This third episode of the “Road Scholars” series focuses on stories shared in 2023 by an Air Force hero-turned-civil rights leader as part of conversations with young Black men whom he had first met in 2009 as part of an oral history project. On August 27, 1960, a lunch counter demonstration he participated in led to a bloody attack by a white mob. That event is known as Ax Handle Saturday. Also caught in the violence was the first Black sheriff elected in Florida since the Reconstruction era, who also mentored these young men in 2009.

As these young men experience rising white supremacy and racial hatred, they meet again with their older mentors for new conversations about coping with life in America today.

Can the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement help young Black men deal with similar challenges in 2023?

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Watch the series:    • Road Scholars  

For context:

In 2009 twelve at-risk Black adolescent boys hit the road armed only with an audio tape recorder to interview older African American men from all walks of life in the hopes that their own lives might change. Leading the way was Thelma Straight, a teacher who received an oral history grant. Her mission? To help keep them from becoming another statistic. In 2023, "Road Scholars” reunited some of these younger and older participants to talk about navigating the world as Black men. Their conversations offer hope, inspiration, and a possible roadmap for change.

“Road Scholars” is a four-part digital series produced by Investigative Media Group, Inc. in association with The WNET Group's Chasing the Dream initiative.

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The WNET Group is the parent organization of THIRTEEN, WLIW21, NJ Spotlight News, ALL ARTS and operator of NJ PBS – media made possible by all of you.

Chasing the Dream: Poverty and Opportunity in America is a multiplatform public media initiative reporting on poverty, justice, and economic opportunity, and showcasing promising solutions.

Major funding for Chasing the Dream is provided by The JPB Foundation with additional funding from Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III.

Additional support for "Road Scholars" was provided by the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

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