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ISBN-13: 978-1595941954. ISBN-10: 1595941959
It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke®! (Jan 1, 2008)
Rodney L. Hurst recounts with clarity the segregated civic, political, and educational climate of Jacksonville, Florida in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. "It Was Never About a Hot Dog and a Coke®" recalls the 1960 Jacksonville sit-in demonstrations through the eyes the President of the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, a then sixteen-year-old Hurst. Chronicled in this book is detailed history of the bloody events that transpired on August 27, 1960, a day that the press labeled Ax Handle Saturday. On that day, 200 Whites with ax handles and baseball bats attacked members of the Council who peacefully demonstrating at white-only lunch counters in downtown Jacksonville. The attacks didn't stop there, they brutally beat any Black that could be found on the streets that afternoon. This historical account covers why they demonstrated and the aftermath that followed that fateful day.
Reviews
“This book is awesome and eye opening. This is a book everyone, regardless of race, religion or creed, should read. I hope teachers everywhere will consider this book as part of curriculum in American History classes. I also hope it can be a tool to opening people's eyes to the damage stupidity and ignorance can bring. Bless Mr. Hurst for this non-media biased peek into the events of that era in our history.”
-Sabrina Sumshion-Sabrina Reviews
Unless WE Tell It... It Never Gets Told!
ISBN-13: 978-0578174532. ISBN-10: 0578174537
Unless WE Tell It... It Never Gets Told! (Dec 8, 2015)
History, as it is usually told, ignores those Blacks who fought for equality and justice against great odds while also fighting against the racism of America. In his second book, Hurst tells the stories of some of Jacksonville’s notable Blacks, those who not only impacted the city but also the country at large. A contemporary book of America’s Black History, Hurst shares historical accounts of Floridians who played important roles in America’s Civil Rights History and those who were, and continue to be, essential components of Black America’s historic fight against Racism.
In "Unless WE Tell It... It Never Gets Told!," Hurst discusses the racist forces in America who would like to revise American history. But Hurst refuses to “pretty up” the abhorrent practices of slavery or to allow the South’s participation in the misnamed Civil War to be romanticized. He does not ignore the impact of Jim Crow laws, nor does he conceal the obscenely violent acts perpetrated against the Civil Rights Movement. It is easy to think that relations have gotten better and that things have changed when you are not feeling the brunt of racism. But, that is far from the case, and explored within this book is the fact that there are those in this country who have an apparent penchant to return to a past that absolves racist attitudes.
New Release! Never Forget Who You Are
Never Forget Who You Are:
Conversations About Racism and Identity Development
Never Forget Who You Are: Conversations About Racism and Identity Development is a cross-generational conversation between a baby boomer and a Generation Xer that wrestles with what it means to be Black in America. In an attempt to inspire increased attention to sustained racist ideas, Rodney L. Hurst Sr. and Rudy F. Jamison Jr. offer you two options, and they are both beneficially good. You will read two philosophies and two lived experienpresent historical contexts, preserved social orders, personal anecdotes, and possible solutions to race relations in America. Because America has created a caste system that categorizes humanity based on power and pigmentation, and refuses to address the severity of racism as an indelible issue, racism and identity development are structural and institutional impediments for Black folk. To be Black in America, and to not camouflage your blackness behind a veil of concession, is to perpetually resist the psychological contortion expected by a dominant White culture. The degree to which Blacks must deny who they are in White spaces may not be an issue for the dominant power structure, but if you’re unapologetically Black, you know the struggle is real.