Day 19 📍 Scavenger Hunt + Tips to avoid despair
Celebrating Black History Month by exploring hidden Black history in Florida's Capital City.
February 19, 2025
Good morning!
Last night, while pumping and massaging my breasts to get rid of clogged milk ducts (maybe TMI, but I want to talk more about the joys (and realities!) of motherhood), I called my friend Madison. We've been friends since college and founded the club College Progressives together.
She's been feeling sad lately and unsure of where to channel her energy to combat this administration's tyranny and overreach.
ICYMI: Trump signed an executive order yesterday seeking to extend his authority over regulatory agencies, like the SEC and FEC, which Congress made independent from direct White House control.
Many of us can relate to Madison, questioning what you do when everything around you is collapsing. I don't have the complete answer, but part of it is to commiserate with others, as strange as that sounds. Functioning like normal, silencing your frustration, only benefits our oppressors. Commiserating is the first step to organizing and figuring out a plan of attack.
Part of the reason why I revisit and explore Black History is because I'm reminded of our options in the face of immense violence and brutality. When our people were barred from existing in public (and exclusively white) spaces, they didn’t run and hide. They commiserated, said this wasn’t right, and built the infrastructure to withstand and attack Jim Crow before its eventual fall.
So, here are some tips to avoid despair during these times:
Commiserate — talk to your friends, coworkers, neighbors about current affairs! It could lead to new connections and a restored sense of hope.
Support a campaign/organization that’s trying to claw back Trump’s power:
Common Cause — pressuring the Trump Administration to fire Elon Musk.
Public Citizen — suing to challenge the unlawful dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Josh Weil and Gay Valimont — both are running for Congress to fill vacant seats previously held by Republicans. If they win, Republicans would only have a 1-seat majority in the House, which could be enough wiggle room for Democrats to counter Trump’s mandates.
Read — reading helps me contextualize our current point in history and find inspiration for the future.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Where Do We Go From Here?: Chaos or Community by Martin Luther King Jr.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
Attend local meetings — City Commission meetings, your local political party’s meetings, etc. Get to know your local leaders and don’t be afraid to call on them to better decisions that support sustainable, effective change.
Host events — Bringing people together keeps community alive, which is necessary to fulfill any agenda to support every day people.
Find a cause — Interrogate what you care about and have the energy to support long-term. Support local, existing efforts for that cause, and if there are none, start something! This is how I got involved in fighting to end utility disconnections, which led me to run for office and work towards improving utility regulations and consumer protections.
📍Today’s Clue: A place to get some treats and meds, visit the pharmacy that the owner inherited from her dad.
📍 Day 18: Tookes Hotel
🕵🏽 Clue: Still standing, but no longer in operation, find the hotel that specifically served the Black population during segregation.
Racial segregation forced the Black community to be self-sufficient and fulfill their own needs. Knowing this, Dorothy and James Tookes transformed their family home into the Tookes Hotel, accommodating those who visited the segregated Tallahassee. It was the only hotel, at that time, for Black visitors in the city.
Hotel records reflect the names of some notable Black figures who stayed there, like James Baldwin and Lou Rawls. Baldwin visited the hotel when he was reporting on student activism in Tallahassee. The militancy and idealism of the younger generation marveled Baldwin. [For those curious, you can read about this report here.]
The Tookes established the hotel in 1948 in Frenchtown. It's still standing at 412 W. Virginia St., but hasn't been in operation since the 1980s.
See you tomorrow,
Shelby