June 26, 2025 • 46 mins
This week, I have a panel of guests discussing a historical home located in Tampa, FL, and the importance of preserving this property for future generations. If you would like to learn more, please check out the links below.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:53):
Welcome to the Delvin Cox experience, the podcast which
each week I'm on a one man mission to you, not our coach to
diversity. I'm your host, Delvin Cox.
I have multiple special guests on this episode.
So we're here to talk about something very important,
something very special, something that has to do a
(01:14):
tradition and value to somethingthat needs to be preserved.
So I'm here to talk about Jackson House.
You may be wondering what is Jackson House?
We'll get into that. So right now we have Don Angela
Scott with us and we have Pat Cruz with us to talk about a
little bit of that. And we have someone else coming
on to get the history of it. But before we do that, we're
(01:36):
going to do like we always do, start off the podcast with the
five for five. Just a little light hearted
thing to kind of iceberg. It'll break the mood, you know,
to get everybody into the spiritof things.
So ladies, Are you ready? Yes.
Yes. OK, perfect.
Oh, perfect. Just in time, we also have with
(01:58):
us Doctor Carolyn Collins on us with us as well to talk about
Jackson House. But we're getting into section.
Let's get get to this five for five.
OK, question #1 what's your favorite sandwich?
Well, I'll go first on there when I'm from New Orleans and a
shrimp po boy all the time. OK, that's a good sandwich.
I like it. I like it.
(02:24):
Pat, what's your favorite sandwich?
I'm here trying to figure it out.
I'm not really a bread person, but if I do is probably tuna.
Tuna, OK. That's simple Tuna.
Yep. Stop the calling.
Yeah, look at I'm not from New Orleans.
I'm not really from Tampa. I, I've lived here.
(02:45):
I love Cuban sandwiches, but I shrimp for boys #1 for me.
I like it. I like it.
I I grew up in Miami, FL so I'vehad way too many Cuban
sandwiches, like unabsorbed amount of those.
So I can understand that. Yes.
Question #2 for all you ladies, and I think this is an important
(03:07):
question I ask people all the time, What inspires you?
We all start. I'll go Doctor Collins because I
know what you're going to. What inspires me is I would say
this, being able to work with mentors like Doctor Collins.
(03:29):
I can call out their names. Jacqueline Wild.
What inspires me is legacy, making sure that we preserve who
we are for future generations. I love, I'm teaching and I love
serving. And if I if I'm doing those two
things, I'm happy. That's that's what inspires me.
(03:52):
I'll let you go next, Pat. This is where this may seem
weird, but what inspires me is problems.
That is not weird at all. I I I love.
I love to, I love to see what's going on around me and my
environment in the world. And I'm challenged always to
(04:13):
find solutions that inspires me to keep me going, to keep using
my mind to find ways to make things better.
So that's actually a twisted wayto be inspired, but that's what
inspires me, keeps me going, motivated to make something
happen differently or positively.
That makes perfect sense to me, honestly.
I love it. All right, Doctor.
(04:35):
Doctor Collins, bring it home. What inspires you?
Anything that there exists a need and I am able to bring a
solution to the need and see success.
I like to see everybody succeed,so if I can contribute to it, I
(04:57):
get inspired. Which means almost somewhat of
what you've heard from both Pat.And maybe that's why we work so
well together, Pat. As well as if I don't want to
switch. No, no, I want to switch it.
I want to say as well as Miss Cruz and Doctor Scott.
(05:19):
Give me a problem. Let it be realistic.
You know what? I'm so sorry.
Let it be realistic and we'll solve it.
But I like to see success come out of whatever might where
(05:40):
there's a need, I want to see itsucceed.
And so that's kind of where I am.
And it's, I'm driven from an internal being.
And it's, I think more than anything else, that's my, my
religion, my faith, because I dobelieve that, you know, with
substance, all things we can achieve them.
(06:03):
So I look for where there is none or there need to be some.
And then I try to. Pursue it, I love it.
It's a great answer question #3 a quick one.
I think it's a quick one, but it's very similar to the
question I just asked. Who inspires you?
And I asked this because, you know, my grandmother, it's one
of the people who inspired me mywhole life, inspired me to be
(06:24):
better, inspired me to thrive for better things, inspired me
to live my life as a servant to help people.
And I think me doing this podcast is one of those ways I
can help people, whether it's introducing the world or
somebody or, you know, opening up conversations that people
didn't know that was important and they start having those
(06:44):
conversations or just opening those lines of communication
between people through the world.
I learned that from my grandmother.
So I asked you ladies, who inspired you?
I'll go first to 10 and take thetake the heat off of them
because mine is somewhat easy. I'm really inspired.
(07:06):
I'm inspired by my role models and my role models are I have 3,
my parents, both my mother and my father, a father who told me
you can do anything you want to do, but just make sure that when
you go to sleep at night, you can sleep in peace.
(07:27):
And when you wake up in the morning, you're going to pass by
a mirror and you want to be OK looking at yourself.
So I've been inspired by my dad and my mother who was always
there to make sure that whateverit is we want to do, she was
there to support us in doing it.And my third and biggest
inspirer has been and my faith in Christ Jesus because whenever
(07:50):
I'm down, he can pick me up. Whenever I think I can't make
it, I have a lift. And so those are the three major
people who have inspired me and been my role models throughout
my life of. An Amen to that.
All right, which one of you ladies want to go next?
Are y'all ready to pick? OK, I'll go.
(08:14):
I guess most people would say too.
I think my, my, I would say my parents, my grandparents, my
grand, especially my grandfatherwho was illiterate but so full
of wisdom and was selflessly A giver.
And he read nature to understandthings around him and taught me
life and career through observation of of nature.
(08:37):
And that inspires me to continueto do that for for answers, look
at the nature in which a creatorhas placed at us a place out for
us. And that's where I try to find
reason and understanding and then my faith as Muslim, the,
(08:59):
the, my readings, my Quran as a,which is a, like a prescription
for how you live your life. That keeps me focused on I am
here to serve my Creator and, you know, with my, you know,
daily prayers, you know, five times a day, you're constantly
reminded and that keeps me inspired.
(09:23):
So I'm Devin. It's almost like diddles away
because what does inspire me is my faith.
I I will have to say I'm going to cheat a little bit and group
people together. So it's my faith and it's my
family. My family's a praying family.
My mother has four other sisters.
