TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In a state so often bitterly divided along partisan lines, Democrats and Republicans alike were moved to tears as they gathered in Florida's capitol on Thursday to honor the life and legacy of Democratic state Sen. Geraldine Thompson, a longtime legislator, civil rights legend and educator who died on Feb. 13 at the age of 76, following complications from knee-replacement surgery.
Thompson’s husband and family members sat at her desk on the Senate floor, which was adorned with a bouquet of white roses and a black cloth, as her colleagues prayed, sang and shared their remembrances.
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A champion of voting rights and Black history, Thompson's tenure in the capitol began as a staffer for the first Black woman elected to the Florida Legislature, Gwen Cherry, before Thompson went on to her own terms of service in the House and Senate, where she represented central Florida for more than 15 years.
She went toe-to-toe with Republican leaders to oppose what she saw as unconstitutional gerrymandering of voting districts and to defend the state's Black history, at a time when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has worked to restrict how the darkest chapters of the state's story can be told in Florida classrooms.
Speaking at Thursday's memorial service, Democratic state Sen. Darryl Rouson said Thompson “epitomized Black history.”
“I’m reminded of the African proverb that says, ‘when an elder dies, a library is burned to the ground.' We’ve lost one of our premier and prestigious libraries with the passing of Senator Thompson," Rouson said.
In a condolence letter written to Thompson's family and read by Democratic state Sen. Tracie Davis, former President Barack Obama called Thompson “a model of the best kind of public service” whose “trailblazing legacy” will live on through the many lives she touched.
Democratic state Sen. Rosalind Osgood first saw the late lawmaker in action in the capitol back in 2000, long before Osgood herself was elected to the legislature. For Osgood, Thompson was living proof that Black women belong in the state’s halls of power.
“Just seeing these Black women legislate,” Osgood said, “it was mesmerizing.”
A beloved leader of the state's Legislative Black Caucus, Thompson is remembered as the conscience of the Florida Senate and a “living history lesson,” someone who was deeply respected by her fellow lawmakers and the rare figure who could command her colleagues' full attention when she took to her feet to speak on the chamber floor.
“You know that when you’re debating, everybody might not be listening,” Republican state Sen. Ed Hooper said, “except when Geraldine spoke.”
A public school teacher, community college administrator and historian, Thompson also founded the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture in Orlando and served as chair of the task force charged with building a state museum of African American history.
She was known for donning the costumes of Black trailblazers in Florida history and giving portrayals of them on the Senate floor that her colleagues called “mesmerizing.”
Speaking at Thursday's memorial service, Republican state Sen. Don Gaetz recalled racing out of a meeting with the then-House speaker to witness Thompson bringing to life the story of pioneering Black female aviator Bessie Coleman.
“I didn't know the story. I didn't know it until she told it in the first person," Gaetz said. "And I can tell you that I believed that Geraldine Thompson could fly. And I still do.”
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.