JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Black History Month will be coming to a close soon but not before a group of young people from a local foundation brought Jacksonville's history to life with a special broadcast on YouTube Saturday.
“Ax Handle Saturday. Actually I’m really excited to hear about that one," said Jordan Sanders, a 6th grader at Kirby-Smith Middle School.
The group of young people ages 12 to 18 in the I'm A Star Foundation heard about Ax Handle Saturday from Rodney Hurst, who was one of the youth from the NAACP protesting at a whites-only lunch counter in Jacksonville until they were spat on and then beaten with ax handles and baseball bats on August 27, 1960.
“There were so many people in Black history who were overlooked, so this one month gives us time to hear about people who we never heard about with inspiring stories," Sanders said.
Sanders is a member of the non-profit, and young people like him hosted "Young, Gifted, and Black" on their YouTube channel for Black History Month.
“It’s very empowering, and it can inform others, not just me but other young people like myself or older people," said Tiffany Powell, an 8th grader at Darnell-Cookman Middle School of the Medical Arts.
The I'm A Star Foundation includes 35 young people from Duval County who come together each weekend to make the community a better place.
“We have interviews with many different young African American Black children, like one third-grader we have is Christa Kennebrew. She’ll be talking about her book club," said Myia McLaughlin, a senior at First Coast High School.
“There are a number of African Americans who’ve done some phenomenal things, but no one knows about it," said Betty Burney, executive director of I'm A Star Foundation.
You can watch the broadcast by clicking here.