History & Politics
Derek Boyd Hankerson has been actively engaged in government and politics for 37 years and started his career with the Reagan-Bush 1984 presidential campaign. At the age of 18, he first served as staff on the Reagan-Bush ’84 in the political division in Washington D.C. and then worked with “African-Americans for Regan-Bush.” Mr. Hankerson is a faculty member who conducts primary research, a world traveler, and a published author and filmmaker. He gives presentations and lectures on accurate American history including the African and Spanish Diaspora and the great migration of Africans in the New World. He also presents on Florida’s rich, maritime and multi-cultural past, international history, and government politics. Mr. Hankerson serves as Producer of Hankerson and Henry and Beatrice-Boyd Productions, an independent film and digital production company located in St. Johns and Palm Beach County. Mr. Hankerson is a graduate of the University of Maryland and received a B.A. in government and politics. He received his M.A. in management and leadership from Webster University.
St. Augustine During the Civil Rights Movement
Did you know: What led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act? The answer was St. Augustine’s 400th anniversary!
In the spring of 1964, the city of St. Augustine was scheduled to celebrate its 400th anniversary. The city was expected to get national and international attention! Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), “launched a massive campaign supporting the small local movement to end racial discrimination in the nation’s oldest city. King hoped that demonstrations there would lead to local desegregation and that media attention would garner national support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was then stalled in a congressional filibuster.” Unfortunately, the planning officials excluded African Americans from planning of the festivities. At that time, St. Augustine was known as the most racist town in the United States. St. Augustine had a population of around 15,000 and was dependent on tourism. Black people accounted for approximately 23% of the population! The federal government's racial segregation and Jim Crow laws prevented Black people from playing any sort of leading role in the local economic affairs.
Join Derek Hankerson, Communications Director of Spanish Main Antiques (https://www.spanishmainantiques.com/), as we explore St. Augustine during segregation, discuss the events that led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and watch a film that highlight’s African Americans 450 years of contributions to Florida. Mr. Hankerson’s great-aunt, Annie Mae Hankerson Fields White, lived at 82 Bridge Street in a twelve room Victorian home from 1930–1999. Annie Mae was Dean of Girls at Florida Memorial College and lived on the main road in Lincolnville where the major civil rights events and parades occurred. She shared her love of history and education with her great-nephew as he shares it today! Annie Mae’s son, Dr. Julius Gazelle Fields, was a captain in the U.S. Army and the first African-American native of St. Johns County to become a physician. Dr. Fields acquired his Florida medical license in 1951 and served both Caucasian and African-American patients during segregation in St. Augustine, which was known at the time as being at the time “the most segregated community in American in 1964.”
Register Early! There is a $5 charge for registering on the day of a one-time lecture or event.
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Course # W1W3 — One Time Event
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Place: | Room 151 (Annex), Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
Dates: | Wednesday, February 15 2023 |
Time: | 2:30 - 4 PM |
Fee: | $30 / member; $35 / non-member |
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