{"id":162213,"date":"2026-02-20T05:25:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162213\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T05:25:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T05:25:07","slug":"that-monument-needs-no-attention-the-civil-rights-heritage-walk-the-famuan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162213\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018That monument needs no attention\u2019:\u00a0The Civil Rights Heritage Walk\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 The FAMUAN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s Capital city is home to the Civil Rights Heritage Walk,\u00a0which\u00a0commemorates two major civil rights events in Tallahassee: the bus boycott of 1956 and the lunch counter sit-ins from 1960 to 1963.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Inter-Civic Council quote displayed at The Civil Rights Heritage Walk in Tallahassee, FL. (Kennadi Gaither\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

\"\"The path at The Civil Rights Heritage Walk in Tallahassee, FL. (Kennadi Gaither\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

\"\"The Tallahassee Bus Boycott represented at The Civil Rights Heritage Walk in Tallahasee, FL. (Kennadi Gaither\/FAMUAN)<\/p>\n

Although this historical monument\u00a0represents\u00a0two pivotal movements in the civil rights era, not everyone feels that this is the message conveyed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe this is a poorly made monument,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Kimberly Williams-Chatmon, a professional researcher and historian.\u00a0\u201cIt is exactly as you\u00a0described,\u00a0a sidewalk. The\u00a0civil\u00a0rights\u00a0movement in Florida is often overlooked.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The monument is less than half a block long, with only one sign\u00a0indicating\u00a0what this piece is about. The sign describing the memorial is across the street in front of the Leon County Courthouse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe monument is absolutely hidden; it took me over 20 minutes to find\u00a0it!\u201d Williams-Chatom said.\u00a0\u201cWhy was the monument not located near or on the FAMU campus?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This artwork was created by Florida State University\u2019s Master Craftsman studio, which has made\u00a0monuments\u00a0such as\u00a0Florida State University\u2019s Legacy Fountain and the\u00a0United States Air Force\u00a0Memorial.\u00a0Their work is prominent in Tallahassee, but this\u00a0particular piece\u00a0is\u00a0less well-known.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know about this monument that was unveiled in 2013,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Kina Morgan, a\u00a01994\u00a0graduate of\u00a0FAMU.\u00a0\u201cI think it is important to make sure we are aware of all the history that happens throughout the years.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Morgan was\u00a0unaware of the Civil Rights Heritage Walk. Even though activism played a significant role in the 90s, this monument\u00a0fails to\u00a0reach a level that correctly displays that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know back in my day, in the early\u00a0\u201990s, we had several marches to the State Capitol for various reasons, making sure that we have great markers and leveraging social media and websites to talk about our history,\u201d\u00a0Morgan\u00a0said. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bringing awareness and proper recognition to this monument is key to highlighting Tallahassee\u2019s civil rights, but\u00a0maybe a\u00a0complete renovation should take effect.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would change the monument by constructing it as an actual monument;\u00a0that is a sidewalk, not a monument,\u201d Williams-Chatmon said.\u00a0\u201cI would construct something that onlookers can take photos of next to and admire while looking up,\u00a0not down to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This monument that sits on the sidewalk on the other side of the street from the State Capitol on Jefferson St., lacks the\u00a0substance and notoriety that it should have.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving to put our heads down to view anything\u00a0regarding\u00a0Civil Rights as a monument should be a sin.\u00a0I feel that\u00a0was intentional,\u201d\u00a0Williams-Chatmon\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She feels that this heritage walk tells no history and dilutes the history and impact brought to Tallahassee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people are unaware that MLK, a colleague of C.K. Steele, wrote letters to him speaking to the efforts for\u00a0Civil Rights in Tallahassee because of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,\u201d Williams-Chatmon said.\u00a0\u201cThe bus boycott is not a small-town story but a historical event.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s Capital city is home to the Civil Rights Heritage Walk,\u00a0which\u00a0commemorates two major civil rights events in Tallahassee:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-162213","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-tallahassee","9":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","10":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}