ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The movement for social justice is sweeping the nation. Spectrum Bay News 9's Cait McVey sat down for some candid conversations with members of the community, who shared with us their individual experiences with racism and their feelings on the movement for equality.
THELMA BRUCE
Thelma Bruce, 71, is a retired social worker who was born and raised in the City of St. Petersburg. Bruce recalled when she was a little girl and much of the area was still segregated.
“As a young child, I generally went to Tallahassee to spend my summers with my aunt and my cousin. On those trips, there was a big truck stop in Chiefland, Florida,” said Bruce. “And I remember vividly, we always went around the back and I remember it being a small area with tables and chairs. We were in the kitchen. We could see the cooks. As a child, I didn’t think about it because I was used to being around all blacks. But in retrospect, it was racism in its finest. We weren’t allowed in the front.”
Bruce went on to graduate high school and attend Florida State University on a full scholarship, receiving both her bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work. She retired from the profession in 2005.
Bruce said she supports the peaceful movement for social justice.
“I just think right now is that time. We protested. We marched in past years over and over again. But right now there is this surge of we will not give up,” Bruce said. “It has always been a mixed movement. We had whites marching with Dr. Martin Luther King. This time there just seems to be just an array of colors, of people, of races all over the world. You have to respond. There’s no way that you can’t.”
MICHAEL SHORTER
Michael Shorter graduated from Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg and later from St. Pete College’s funeral services program. He is currently a minister at Mt. Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church.
Shorter is now a father and describes his feelings on racism from that perspective.
“I know for me, having a 4-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter, my conversations will be there. Because not only of our climate today but the transition in our society,” Shorter said.
The 33-year-old said racism affects aspects of everyday life that some take for granted.
“As a black person, my reality is I have to assume the worst and hope the best. If I am leaving work and I look like this, you know if I go to the grocery store, I walk in much differently than I do if it’s the weekend and I have on casual clothes,” Shorter said. “I have found myself putting on a polo and dress shirt verses a t-shirt and jeans because the reaction is going to be different. Depending on what I wear will determine if I walk directly to my car because I’m walking past an older white lady. Or if I go around a couple cars because I don’t want her to be startled because there’s a black gentleman walking by her.”
Shorter calls the social justice movement of today both sad and exciting at the same time.
“Saddening because we’ve had to experience over the last few months three people literally murdered on camera in order for these things to begin to happen,” Shorter said. “But the exciting part is there have been some level of consistency. My hope and belief is there will be a greater focus on systemic change. I truly do believe it’s going to be a part of history. I think we’ll look back and this will be another pivotal moment in the progression of black people in America.”
LAQUANDA EVERETT
Laquanda Everett, 42, lives in St. Petersburg and owns an online clothing shop called Godly Fierce Boutique, as well as the online shop Kingdom Connected Apparel with her son Quade Everett.
Laquanda said Quade was 17-years-old when he was shot by a St. Petersburg police officer in 2013.
“I got a knock at the door and it was some detectives. They said Quade was in the car and they said the police officer was trying to stop the car and he shot into the car. They told me we must get you to the hospital. They didn’t expect Quade to live through the night,” Everett said. “At that moment I just collapsed on my couch and I just said not my baby. Quade did survive the injuries but I will never get over hearing my son was shot in the head. I will never get over the details of how he was left in the car with no aid.”
At the time, the police officer who shot Quade suspected the teen was in a stolen vehicle. That officer was fired from the force but never charged.
“It’s sad that we are in 2020 and we still have not overcome this thing called racism,” Everett said. “You still have to constantly prove yourself to the other race. Why is that happening? Why do we have to continue to say Black Lives Matter?”
However, Everett feels this movement is different from those in the past.
“There is no more brushing it under the rug,” Everett said. “We won’t be silent. We’re not going away. This issue is going to be dealt with for once and for all.”
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