Black in the Sunshine State
Reveal
The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
4.7 • 8.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2024
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the summer of 2023, Reveal host Al Letson felt compelled to return home to Jacksonville, Florida. His best friend had recently passed away following a long battle with cancer, and he wanted to be close to the place where they became men together.
But when he arrived, he found a city and state he barely recognized.
In recent years, the Republican-dominated legislature has passed a slate of laws targeting minority groups. Educators could now face criminal penalties over the material they teach regarding gender and sexuality. Schools across the state have banned books about queer families, transgender youth, and Black history.
Many of these legislative changes were part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ so-called “war on woke,” launched ahead of his failed bid for the presidency. This week on Reveal, Letson examines Black life in Florida, following a rare travel advisory by the NAACP stating that “Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.”
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in January 2024.
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| 0:00.0 | From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX, this is reveal. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Al Lettson. |
| 0:07.0 | Recently, after a long battle with cancer, my best friend passed away, |
| 0:12.0 | and I felt called to come back home to just be close to the place where we became men together |
| 0:20.0 | So in the summer of 2023, I went back to my hometown Jacksonville, Florida. |
| 0:25.0 | I feel like the St. John's River that cuts through the city runs in my bloodstream. |
| 0:31.0 | It's home. |
| 0:32.0 | When I was younger, I just wanted to get as far away from the |
| 0:36.4 | city as I could. As a black kid growing up in the south, I was surrounded by Confederate flags, |
| 0:42.0 | schools named after white supremacist, and all the gentle |
| 0:45.3 | and not so gentle reminders to stay in your place. |
| 0:49.8 | I left, but home is like a gravity well and no matter how far I got from it it always |
| 0:57.3 | pulled me back. When I was younger I didn't know what to call it but I do now. It's love. |
| 1:04.0 | So I spent the summer in Jacksonville. |
| 1:07.0 | I'm Alleta, you're listening to First Coast Connect and we are going to have a robust conversation today. |
| 1:14.0 | And while I was there, I picked up a part-time gig at the local NPR affiliate, WJCT, my home station, |
| 1:21.2 | as the interim host of their call-in show. |
| 1:23.4 | And we got Francis in Springfield. |
| 1:25.7 | Francis, how are you this morning? |
| 1:27.7 | I'm fine, Al, how are you? |
| 1:29.3 | I'm good, thanks for calling. |
| 1:31.0 | That's good. |
... |
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