A public memorial celebration honoring the life and legacy of Reverend H.K. Matthews, civil rights leader and activist, will be held at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 26, at the Brownsville Community Center, 3200 West DeSoto St.
DETAILS:
- Tributes from civic leaders, clergy, historians, and community members
- Gospel choir performances
- Reflections from family, friends, and fellow activists
Attendees are encouraged to wear purple in honor of Rev. Matthews’ commitment to peace and nonviolence.
Outtakes—Losing A Truth Teller
We lost a titan when Rev. H.K. Matthews passed last week. He followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s path of civil disobedience and successfully created a more equitable world in Northwest Florida.
- At a time when younger, more radical groups were questioning Dr. King’s methods, Matthews never wavered. He understood that lasting change came not through violence or retreat, but through persistent, principled resistance.
Dr. Michael Butler chronicled Matthews’ life in two books that should be in every high school classroom in Florida. I talked with him soon after we learned of the pastor’s death.
- “We lost a truth teller,” Butler said. “We lost a truth teller in an age where truth is debated.”
When asked about our mutual friend’s legacy, he said, “We lost one of the people who was very willing to hold up a mirror to society and point out the flaws that he saw with the hope that it could be improved.”
Escambia County was slow to recognize the racial inequities. By the 1970s, many Americans believed the civil rights movement was over. Legislation had been passed, barriers had been removed—what more could Black people want?
- “Rev. Matthews brought to light that the civil rights movement didn’t end with what happened in Selma. It didn’t end with the Civil Rights Act. That racism persisted, and it persisted in different ways,” said Butler.
The civil rights activist understood real change required constant vigilance, uncomfortable conversations and the courage to challenge systems that had adapted rather than disappeared.
- Butler said, “Rev. Matthews was on the front lines of that first wave of people that said, ‘Wait a minute, the way that the police treat us is racist. The presence of these Confederate icons in schools is racist.’”
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