Three are still living. So those five women in
(09:44):
themselves have encouraged me toalways grow up to to to go
against the odds, to have integrity and it to keep my
word. And then I would and then
included in my family as my husband and my children, they
inspired me to show up as my best.
And then I have a group of extended family friendship and
mentors. They inspired me just to
(10:06):
continue to, to to want to live this life out in love.
So I have to group them like that.
I love it. What I what I appreciate is I'm
on a panel with a very intelligent, strong women and I
love the fact that I'm able to open up my platform to you women
to show that. So kudos to that.
(10:26):
That's amazing. Awesome.
Thank. You.
So question #4 just a simple question.
What's a simple thing that you see in your life that just makes
you happy? It could be something small.
That make you what? Makes you happy, I'll.
Go because I was just sharing this with someone.
(10:47):
I make sure I have a flower of flowers around me even though I
live in an apartment right now outside I planted flowers so
that every day I look out that just it makes me happy.
I mean there are a lot of other things.
I can pick hundreds of things, but that is a beginning for me.
When I see flowers it makes me smile and lets me know
(11:08):
everything is OK. Yeah, I have the same thing.
I'm growing a tomato plant in myyard, and it's like just the
whole process of learning how todo that kind of makes me happy.
Just watching it grow. It counts me.
I know we take this for granted,but what makes me smile is when
(11:29):
I speak to someone and it pausesthem and they just look like,
you know, because I'm going to greet you with a great good
morning. It's going to be somebody's
happy day. So it just makes me smile when I
see them genuinely, like, oh, pausing to realize somebody
really is speaking to them genuinely.
(11:49):
So I like to see people smile. That's great.
I think everything makes me smile.
I, I'm, I'm, I'm really happy when I get up in the morning
because I think I have another day that I can do something for
someone. I'm happy when I can go to bed
(12:11):
at night and I really am seriously, because I go, oh God,
it's behind me. Whatever I didn't get done, it
will not get done. And I go.
And so I feel like I succeeded regardless of what I got done.
So I'm happy. So I tend to unfortunately live
happiness because I eat all the time so I love.
(12:32):
These so you know. My husband will tell you take
somebody out to drink before we Take Me Out to eat.
So, you know, eating doesn't particularly make me happy, but
just just seeing completion of anything and even if it's
completing a good night's rest or a real full day of having
things done, that's it. And I usually try to say happy
(12:56):
as much as possible because I have a lot in my path.
They can make me not be happy. I.
Try to stay happy. I understand that completely and
#5 I think this is important because this is going to lead to
our conversation. I know Doctor Collins has to go
soon, but we're going to get into this right now.
(13:17):
Why is Jackson House important? I'll, I'll go first because I'm
the new last board member. I think the Jackson House is
important. First of all, it was African
Americans, black individuals that owned that property and
they had a history, a story behind that property.
(13:40):
They saw a need or problem that Miss Pat and Doctor Collins
spoke to, and Moses Jackson and Sarah Jackson.
They saw a problem, they built on their home and they resolved
that problem, they owned it and they were able to keep that
house and that land in that family until this present day in
(14:02):
age that is in the foundations hand.
The project and the story to me is that important because it's a
story of resilience and, and, and it's more than just music.
It's everything that we stand for today and saying what we did
here as Black people come into America just standing on legacy.
(14:26):
And that's why that house is important to be restored and be
rebuilt. OK, I'll go next.
Much of everything that Angela said.
And to add to that, for me, it'sthe connection with a pass
unseen. We don't see.
(14:47):
We don't have the opportunity many times to see what the
history was. And the Jackson House is
symbolic visually. It's something that we see and
we can connect to and it tells astory that we have.
We don't have any more in our society in general, whatever
(15:08):
blacks, whites or anybody else, it tells our story.
It tells the Black story of downtown Tampa and when the
details that we will share aboutother aspects of the house other
than the people that stayed there in the music connection,
when we show other aspects on what it meant to people in the
community and what other things happened through that house,
(15:30):
that is important and significant.
And like I said, we don't have it.
We can't see it in many places. That represents the Black
experience here in Tampa or in general around this US or
beyond. So that is why it's so
significant and important. To me, excellent.
And for me, I, I like our visionstatement.
(15:57):
I call it our fiend business statement.
Our motto is to restore history for future generations and we
want to inspire those future generations.
It's important to me to be able to restore that history because
it was asked of me to do it and given to me as a charge.
(16:20):
It was done by Willie, but he was inspired by his mother.
So Willie inspired me to make that history available for
future generations. His mother inspired him, and
when we look at why his mother was so eager, we have to assume
that the Robinsons were inspiredbecause of the Jackson house,
(16:46):
the Jackson family and what everything you just heard, Pat,
Miss Cruz and Doctor Scott, justwhat you just heard them talk
about. I look at the house differently
from where I looked at before. And it's important because it's
an economic power base, economicdevelopment of the African
(17:09):
American community that started when we weren't thinking about
it. When people were starting the
laundry, when they were startingthe cab company, when they were
starting the Bobby shop, when they were starting the beauty
shop. And all of that was tied in when
they were cooking and when they was doing a rooming house and
even before it was a rooming house when the idea came to
them. And they allow people to sleep
(17:30):
there on the porch because they had nowhere else to go because
of Jim Crow racism and things ofthat nature.
So it is our history and it's a history that should be instilled
in the lives of many. And that's why the Jackson
House, and I'll close it my comments by saying very clearly
we are going to restore history to inspire future generations at
(17:53):
8:51, which is the address we use now, which was not the
original 1 but at 851 Zack St. Love it.
So for those who don't know, like I said, because Jack's
house has been a thing for a while and if you're not paying
attention, you wouldn't know thestory of it.
But the story of Jack's house isa very essential story to not
(18:18):
only Florida history but American history.
So let us know what the Jack's House is about.
And let us know what the JacksonHouse is all about.
That was the question. I want you to elaborate on the
history of the Jackson House, why it's important.
(18:40):
And since I have to leave soon, I'm going to say this because
it's going to be left and very, very well qualified hands to do
a better job than I could even do.
The Jackson House is about a little single house.
(19:04):
An African American family acquired it somewhere about 125
years ago in downtown Tampa. And they decided that that was
going to be their home. They had sons and daughters, and
they decided that they were so close to the train station and
(19:24):
people had nowhere to stay. At some point, they were going
to use this house as a business venture, but they also use this
house as a training tool. They didn't want the girls to go
outside of the house. They want the girls to stay
there. Like the traditional African
American family, many felt that the girls should go off and get
(19:48):
educated, but the boys should work and learn how to manage it.
