LIDO KEY (WSNN) – Layers of history painted on the Lido Beach Pavilion, Saturday morning.
“It is very exciting,” daughter of activist, Odessa Butler, said. “I just turned down a lot of other appointments today, so I can be here and share this moment.”
Odessa Butler’s mom, Maxine Mays, is part of the trailblazing movement of the beach caravans and wade-in protests. Butler rode the first caravan.
The website Newtownlive.org, reports that as early as 1951 Newtown residents asked Sarasota County to allocated, a “colored beach.” The requests fell on deaf ears with the county offering up a community pool. An organized demonstration began in September 1955 with wade-ins. Going forward, Newtown residents piled into cars, drove to Lido Beach, swam, and walked the shore.
“And of course there were people that were shouting things that were not nice to us, but we were taught to be very calm, acceptant, and not fight back,” Butler said.
Newtownlive.org adds, “Although the Civil Rights Act banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin in 1964, it took several more years before the beaches were integrated.”
Now, in a time when our nation is under civil unrest, Walter Gilbert, who rode a caravan, says, “peaceful protests make the changes, looting and rioting, don’t.”
“The protests and demonstrations that are peacefully happening now, are the same things that happened then,” Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota member, Walter Gilbert said. “Those people did that for 10 years, and no one ever got arrested, the casino never got burned down.”
“People of color in this community made significant contributions to the fabric that Sarasota is, and it needs to be told,” NAACP Saraosta County President, Trevor Harvey said.
The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota committee is decorating the pavilion walls with paintings of history that have been lost.
When words fail, art speaks. That’s why artists are picking up a paintbrush to spark change.
“It’s not just about putting paint on a wall; it’s about the community getting together and creating a dialogue that’s bigger than us,” lead painter, Tim Jaeger, said.
The goal is to educate people that pass by.
Butler’s message?
“Encourage everybody to vote. I’m not saying for who, but vote. It’s very important,” Butler said.
She says we need to use words, not violence.
Artists are painting 10 murals of history on Lido Key, and a plaque will go up next to each mural explaining it.
Next Saturday, the NCAAP plans to time travel and reenact the first day of the Wade-Ins.
