Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 1-10-20

FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020
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Trio Working To Establish Lynching Markers For 5 Killed From Hillsborough County
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Between the years 1877 and 1950, Florida recorded some of the highest rates of lynchings of Black people in the country.
At least five of those victims are from Hillsborough County, and a trio of community lead- ers say it’s time they are memo- rialized.
Tampa City Council- man, Luis Viera, State Rep. Fentrice Driskell, and civil rights professor and attor- ney, Tammy Briant Sprat- ling are working together to get a marker erected that tells the stories of lynchings in the county.
The inspiration for the
marker comes from the Na- tional Memorial for Peace and Justice, a site where 800 steel monuments – engraved with the names of lynching victims and the counties where their deaths took place – hang from the ceiling. It opened in 2018.
The memorial is part of the Equal Justice Initiative, a non- profit organization founded by Bryan Stevenson that seeks to reverse mass incarceration by providing legal representa- tion to the wrongly convicted.
A location for the Hillsbor- ough County marker has not been selected – that’s some- thing the community will de- cide as a group, Councilman Viera told a gathering Friday at Café Con Tampa.
State Rep. Fentrice Driskell, City Councilman Luis Viera and Atty. Tammy Briant Spratling are working together to establish markers. (Facebook photo)
Fundraising efforts to pay
for the markers also remains unknown. But what’s not in question is the time for a public display acknowledging Black people killed by racial violence has come, Spratling said.
“It’s harder for us to deny that the history is still rele- vant,” she said. “Communities across the South are beginning to embrace this history and I think Tampa should be one of them.”
And it’s important that there be a physical marker not- ing that history, said Sprat- ling, who also is executive director of the non-profit or- ganization Community Tampa Bay.
“Visibility is absolutely es- sential,” she said.
Councilman Viera con- curred.
“We don’t acknowledge or talk about our sins. We don’t like to talk about it as Ameri- cans,” he said. “The sins that we do, we rephrase to make them look good. We gotta change that.”
Initiating an essay contest for Hillsborough students is one way to ensure that future generations know the truth, Rep. Driskell said.
Reaching older citizens will require a collective effort of in- dividuals appealing to their neighbors, family members, and friends, she said.
“We have a long way to grow,” she said. “So let’s keep at it.”
Kappas Celebrate 109th Anniversary
Dignitaries join in local chapters’ Founders’ Day celebration
Local dignitaries were among the nearly 100 members in attendance Friday, January 3, 2020, participating in the Founders’ Day Celebration of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., presented by Tampa Alumni Chapter and assisted by the Zeta Chi undergraduate chapter from the University of South Florida at the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Associa- tion.
It was a night of history, fel- lowship and rededication as members, whose time in the fra- ternity ranged from three months to 69 years, were treated to a program that hon- ored the 10 founders of the fra- ternity, as well as celebrated the history of Kappa, from the days of Kappa Alpha Nu to becoming Kappa Alpha Psi on Jan. 5, 2011.
“The Grand Fraternity is cel- ebrating 109 years of existence; founded by 10 great men of dis- tinction,” said Founders’ Day Committee Chairman Robert Irvin. “Every year we honor their memory, legacy, and achievement. In a time, early part of the 20th Century; in a place, Indiana University, they created an organization that has lasted over 100 years. They were able to accomplish this in an era
when African-Americans were new to university education, es- pecially in Indiana.”
In addition to visiting Kap- pas from St. Petersburg, Geor- gia, Virginia and California, were local members Lesley Miller, Chairman of the Hills- borough County Commission, City of Tampa Councilman Or- lando Guides, former Florida State Representative Edwin Narain, as well as Attorney Clinton Paris, who served as the Master of Ceremony for the event.
Kappa Alpha Psi was founded on the campus of the Indiana University. Its main purpose was to serve as a sup- port system to Black men in col- lege at the time. As the fraternity expanded to other colleges, the leaders felt support was needed beyond the collegiate years and to the communities. Thus, they chartered alumni chapters and opened the fraternity to all men. For 109 years, Kappa Alpha Psi has sought to inspire service in the public’s interest.
Tampa Alumni was char- tered in 1928 and has been in the forefront of serving and community assistance in the Tampa Bay area to this day – sponsoring programs, offering scholarships and mentoring youth through the chapter and the Tampa Guide Right Founda- tion.
Past Polemarchs (Presidents) of Tampa Alumni Chapter presented the chapter with this wooden Kappa Coat of Arms. From left to right: Watson T. Ragin, Ron Hubbard, Lesley Miller, Robert Irvin and Edwin Narain.
Members listening to Master of Ceremony, Attorney Clinton Paris during Friday’s Founders’ Day Celebration.
Kappas from as far as California were on hand to celebrate the 109th Anniversary of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Friday at the Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association.