Honored and Proud!

​"UNLESS WE TELL IT" WINS FIRST PLACE IN THE JACKSONVILLE LOL (LOVING OUR LOCALS) FILM FESTIVAL.

I am Honored and Proud. First, a bit of background-I was angry when I first wrote my first book, "It was never about a hot dog and a Coke!" fourteen years ago about the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP 1960 Sit-ins and Ax Handle Saturday, based on the relentless lies many told about the 1960 sit-ins and that infamously violent day. I wanted to set the record straight in my book as the President of the Youth Council NAACP, and I did.

My second book is entitled "Unless WE Tell It...It Never Gets Told!" The title of the mini documentary is "Unless We Tell It." Kyle selected the title and did a masterful job with visuals and my words. "Unless We Tell It" was a collaboration: between me; my grandson-in-law (in-love as many now say), Kyle Dorrell; my granddaughter, Marquiette D Dorrell (Mar-Kita); and their company, "Weighed Sailor."

(For the record, my third book is "Never Forget Who You Are: Conversations About Racism and Identity Development" with Dr. Rudy F. Jamison as the co-author.)
I worked with Kyle on other Black History projects and was impressed with his video and film artistry. This "mini-documentary" about the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP 1960 Sit-ins and Ax Handle Saturday is the first video I have been a part of with my editorial control.

Kyle is quite an artistic videographer. Of course, the fact he and my granddaughter are Everly Ann's parents doesn't hurt either. They get to work with Everly Ann's great-grandfather.

We must tell the story. As the President of the 1960 Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP and a leader of the sit-ins resulting in that infamous day called "Ax Handle Saturday," I am telling it.

Again, I am Honored and Proud of the recognition of this great Civil Rights story about young Black leadership in Jacksonville and the recognition of the excellent quality of Kyle's videography.
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Look for the video to have its first public viewing, after the Festival, during the Inaugural Jacksonville Civil Rights Conference, August 25-27, 2022. Are plans in the offing to expand it to a full documentary? Possible.