- The City of Tallahassee and Leon County issued proclamations recognizing May 27, 2025, as Tallahassee Bus Boycott Remembrance Day. The original boycott happened on May 26, 1956.
- Local leaders stressed the importance of teaching local Black history to students.
- Watch the video to see how students and community members honored the legacy of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Just a year after Rosa Parks took that seat in the front of a Montgomery City Bus and refused to go to the back for a white passenger, students in Tallahassee took a stand against segregation in 1956.
On Friday, the City and Leon County honored the 69th anniversary of the Tallahassee bus boycott.
The key message: passing down history to a new generation.
On May 26, 1956, FAMU students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson sat down in the whites-only section on a segregated city bus.
They were arrested after, sparking a local civil rights movement.
“They began boycotting the theaters, movie theaters, boycotting lunch counters, boycotting hotels,” Pastor Derek Steele said.
ABC 27’s Brieanna Smith talked to Pastor Derek Steele.
His father, C.K. Steele led that movement.
“It very important that we educate everyone about the movement… there are so many powers at work now to prevent us from knowing, especially black history,” he said.
He's referring to Florida's "Stop Woke" Act passed in 2022, which regulates how race is taught at schools and the workplace.
The legislation says it “expands instruction of African American history."
But doesn't allow "subjective indoctrination that pushes collective guilt.”
“Thanks to the legislature we have protected our children from indoctrination and sexualization of the curriculum,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a Facebook post on Jan. 10, 2024.
But Director of the Civil Rights Institute at Florida State University Ted Ellis believes that events like this are essential to "moving forward together.”
“We're still challenged with issues of injustice in America. The 69th commemoration and celebration of progress moving forward. Well, we saw that evident with the students participating in this program,” Ellis said.
Smith talked with students Nadyia Ross and Déja Wimbley to see what they learned.
“I didn't know it happened in Tallahassee at all, so, yeah, I learned a lot,’ Ross said.
“It’s amazing knowing that my ancestors might be part of that,” Wimbley said.
In addition to Friday's event, the City and Leon County both issued proclamations recognizing May 27 as Tallahassee Bus Boycott Remembrance Day since the boycott date this year falls on Memorial Day.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