And I saw that in that family aswell, because when you look at
the girls in that house, they didn't all get a chance to do
that. But there were people like Miss
Johnny, who was born in the house, raised in the house, left
the house when she became married and went off to be with
(20:10):
her husband to raise her family and very engaged, committed and
dedicated Miss Antoinette, who'sup in Texas, who's actually on
the board. And so why the house?
What was in the house? What was the house all about?
The house touched the heart of apeople.
It set on the periphery of the African American and community,
(20:35):
you know, that was popular, called the shrubs, popular,
called Central Ave. But more important than anything
to me, the house is there now inthe worst shape it could have
ever been in in the world, anybody's world.
But the house is going to be restored, rebuilt, and we're
(20:55):
going to tell that story with many other stories, and we're
not going to let that house go. So that house is going to bring
something to Tampa. And I'll use this as an
opportunity since it is today tosay, even in the words of the
late Councilwoman Gwen Henderson, don't let that house
(21:20):
go. That house must stay.
And it doesn't matter who gets in the way and what happened.
Restore that house. Save that house.
There is nothing else in Tampa that we can save of the African
American community. Perry Hobby Park is fine, but it
doesn't tell the story of Central Avenue.
(21:43):
A mirror on the wall at the rec center is fine, but it still
doesn't tell the story of Central Ave.
The train station sits there andthe house sits there.
And those were two entities thatwere there before.
And we've got to make sure that that house sits there at the
(22:03):
current 851 Zach St. and make sure that we tell that story,
that we let people know everything we have.
Everybody have idea what happened in the house.
Everybody want to know who stayed in the house.
You know, a lot of times they say African American.
What Just African Americans. There were Native Americans who
(22:24):
also stayed there because they weren't accepted baseball
players. Music doctor Martin Luther King
and some people even in Tampa want to say Doctor King never
stayed in that house and didn't even want to have it written as
history. It doesn't matter what they
really want. What we want to do is give them
what they need. And once we give them what they
need, then they would understandthe house.
(22:45):
I think it's important to highlight places like this and
communities like this because frankly speaking, nowadays so
much of our history is being erased, rewritten, forgot about.
And I think it's important that not only my generation knows the
history and what's going on, butfuture generations know the
history and keep that legacy going up.
(23:07):
Because a lot of times if you don't know the history, you're
doing to repeat things, the mistakes from the past, thing
like that. So it's very important that
places like the Jackson House stay, stay restored, stay where
it's at, because that is like a beacon of hope for people.
And I think there's a lot of communities that have had places
like that that no longer have those places.
(23:30):
You know, I can speak from personal experience.
I'm a lot of my old neighborhoodhas been re gentrified.
A lot of places that were monuments and key to that
community is now going and they put like sky risers thing like
that, but it takes away the heart what the community really
stood for. So true, so true.
(23:54):
It's. I call it the.
It's going to be the and we always say when we talk in
double ACP, we say membership isa lifeblood.
So when I went on the family, wecould say membership is a
lifeblood. Guess what?
The Jackson House is a lifebloodof downtown Tampa.
Not just the African American community, but it's the
lifeblood of downtown Tampa, theperiphery of the shrub, what
(24:17):
Central Ave. was and what it is not anymore.
But we are going to tell that story.
So you're right. That's that vision, that's that
instilling and young people instilling and old people
instilling and visitors and everyone.
So yeah, Pad and, and I mean Miss Cruz and Doctor Scott can
(24:40):
go further. Well, this is jump behind Doctor
Collins, everything that Doctor Connor said, because she really
gave a good summary. The only other thing I would add
to it, which is like a personal struggle for me is looking at
history. And I love history across the
board. And when I look at at black
history and we used to talk about Regent certification and
(25:01):
what happened in in that area atthe time.
But it also is significant because that happened a lot of
cities in southern cities or cities where were, you know,
post slave areas where things changed and everything was taken
away. Everything was, you know,
demolished or what have you. And here it is.
We have the Jackson House still standing there.
(25:22):
I think there's a reason for that.
Even though pieces of it are falling apart and it looks like
it's not going to make it, it's still standing there.
And even that with it's standingthere speaks something.
I mean, we had a there was a guyand his wife that strolled
downtown from a cruise ship or something.
And they were from Africa. They were from the continent of
Africa. And when they saw the house and
(25:44):
I, I went to them because the guy was like when and he asked
me about, and I told him about what the house was.
He said he felt there's something about this house.
And you hear people say that yousee videos upon videos on
YouTube and Facebook, Instagram of people that have visited and
just walked around and see they say, what is this?
And they say even some of the homeless people, there's
(26:05):
something significant and that that the presence of that house
emits in the soul of people thatit is still there.
And so we have had a long haul at trying to restore, trying to
get it saved. And our intention is to save it.
And I'm sure we will be able to save it.
But because we can't lose this, we can't lose this battle.
(26:27):
I feel we need, it's significantthat we we've lost so many other
things and we're used to giving up.
And we're used to say, OK, we don't want to struggle, we don't
want to strive. But it, it speaks to not only
the success that we will have, but the fact that we can now
thrive. And we need to set that model
and that example for our people that we can't just talk about
succeed and we have to thrive aswell, you know?
(26:49):
So you know, anyway, to me that's the significance of what
it will mean, what it means now and what it will mean along with
everything that that's a collegeshared with you in terms of this
history of what happened. I think that's essential to kind
of keep in mind that, you know, we have to take our wins when we
get them and we got to fight forthe things that we want and that
(27:10):
we love. And something that that we take
pride in Jackson House is one ofthose things that people have
taken pride into. People look to and inspire to
look looking at. Hey, that's our history.
You know, I, I can speak from that because we have like, you
know, in Miami, we've had several places like that that
had that kind of history too. And I watched as people just
stood by because, frankly speaking, they didn't know what
(27:31):
to do. So those things that were part
of the history of Liberty City or Overtown or other areas of
Miami just got torn down and taken away.
And it's kind of sad to see that.
I'll give you a good example. There was this barbershop that's
been there for 40 years. It's called Mop City.
I was in heart of Liberty City. They started building high rise
(27:52):
in Liberty City. They asked the guy that hey,
let's set, let's sit. They what they offered him and
correct $1,000,000 to sell Mop City so he can, so they could
just build a high rise there andhe refused.
