“It is a struggle.  It is a battle that has to be fought and you understand in this battle, and this struggle, not to be cliché about it, but that it is not a sprint, but a marathon, yet it is worth fighting.”  — Rodney Lawrence Hurst Sr.

This was a beautiful exchange with Rodney Lawrence Hurst, Sr., an elegant man of great dignity on racism and the struggle of African-Americans in America.  In this show, I was both inspired by Mr. Hurst’s fierce intelligence and the warmth of his heart.   We talk about his participation in Ax Handle Saturday and so much more.

We open the show with a wonderful exchange about the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

It was never about a hot dog and a Coke®! is subtitled A Personal Account of the 1960 Sit-in Demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida and Ax Handle Saturday.

It is Hurst’s personal eyewitness account, as President of the Jacksonville Florida Youth Council NAACP, of the events leading up to, and the fallout from, the bloody events of August 27, 1960.  On that day, 200 ax handle and baseball bat wielding whites attacked members of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, who were “sitting-in” at white lunch counters in downtown Jacksonville peacefully protesting segregation.

Other Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

* Hope and History Mural Project 

* Lies My Teacher Taught Me