JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Wednesday marks 65 years since a mob of white men attacked Black teenagers for attempting to integrate lunch counters in downtown Jacksonville, an attack known as Ax Handle Saturday.
A commemoration ceremony will be held on Wednesday evening to honor the memory of those who fought to bring equality to Jacksonville.
RELATED | Newly unearthed footage offers glimpse into Ax Handle Saturday
On Aug. 27, 1960, a mob of white men with axes and bats attacked Black people after a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in downtown Jacksonville, previously Hemming Park, now known as James Weldon Johnson Park.
Rodney Hurst was among the teens participating in the sit-ins. He was a member of the NAACP Youth Council. They were mentored and led by school teacher Rutledge Pearson as their advisor.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t remember those days, 65 years ago,” said Hurst.
Hurst, now 82 years old, said his memory of the civil rights movement remains because he lived it.
“We were intent on being a part of the solution and fighting the insidiousness and the insults of a store inviting you in to spend your money, but only where they wanted you to spend your money,” said Hurst.
Everything was segregated, from public bathrooms and water fountains to beaches and movie theaters.
The teenagers and others were attacked 65 years ago, but as time moved on, the story became unfamiliar. But Hurst has worked to remind people of a time when humanity was cruel solely because of race.
He wrote about it in this book, “It Was Never About a Hotdog and a Coke.”
“When you understand a story that’s a part of you, not instead of something but in addition to, and no matter how hateful that history is, it is history, nonetheless,” said Hurst.
At the time of the attacks, the mainstream media blacked out coverage of the attacks.
But four years ago, 61 years after the attack, newly surfaced footage offered a rare glimpse at the violent attack.
The video was released by the Jacksonville Historical Society. While there is no audio, the graphic violence shown in the 44-second clip speaks volumes about what took place that day in Jacksonville.
“It’s a footnote in history. It’s something that happened. It’s like other civil rights events,” Hurst said. “You internalize, you read about it, you study about it, you know about it, so it does not happen again.
The NAACP will hold a ceremony Wednesday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Ax Handle Saturday attacks from 6 to 8 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Oakland on Jessie Street. The ceremony will also honor 12 pioneers for their work in the community.