He refused to refuse to refuse. So essentially the city raises
the taxes so he couldn't afford it anymore and they kind of
(28:14):
forced him out. So now as it as it stands right
now, that area where Mopsy was at is just a vacant lot.
There's nothing even there. They just tore down the building
to tear down the building. It's like that was a part of our
history. Like I remember as a kid going
in there seeing like the the Ebony magazines and all the
posters and everything like thatand it just getting the, the
(28:36):
sense of black pride. You know, it just like unity
'cause people, you know, much like church was in certain
areas. It's a barbershop with the place
where all the guys got together,had the conversation in that
community. And when you see things like
that getting taken away, it kindof deflates you.
(28:56):
It's the best way to describe it, yeah.
The only thing I could add to all of this at this time is
really in the latter part of what Miss Cruz was talking
about, the fight. And the fight is being able to
continue to fight to save the Jackson House and other
(29:17):
historical buildings throughout the United States that deal with
African history. But the thing I also want to say
is that we're organizing our voice.
So by being invited on this podcast and having us be able to
bring awareness to the to the historical Jackson House, that's
where people conversations can get organized.
(29:38):
So platforms like this can help us save our history as well.
Because Doctor Collins and Miss Pat Noel, I say this all the
time. Well, people don't know they'll
make it up. And so we don't want people
making up stories about our history or the path that we're
on or the status with the house.So we appreciate platforms like
(29:58):
this where we can come and and we ask questions so we can so
people can really know the heartbehind the house, the project
and see who the board says. I have two important questions
for y'all. One, what are some of the trials
and tribulations that you face trying to keep this house
(30:20):
afloat? And two, how can we as a
community help? That's the most important part,
once we know the trials and the problems, how we can combine
people together and unite peopleto help make sure that this
place stays where it needs to stay at.
(30:49):
OK, Yeah, yeah. Looking at smiling, one thing I
will say is, is when our major trials of tribulation when I
first got started about 10 yearsago and it's been about that, is
trying to get the structure together.
Because there were so many people who said what they were
going to do, but nobody did it and they'd had no intentions of
doing it. So there's so much falsification
(31:11):
that had centered around the house.
There was no structure to it organizationally or any other
way, and there was no money. So once as a group, we were able
to organize, we were able to getindividuals to recognize that we
were serious. We were able to get people who
worked with us, who kind of believed in US.
(31:34):
And once we reached that stage, still broke, no money, trying to
make sure we had a solid foundation in order to work
from. And once we got that, we got
slapped in the face. You guys need money.
But in addition to need money, we also needed to make sure that
we knew what we had, what we owned, what had been put in our
(31:56):
possession to protect and in order to kind of move forward.
I would just say one of the things was money starts flowing.
People who everybody say didn't help, they did help.
Oh, that mayor didn't help. Yeah, yes, he did.
Bob Buckhorn did help because hekept them from tearing the house
(32:16):
down and hadn't been torn down. We wouldn't be working on it
today. And he stopped the accumulation
of the fees that were being accumulated because of the
violation of codes. And he indicated that he would
stop them not that accumulate anymore, which had exceeded
$100,000 and that he would writethem off.
(32:40):
Then after he was gone, we had anew mayor came in, our current
mayor, Mayor Castor. What can I do?
Go and check to make sure that those codes are loan and they've
been paid off and things of thatnature and help us get some
money. And she says done.
We were blessed at some point. We don't say who did what, but
(33:02):
we were blessed with $1,000,000.After we got the $1,000,000,
people start wanting to get involved with us.
Then we wrote a grant. We also have state legislators
working with us. So money right now for us will
soon be an issue after we complete the construction.
But we got money to do the construction.
(33:24):
But now we run our heads up against a brick wall about
easement, extra property on the side you can't build.
Then some people tell us, yes, you can build things of that
nature. And so I think our biggest
struggle that we are having and we didn't realize and I really
think money is going to be easy for us over time because I think
we can do fundraising, I think we can write grants and those
(33:46):
kind of things that are out there for historical properties.
And that's why no matter what wedo, we've taken a real beating
and the house have taken the licking because we're trying to
make sure that we maintain the historic designation that Willie
Robinson mother was able to gainwhere we have national, we have
state and we have local historicdesignations for the house as
(34:10):
historic landmarks. And from there, the other
challenges we have, Angela has Doctor Scott has taken on a very
specific part of that challenge,working on one issue with us.
We have Miss Cruz, who have beenextremely instrumental in
looking out there on what's on the horizon from a historical
(34:31):
perspective. And, and I, I was trying to
figure out what time I was goingto leave the church because
right now they're not being recorded and they're not
recording them. But I think that they would be
great in that area. And I'm going to leave now if
(34:51):
it's OK, ladies, you guys got itright.
Is it OK, Mr. Cox? Of course it is.
I thank you for all the. Here's what I'm going to say is
thank you, thank you, thank you.Bring us back again.
Of course. My pleasure.
We've done about a month or two you can bring us back and say,
hey, they've started and we'll do those do that again with you.
But I want thank you for offering us and, and this is
(35:19):
kind of like what we need to educate the community because at
some phase the community will see what we've done and those
that cannot appreciate it will and those that appreciate it and
want it to happen, they as well.We'll be pleased with what they
(35:39):
got a word out about something. They'll come on in and do it
with us. But I'll see you soon at 851
Jack St. We'll do a podcast from there.
That sounds great to me. I'll make the drive.
All righty. You got Pat.
You got Miss Cruz. Here you have Angela and these
special names, that's why I callthem Pat and Angela.
But Doctor Scott and they're going to carry it on.
(36:01):
And my church was probably saying we're not being recorded,
so I'm going to jump on them. But I I'm so appreciative for
what you were doing for us and we look forward to working with
you. Thank you so much ladies, you
got it. And yes, ma'am, I'll take the
latter part of your question. You said as far as how people
(36:23):
can get involved and help. Let me clarify something first
because I know people's heard that oh $1 million.
Let me clarify that for them. Considering when you're when
you're doing restoration work for historical spots, that is
not a lot of money. That money goes by fast.
So this is the constant. I know people who hear that
like, oh, everything must be solved.
(36:45):
No, it is not solved. You know, they're going to need
more money for they're going to need more funding.
They're going to need more things for like construction
work and you know, you have to get permits and get them like
there's a landmark and things like that.
It's a lot. It's a long hard process.
So I wanted to make sure I made that clear before we moved on.
