Florida Sentinel Bulletin in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 31, 2022. Credit: Photo by Ray Roa

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. while a doctoral student at Boston University. In 1961, the famed civil rights activist gave a speech at Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in West Tampa.

Tampa’s Black History Museum invites locals to celebrate not just the legacy of the late Dr. King, but that of another Alpha, Tampa’s own Cyril Blythe Andrews whose family continues to publish the city’s famed newspaper, the Florida Sentinel Bulletin—one of the few Black publications that owned its printing press and graphic equipment.

The family also owned a Negro League Baseball team ands tirelessly advocated for the humanity of Tampa’s Black population. C. Blythe Andrews—who gave a fantastic oral history to the University of South Florida—has a busk on the Tampa Riverwalk, but guests will bring the family history to life for this pre-MLK Day event.

There’s no cover for His Wildest Dream—A Tribute to the C. Blythe Andrews family and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. happening Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Tampa’s Black History Museum. Readers are invited to submit their own events to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s things to do calendar.

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This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2025.