The City of St. Petersburg hasn’t received any applications for a “Back the Blue” mural to rival Tampa’s, but it is going to honor the “Courageous 12” with a work of public art.
In 1965, 12 officers sued St. Petersburg because Black officers could only patrol St. Pete’s south side and only arrest Black residents (Black officers were also disallowed to take tests to advance in rank).
After being dismissed in 1966, the NAACP helped the Courageous 12 appeal two years later. The appeal was successful, and in 1969, Leon Jackson became the first black officer assigned to an all-white neighborhood.
“We did something for ourselves,” Jackson, the last surviving member of the Courageous 12, said in a press release. “The by-product is, we made history.”
The piece, for which St. Pete’s Public Arts Commission has pledged $100,000, will live in the Edge district (stylized “EDGE”) at 1300 1st Avenue N., site of the former St. Petersburg Police Department.
In his remarks, Anthony Holloway, St. Pete’s Black Chief of Police, lauded the Courageous 12 for opening the door so all races to hold high-ranking positions throughout the department in St. Pete and across the country (In the 1970s, Tampa saw its own “Fearless Four” group of Black officers sue the city in a discrimination lawsuit that prevailed in federal court).
“Thanks to their efforts, today we have an agency that reflects the diversity of our community. This monument will ensure that their sacrifices will never be forgotten,” Holloway said.
A press release adds that development around the monument—the second in St. Pete to honor the Courageous 12—will include “the first new Class ‘A’ office building to be developed in over 20 years, new residential condominiums and units including and workforce apartment housing units, retail space, and a parking garage.”
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This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2020.