(37:05):
Like, hey, they're still going to need a lot of help.
That's that's help, that's help,but it's still need a lot more
help. And that's why it's important
for my listeners and people out there to be willing to help, to
save and preserve this property.Now you can go Doctor Scott.
So that's the perfect end because what I was going to say
(37:26):
is I would love for your listeners to visit our website.
On the website we have a calendar where we do community
meetings quarterly and we have an other events where we can
have the community come in and ask questions and they can hear
some of the details that you just spoke about where we're in
a project like when we have our RFP out right now, the request
(37:47):
for proposal. Also we're looking for an
architect firm so that they can work with us as far as getting
the contract managers working with the engineer firms.
But we're doing everything in the guidelines of what I state
grant funding tell us to do. And that is aligned with the
City of Tampa procurement process as well, so that we can
(38:07):
have an equitable process of those firms that we're looking
for in order to help us restore and rebuild the Jackson House.
So as people come to our community meetings, they visit
our website, they should learn additional information as well.
Perfect. OK.
(38:28):
I'd like to just also put in there that, you know, we plan
God plan. We say God plan is best.
It has taken a long time. There have been many people
involved in trying to assist us with different components of
getting the project from the financial back in the political
back. And we had City Council members
as well as the mayors and you know, people of influence that
(38:51):
has supported this initiative. They have come to us, met with
us giving us guidance in what tohow to.
And then there was a huge part that we was on.
This is undertaken if this is a historical landmark.
And so we had to learn what thatwhat that means.
It's not just rebuilding a house.
There are certain policies and regulation that go along with
(39:14):
that. And we have to learn that for
your city, for your state, and for the national registries.
So that is a learning curve for us because we have to know what
to expect if we have someone come in to do.
We have to be the we of the guardians of this.
So we have to know what, what, what we're supposed, what is
supposed to be done so we can make sure we protect those
(39:36):
policies and procedures and not lose any, any status with the
national landmark, historical landmark.
So that was, that was some research that needed and some
education for us to see what it,what it took.
And so if that's, this had happened 10 years before, we
would not have probably had thatinformation so that we can
(39:59):
champion this thing as a historical site because we none
of us had that background reallywhen we came in.
We were just passionate about saving history.
Passionate about trying to help Mr. Willie Robinson to see the
the dream of his mother come true.
And, and we felt it was significant for the city of
Tampa. We know that Tampa is a rapidly
(40:21):
developing city, metropolitan ifyou want to call it.
And so we see the changes that'sgoing around.
We have comments from people that's all knock it down.
What's the significance? You know, that's somewhat like
how we treat our, our human beings as the elders as well.
History is important and, and maintaining and holding history
(40:42):
is important. And so that's where we're
focusing now on all the information that we needed.
We've had people in the city andthe county that has helped us
with records fine and all information that we need.
Now moving forward with engineering, with architect, I
mean, we don't know what it's going to take, how much more
money. What I mean in the beginning I
said 5 million because once you go underground and you see
(41:04):
what's there, what's not there, we don't know.
But just to have that buffer so we can build this thing back
with integrity and with, you know, make it look, you know,
spectacular. We that the funds is going to be
important for that. What people can do for us is
stay informed. Don't assume, don't be cautious
(41:26):
or what information you hear outthere.
If you want to know the truth and be accurate information, try
to attend one of the meetings that Angela just mentioned.
Come to our community meetings. We just need, you know, that
kind of support. Eventually we'll need financial
support. We have plans and things that we
would like to do to the house. We don't just want it to be a
(41:47):
landmark, just something that's just a staple and a monument.
We want it to be functional. You know, we want to make it a
functional place that has answers and solutions to some of
the problems that we see in our communities.
So we want to bring that significance into the house.
When we have functions, we hope that people will come and
support it, not just wait. OK.
They, they, they, you know, they've overcome that challenge
(42:08):
a bunch of restoring the house now is rebuilt and that's it.
You know, we would hope that youwill continue to can support
this house and be patrons of, you know, the events and
activities that we want to host in the house as we preserve
history and continue the legacy for our future generations.
Love. It one more thing I want to say
(42:31):
before we go so that it's important we're talking about
things that inspire you early inthe show.
What's inspiring me right now ishearing you women with passion
discuss the Jackson House. And I'm going to tell you why.
In a time where we have so many people who have been deflated,
(42:52):
who've been let down, who've kind of just been pushed aside,
who've almost given up hope on so many things because things
aren't great for them right now,it's inspiring to see you ladies
pushing to say no, we're going to keep fighting.
This is what we're fighting for.This is what we stand for.
This can't go down like this. We need this place to stand.
(43:16):
And I wish that there were more people out there like you
because that's what we need right now.
We need people out there who aregoing to fight for what they
believe in, for our values, and most importantly, our history.
Because every day we watch our history get erased and us get
forgotten. And with everything we provided
(43:37):
to this great country of ours, Ithink that alone is a shame.
And I love that we still have people out there fighting to
preserve that. So for me and from everybody
who's listening, I want to say thank you for fighting a good
fight and keeping that going. Thank.
You. And thank you for providing the
(43:59):
platform. Of course, of course, my my
pleasure and my honor. So for those who want to
support, let them know how they support and where they can find
you, you ladies at too so they can support you guys, OK?
Well, I would love for them. To visit
(44:20):
www.jacksonhousefoundation.org please visit our website.
On our website you'll see the different merchandise that we
have. So as you get merchandise that
is donations towards us, we havemugs, we have T-shirts and we
have plaques. So oh, you can just give a
(44:40):
donation as well. So please visit our website for
that. So for those donation, I am
going to say this as well. You said shout out what we do.
I'm getting on the board on October the 17th, 2025 in the
Tampa Bay area at the current hotel, we are working towards
100 black leaders and entrepreneur to come out to
(45:03):
support the Jackson House. We do.
We do a silent auction that evening where we can actually
have some fun. Learn more about the Jackson
House. And we also support the
relationships within our communities and beyond through
entrepreneurship. So I will share that information
with Devin, but they can find additional information regarding
(45:23):
that will also be on our websiteas well on the Jackson House
website. So if you go there and click,
you will find information towards that Friday night event,
October the 17th, 2025 at the current hotel in the Tampa Bay
area. Perfect.
And I like to challenge the artist.
I saw some artwork and some wonderful photography of the
(45:46):
home and some artists that are doing some great things.
