Listening to Black Voices

World Series Champ John 'T-Bone' Shelby on His Passion for Baseball and Never Giving Up

Shelby, who's now retired and lives in Sarasota, won two World Series championships with the Baltimore Orioles and the L.A. Dodgers, and coached for many years.

03/18/2024 By Heather Dunhill

Q & A

A Conversation Between Pioneering Journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Sarasota Magazine's Heather Dunhill

An intimate discussion that touches on race, friendship and Sarasota.

03/08/2024 By Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Listening to Black Voices

Dale Booker on the Experiences That Shaped Her and the Realities of Living in Florida as a Black Woman

"It’s disconcerting that many of Florida's transplants seem to have never been exposed to Blacks before."

02/19/2024 By Heather Dunhill

Q & A

Glenda Hatchett: 'Black History Is Not Just for Black People. It Is for All of Us.'

The judge, attorney and television star traveled to Sarasota last week for an event dedicated to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

02/12/2024 By Jessika Ward

Listening to Black Voices

Spelman College President Dr. Helene Gayle on Higher Education, Affirmative Action and Black Excellence

“If we are going to lean into who we are becoming as a nation—which is much more diverse and where we will be a majority minority society over the next several decades—we’ve got to grapple with the importance of diversity."

01/09/2024 By Heather Dunhill

Unity Awards

David Wilkins Brings Black History to Students Who Aren’t Learning It at School

Freedom School is a series of free lessons on African and African American history for students in grades K-12 that launched last February and was renewed and expanded last fall.

01/01/2024 By Cooper Levey-Baker

Listening to Black Voices

The Hon. Charles Williams on the Importance of Patience and Empathy in the Legal System

Williams also shares what it was like growing up in segregated St. Pete, as well as a touching story about meeting his idol, boxer and activist Muhammad Ali.

12/11/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Listening to Black Voices

Chandra Bivens Carty on Reclaiming Her Family's History

Carty's great-great-grandfather was enslaved at Manatee County's Gamble Plantation. Carty is working to establish a memorial that honors him and the other 150-190 enslaved people who worked at the plantation.

08/15/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Sarasota Sisterhood

How the Sarasota Woman's Club Transformed Our City

"Almost from the moment Sarasota was settled, women were playing a major role.”

08/02/2023 By Elizabeth Djinis

Listening to Black Voices

Shirley Miller on Sex Education and Civil Rights

Miller spent more than 30 years of her career designing and implementing sex education programs in more than 70 countries.

07/11/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Historical Holiday

Juneteenth Is This Monday. Here Are Some Ways to Celebrate.

Juneteenth celebrates the day that enslaved people in Texas learned they were free—two years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

06/12/2023 By Chloe Nelson

Listening to Black Voices

Francina Hollaway on Growing Up in Segregated Florida and Integrating Her Elementary School

Throughout her education, Hollaway focused on excelling at math. "Writing can be critiqued because it's subjective," she explains. "But in math, there’s only one right answer.”

06/12/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Q & A

Author Alvin Hall on the Green Book and the History of Black Resistance

Hall shares a deeply researched journey inspired by the historical Green Book traveler’s guide for Black Americans during the Jim Crow era.

05/31/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Listening to Black Voices

Longtime Educator Dr. Caryl J. Sheffield on the Power of Culturally Sensitive Teaching

Sheffield, a retired professor, also shares the story of her paternal grandfather, Caesar Sheffield, who was lynched in the early 1900s, and how his death resonated in her family.

05/09/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Listening to Black Voices

David Wilkins on Reconstruction, Reparation and Black Excellence

“Some people don’t want that history to be taught. It challenges the myth they like to maintain."

04/10/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Listening to Black Voices

Longtime Human Resources Executive Mirian Graddick-Weir on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The daughter of a former nun and NASA's director of education, Graddick-Weir was most recently executive vice-president of HR at Merck.

03/13/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Black History in Song

Charlayne Hunter-Gault to Narrate Florida's Premier of "The Children's March"

The piece tells the story of a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement.

02/24/2023 By Staff

Listening to Black Voices

Dr. Janjay Gehndyu on Emotional Intelligence and the Power of Education

Gehndyu is the principal of Visible Men Academy.

02/06/2023 By Heather Dunhill

Listening to Black Voices

Tomeika Hunter-Koski on Serving in the Army, Education and Her Charitable Work in Africa

“For decades, Black people have been told to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps when too many of us don’t have boots—and the powers that be continue to systemically keep the boots out of reach."

01/11/2023 By Heather Dunhill

On the Radio

Activist Demetrius Jifunza Will Discuss Amendment 4, Voting Rights With Legal Aid of Manasota

Jifunza was instrumental in the passage of Amendment 4, which restores voting rights to more than 1 million people in Florida previously convicted of felonies.

12/19/2022 By Staff