MR. RUTLEDGE HENRY PEARSON.

I first heard Mr. Pearson repeat those words when I was eleven*.
I transferred from segregated and Black James Weldon Johnson Junior High School, here in Jacksonville, to segregated and Black Isaiah Blocker Junior High School, where I enrolled in Mr. Pearson's 8th-grade American History class. Those words resonated with me 67 years ago, and they still resonate with me today.
He also invited students in his classes to join the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, which I did at age 11. Mr. Pearson was the Youth Council Advisor. He would become my mentor.
This picture was taken in City Hall, where the ceremony was held to rename the Kings Road Post Office to the Rutledge H. Pearson Post Office. The federal legislation to rename the post office was introduced by Congressman Al Lawson.
(*I started school when I was 5 and "got skipped," so I was 11 years old in the 8th grade.)