So keep keep the art coming so that we can at one point
assemble this in one given spaceand tell a story through our own
expression and interpretation ofthe arts of the Jackson House.
And that that's visual arts as well as other arts.
It could be stories, plays, you know, poems.
(46:08):
Let's generate that that that energy with the arts so that we
can continue to inspire through that means of the arts.
I love it. That is fantastic.
Keep keep this going, keep pushing, keep fighting.
You're fighting a good fight. We're going to get it done.
(46:31):
I have faith in it. Thank you ladies for coming on
and as always, Delvin Cox experience.
We are out peace. Thank you.
Welcome to the Delvin Cox experience, the podcast which
each week I'm on a one man mission to you, not our coach to
diversity. I'm your host, Delvin Cox.
I have multiple special guests on this episode.
So we're here to talk about something very important,
something very special, something that has to do a
(01:14):
tradition and value to somethingthat needs to be preserved.
So I'm here to talk about Jackson House.
You may be wondering what is Jackson House?
We'll get into that. So right now we have Don Angela
Scott with us and we have Pat Cruz with us to talk about a
little bit of that. And we have someone else coming
on to get the history of it. But before we do that, we're
(01:36):
going to do like we always do, start off the podcast with the
five for five. Just a little light hearted
thing to kind of iceberg. It'll break the mood, you know,
to get everybody into the spiritof things.
So ladies, Are you ready? Yes.
Yes. OK, perfect.
Oh, perfect. Just in time, we also have with
(01:58):
us Doctor Carolyn Collins on us with us as well to talk about
Jackson House. But we're getting into section.
Let's get get to this five for five.
OK, question #1 what's your favorite sandwich?
Well, I'll go first on there when I'm from New Orleans and a
shrimp po boy all the time. OK, that's a good sandwich.
I like it. I like it.
(02:24):
Pat, what's your favorite sandwich?
I'm here trying to figure it out.
I'm not really a bread person, but if I do is probably tuna.
Tuna, OK. That's simple Tuna.
Yep. Stop the calling.
Yeah, look at I'm not from New Orleans.
I'm not really from Tampa. I, I've lived here.
(02:45):
I love Cuban sandwiches, but I shrimp for boys #1 for me.
I like it. I like it.
I I grew up in Miami, FL so I'vehad way too many Cuban
sandwiches, like unabsorbed amount of those.
So I can understand that. Yes.
Question #2 for all you ladies, and I think this is an important
(03:07):
question I ask people all the time, What inspires you?
We all start. I'll go Doctor Collins because I
know what you're going to. What inspires me is I would say
this, being able to work with mentors like Doctor Collins.
(03:29):
I can call out their names. Jacqueline Wild.
What inspires me is legacy, making sure that we preserve who
we are for future generations. I love, I'm teaching and I love
serving. And if I if I'm doing those two
things, I'm happy. That's that's what inspires me.
(03:52):
I'll let you go next, Pat. This is where this may seem
weird, but what inspires me is problems.
That is not weird at all. I I I love.
I love to, I love to see what's going on around me and my
environment in the world. And I'm challenged always to
(04:13):
find solutions that inspires me to keep me going, to keep using
my mind to find ways to make things better.
So that's actually a twisted wayto be inspired, but that's what
inspires me, keeps me going, motivated to make something
happen differently or positively.
That makes perfect sense to me, honestly.
I love it. All right, Doctor.
(04:35):
Doctor Collins, bring it home. What inspires you?
Anything that there exists a need and I am able to bring a
solution to the need and see success.
I like to see everybody succeed,so if I can contribute to it, I
(04:57):
get inspired. Which means almost somewhat of
what you've heard from both Pat.And maybe that's why we work so
well together, Pat. As well as if I don't want to
switch. No, no, I want to switch it.
I want to say as well as Miss Cruz and Doctor Scott.
(05:19):
Give me a problem. Let it be realistic.
You know what? I'm so sorry.
Let it be realistic and we'll solve it.
But I like to see success come out of whatever might where
(05:40):
there's a need, I want to see itsucceed.
And so that's kind of where I am.
And it's, I'm driven from an internal being.
And it's, I think more than anything else, that's my, my
religion, my faith, because I dobelieve that, you know, with
substance, all things we can achieve them.
(06:03):
So I look for where there is none or there need to be some.
And then I try to. Pursue it, I love it.
It's a great answer question #3 a quick one.
I think it's a quick one, but it's very similar to the
question I just asked. Who inspires you?
And I asked this because, you know, my grandmother, it's one
of the people who inspired me mywhole life, inspired me to be
(06:24):
better, inspired me to thrive for better things, inspired me
to live my life as a servant to help people.
And I think me doing this podcast is one of those ways I
can help people, whether it's introducing the world or
somebody or, you know, opening up conversations that people
didn't know that was important and they start having those
(06:44):
conversations or just opening those lines of communication
between people through the world.
I learned that from my grandmother.
So I asked you ladies, who inspired you?
I'll go first to 10 and take thetake the heat off of them
because mine is somewhat easy. I'm really inspired.
(07:06):
I'm inspired by my role models and my role models are I have 3,
my parents, both my mother and my father, a father who told me
you can do anything you want to do, but just make sure that when
you go to sleep at night, you can sleep in peace.
(07:27):
And when you wake up in the morning, you're going to pass by
a mirror and you want to be OK looking at yourself.
So I've been inspired by my dad and my mother who was always
there to make sure that whateverit is we want to do, she was
there to support us in doing it.And my third and biggest
inspirer has been and my faith in Christ Jesus because whenever
(07:50):
I'm down, he can pick me up. Whenever I think I can't make
it, I have a lift. And so those are the three major
people who have inspired me and been my role models throughout
my life of. An Amen to that.
All right, which one of you ladies want to go next?
Are y'all ready to pick? OK, I'll go.
(08:14):
I guess most people would say too.
I think my, my, I would say my parents, my grandparents, my
grand, especially my grandfatherwho was illiterate but so full
of wisdom and was selflessly A giver.
And he read nature to understandthings around him and taught me
life and career through observation of of nature.
(08:37):
And that inspires me to continueto do that for for answers, look
at the nature in which a creatorhas placed at us a place out for
us. And that's where I try to find
reason and understanding and then my faith as Muslim, the,
(08:59):
the, my readings, my Quran as a,which is a, like a prescription
for how you live your life. That keeps me focused on I am
here to serve my Creator and, you know, with my, you know,
daily prayers, you know, five times a day, you're constantly
reminded and that keeps me inspired.
