joyner, she obtained loan to open her own law office, where she practiced with Delano Stewart. She be- came the first African Ameri- can woman to practice law in Hillsborough County.
Her first exposure to the legislation came about when she served as a Legislative As- sistant to former State Repre- sentative Joe Lang Kershaw. They were the only two Blacks in the State Capitol who were not part of the janito- rial staff.
Senator Joyner won her first legislative election in 2000, becoming the first
African American woman from Hillsborough County to accom- plish this feat. After serving two terms as a Representative, Senator Joyner was elected to the Florida Senate.
She became the first Black female to lead the Senate Dem- ocratic Caucus from 2014 through 2016. Her tenure as a Senator was brought to a close as a result of term limits. She served as an elected official for 16 years.
Earlier this year, Senator Joyner became a member of the Vanguard Attorneys Law
Firm. Having practiced law for 47 years, she is the first African American woman in Florida history to achieve this mile- stone.
Her most recent accom- plishment came about when she was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court to serve on the 2017 Con- stitutional Revision Commis- sion. The Constitutional Revision Commission is a panel of jurist assembled every 20 years to review the state Consti- tution and make recommenda- tions for changes.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-A