FEB 11 Hot Topics: A History of Florida Through Black Eyes
Staff | Published on 2/2/2026
Hot Topics is honored to host a conversation between two scholars, Dr. Marvin Dunn and Dr. Rebekah McCloud, who will be interviewing Dr. Dunn about his 2016 book.
The Association for the Study of African American Life and History brings us the 2026 National Black History Month theme, "Century of Black History Commemorations” marking 100 years of national observances dedicated to honoring the lives, struggles, and achievements of African Americans.
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"I know Florida. I was born in Florida during the reign of Jim Crow and have lived to see black astronauts blasted into the heavens from Cape Canaveral. For three quarters of a century I have lived mostly in Florida. I have seen her flowers and her warts. This book is about both. People of African descent have been in Florida from the arrival of Ponce de Leon in 1513, yet our presence in the state is virtually hidden. A casual glance at most Florida history books depict African Americans primarily as laborers who are shown as backdrops to white history. The history of blacks in Florida has been deliberately distorted, omitted and marginalized. We have been denied our heroes and heroines. Our stories have mainly been left untold. This book lifts the veil from some of these stories and places African Americans in the very marrow of Florida history."
~Dr. Marvin Dunn