(09:23):
So I'm Devin. It's almost like diddles away
because what does inspire me is my faith.
I I will have to say I'm going to cheat a little bit and group
people together. So it's my faith and it's my
family. My family's a praying family.
My mother has four other sisters.
Three are still living. So those five women in
(09:44):
themselves have encouraged me toalways grow up to to to go
against the odds, to have integrity and it to keep my
word. And then I would and then
included in my family as my husband and my children, they
inspired me to show up as my best.
And then I have a group of extended family friendship and
mentors. They inspired me just to
(10:06):
continue to, to to want to live this life out in love.
So I have to group them like that.
I love it. What I what I appreciate is I'm
on a panel with a very intelligent, strong women and I
love the fact that I'm able to open up my platform to you women
to show that. So kudos to that.
(10:26):
That's amazing. Awesome.
Thank. You.
So question #4 just a simple question.
What's a simple thing that you see in your life that just makes
you happy? It could be something small.
That make you what? Makes you happy, I'll.
Go because I was just sharing this with someone.
(10:47):
I make sure I have a flower of flowers around me even though I
live in an apartment right now outside I planted flowers so
that every day I look out that just it makes me happy.
I mean there are a lot of other things.
I can pick hundreds of things, but that is a beginning for me.
When I see flowers it makes me smile and lets me know
(11:08):
everything is OK. Yeah, I have the same thing.
I'm growing a tomato plant in myyard, and it's like just the
whole process of learning how todo that kind of makes me happy.
Just watching it grow. It counts me.
I know we take this for granted,but what makes me smile is when
(11:29):
I speak to someone and it pausesthem and they just look like,
you know, because I'm going to greet you with a great good
morning. It's going to be somebody's
happy day. So it just makes me smile when I
see them genuinely, like, oh, pausing to realize somebody
really is speaking to them genuinely.
(11:49):
So I like to see people smile. That's great.
I think everything makes me smile.
I, I'm, I'm, I'm really happy when I get up in the morning
because I think I have another day that I can do something for
someone. I'm happy when I can go to bed
(12:11):
at night and I really am seriously, because I go, oh God,
it's behind me. Whatever I didn't get done, it
will not get done. And I go.
And so I feel like I succeeded regardless of what I got done.
So I'm happy. So I tend to unfortunately live
happiness because I eat all the time so I love.
(12:32):
These so you know. My husband will tell you take
somebody out to drink before we Take Me Out to eat.
So, you know, eating doesn't particularly make me happy, but
just just seeing completion of anything and even if it's
completing a good night's rest or a real full day of having
things done, that's it. And I usually try to say happy
(12:56):
as much as possible because I have a lot in my path.
They can make me not be happy. I.
Try to stay happy. I understand that completely and
#5 I think this is important because this is going to lead to
our conversation. I know Doctor Collins has to go
soon, but we're going to get into this right now.
(13:17):
Why is Jackson House important? I'll, I'll go first because I'm
the new last board member. I think the Jackson House is
important. First of all, it was African
Americans, black individuals that owned that property and
they had a history, a story behind that property.
(13:40):
They saw a need or problem that Miss Pat and Doctor Collins
spoke to, and Moses Jackson and Sarah Jackson.
They saw a problem, they built on their home and they resolved
that problem, they owned it and they were able to keep that
house and that land in that family until this present day in
(14:02):
age that is in the foundations hand.
The project and the story to me is that important because it's a
story of resilience and, and, and it's more than just music.
It's everything that we stand for today and saying what we did
here as Black people come into America just standing on legacy.
(14:26):
And that's why that house is important to be restored and be
rebuilt. OK, I'll go next.
Much of everything that Angela said.
And to add to that, for me, it'sthe connection with a pass
unseen. We don't see.
(14:47):
We don't have the opportunity many times to see what the
history was. And the Jackson House is
symbolic visually. It's something that we see and
we can connect to and it tells astory that we have.
We don't have any more in our society in general, whatever
(15:08):
blacks, whites or anybody else, it tells our story.
It tells the Black story of downtown Tampa and when the
details that we will share aboutother aspects of the house other
than the people that stayed there in the music connection,
when we show other aspects on what it meant to people in the
community and what other things happened through that house,
(15:30):
that is important and significant.
And like I said, we don't have it.
We can't see it in many places. That represents the Black
experience here in Tampa or in general around this US or
beyond. So that is why it's so
significant and important. To me, excellent.
And for me, I, I like our visionstatement.
(15:57):
I call it our fiend business statement.
Our motto is to restore history for future generations and we
want to inspire those future generations.
It's important to me to be able to restore that history because
it was asked of me to do it and given to me as a charge.
(16:20):
It was done by Willie, but he was inspired by his mother.
So Willie inspired me to make that history available for
future generations. His mother inspired him, and
when we look at why his mother was so eager, we have to assume
that the Robinsons were inspiredbecause of the Jackson house,
(16:46):
the Jackson family and what everything you just heard, Pat,
Miss Cruz and Doctor Scott, justwhat you just heard them talk
about. I look at the house differently
from where I looked at before. And it's important because it's
an economic power base, economicdevelopment of the African
(17:09):
American community that started when we weren't thinking about
it. When people were starting the
laundry, when they were startingthe cab company, when they were
starting the Bobby shop, when they were starting the beauty
shop. And all of that was tied in when
they were cooking and when they was doing a rooming house and
even before it was a rooming house when the idea came to
them. And they allow people to sleep
(17:30):
there on the porch because they had nowhere else to go because
of Jim Crow racism and things ofthat nature.
So it is our history and it's a history that should be instilled
in the lives of many. And that's why the Jackson
House, and I'll close it my comments by saying very clearly
we are going to restore history to inspire future generations at
(17:53):
8:51, which is the address we use now, which was not the
original 1 but at 851 Zack St. Love it.
So for those who don't know, like I said, because Jack's
house has been a thing for a while and if you're not paying
attention, you wouldn't know thestory of it.
But the story of Jack's house isa very essential story to not
(18:18):
only Florida history but American history.
So let us know what the Jack's House is about.
And let us know what the JacksonHouse is all about.
That was the question. I want you to elaborate on the
history of the Jackson House, why it's important.
(18:40):
And since I have to leave soon, I'm going to say this because
it's going to be left and very, very well qualified hands to do
a better job than I could even do.
The Jackson House is about a little single house.
