Mayor Deegan announced the creation of the Mayor’s African American Advisory Board and officially proclaimed February as Black History Month at an event with Jacksonville nonprofit 904WARD on Tuesday at the St. James Building.

Following its reopening, Dollar General revealed the list of organizations they awarded 2.5 million dollars to help support the community rocked by those racially motivated murders.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Community Remembrance Project, an initiative of 904WARD, held a soil collection ceremony Sunday afternoon to commemorate a Black man who was the victim of a lynching 96 years ago in Duval County. Speakers at the event say lynchings were meant to instill fear in Black communities and threaten their civil rights. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, Duval County has seven documented lynchings with eight victims. Speakers at the ceremony say this tragic reality is one people of color still face today. AdGroups like 904WARD and the Equal Justice Initiative say they work to increase awareness of racism, its history, trauma and impact today.