(19:04):
An African American family acquired it somewhere about 125
years ago in downtown Tampa. And they decided that that was
going to be their home. They had sons and daughters, and
they decided that they were so close to the train station and
(19:24):
people had nowhere to stay. At some point, they were going
to use this house as a business venture, but they also use this
house as a training tool. They didn't want the girls to go
outside of the house. They want the girls to stay
there. Like the traditional African
American family, many felt that the girls should go off and get
(19:48):
educated, but the boys should work and learn how to manage it.
And I saw that in that family aswell, because when you look at
the girls in that house, they didn't all get a chance to do
that. But there were people like Miss
Johnny, who was born in the house, raised in the house, left
the house when she became married and went off to be with
(20:10):
her husband to raise her family and very engaged, committed and
dedicated Miss Antoinette, who'sup in Texas, who's actually on
the board. And so why the house?
What was in the house? What was the house all about?
The house touched the heart of apeople.
It set on the periphery of the African American and community,
(20:35):
you know, that was popular, called the shrubs, popular,
called Central Ave. But more important than anything
to me, the house is there now inthe worst shape it could have
ever been in in the world, anybody's world.
But the house is going to be restored, rebuilt, and we're
(20:55):
going to tell that story with many other stories, and we're
not going to let that house go. So that house is going to bring
something to Tampa. And I'll use this as an
opportunity since it is today tosay, even in the words of the
late Councilwoman Gwen Henderson, don't let that house
(21:20):
go. That house must stay.
And it doesn't matter who gets in the way and what happened.
Restore that house. Save that house.
There is nothing else in Tampa that we can save of the African
American community. Perry Hobby Park is fine, but it
doesn't tell the story of Central Avenue.
(21:43):
A mirror on the wall at the rec center is fine, but it still
doesn't tell the story of Central Ave.
The train station sits there andthe house sits there.
And those were two entities thatwere there before.
And we've got to make sure that that house sits there at the
(22:03):
current 851 Zach St. and make sure that we tell that story,
that we let people know everything we have.
Everybody have idea what happened in the house.
Everybody want to know who stayed in the house.
You know, a lot of times they say African American.
What Just African Americans. There were Native Americans who
(22:24):
also stayed there because they weren't accepted baseball
players. Music doctor Martin Luther King
and some people even in Tampa want to say Doctor King never
stayed in that house and didn't even want to have it written as
history. It doesn't matter what they
really want. What we want to do is give them
what they need. And once we give them what they
need, then they would understandthe house.
(22:45):
I think it's important to highlight places like this and
communities like this because frankly speaking, nowadays so
much of our history is being erased, rewritten, forgot about.
And I think it's important that not only my generation knows the
history and what's going on, butfuture generations know the
history and keep that legacy going up.
(23:07):
Because a lot of times if you don't know the history, you're
doing to repeat things, the mistakes from the past, thing
like that. So it's very important that
places like the Jackson House stay, stay restored, stay where
it's at, because that is like a beacon of hope for people.
And I think there's a lot of communities that have had places
like that that no longer have those places.
(23:30):
You know, I can speak from personal experience.
I'm a lot of my old neighborhoodhas been re gentrified.
A lot of places that were monuments and key to that
community is now going and they put like sky risers thing like
that, but it takes away the heart what the community really
stood for. So true, so true.
(23:54):
It's. I call it the.
It's going to be the and we always say when we talk in
double ACP, we say membership isa lifeblood.
So when I went on the family, wecould say membership is a
lifeblood. Guess what?
The Jackson House is a lifebloodof downtown Tampa.
Not just the African American community, but it's the
lifeblood of downtown Tampa, theperiphery of the shrub, what
(24:17):
Central Ave. was and what it is not anymore.
But we are going to tell that story.
So you're right. That's that vision, that's that
instilling and young people instilling and old people
instilling and visitors and everyone.
So yeah, Pad and, and I mean Miss Cruz and Doctor Scott can
(24:40):
go further. Well, this is jump behind Doctor
Collins, everything that Doctor Connor said, because she really
gave a good summary. The only other thing I would add
to it, which is like a personal struggle for me is looking at
history. And I love history across the
board. And when I look at at black
history and we used to talk about Regent certification and
(25:01):
what happened in in that area atthe time.
But it also is significant because that happened a lot of
cities in southern cities or cities where were, you know,
post slave areas where things changed and everything was taken
away. Everything was, you know,
demolished or what have you. And here it is.
We have the Jackson House still standing there.
(25:22):
I think there's a reason for that.
Even though pieces of it are falling apart and it looks like
it's not going to make it, it's still standing there.
And even that with it's standingthere speaks something.
I mean, we had a there was a guyand his wife that strolled
downtown from a cruise ship or something.
And they were from Africa. They were from the continent of
Africa. And when they saw the house and
(25:44):
I, I went to them because the guy was like when and he asked
me about, and I told him about what the house was.
He said he felt there's something about this house.
And you hear people say that yousee videos upon videos on
YouTube and Facebook, Instagram of people that have visited and
just walked around and see they say, what is this?
And they say even some of the homeless people, there's
(26:05):
something significant and that that the presence of that house
emits in the soul of people thatit is still there.
And so we have had a long haul at trying to restore, trying to
get it saved. And our intention is to save it.
And I'm sure we will be able to save it.
But because we can't lose this, we can't lose this battle.
(26:27):
I feel we need, it's significantthat we we've lost so many other
things and we're used to giving up.
And we're used to say, OK, we don't want to struggle, we don't
want to strive. But it, it speaks to not only
the success that we will have, but the fact that we can now
thrive. And we need to set that model
and that example for our people that we can't just talk about
succeed and we have to thrive aswell, you know?
(26:49):
So you know, anyway, to me that's the significance of what
it will mean, what it means now and what it will mean along with
everything that that's a collegeshared with you in terms of this
history of what happened. I think that's essential to kind
of keep in mind that, you know, we have to take our wins when we
get them and we got to fight forthe things that we want and that
(27:10):
we love. And something that that we take
pride in Jackson House is one ofthose things that people have
taken pride into. People look to and inspire to
look looking at. Hey, that's our history.
You know, I, I can speak from that because we have like, you
know, in Miami, we've had several places like that that
had that kind of history too. And I watched as people just
stood by because, frankly speaking, they didn't know what
(27:31):
to do. So those things that were part
of the history of Liberty City or Overtown or other areas of
Miami just got torn down and taken away.
And it's kind of sad to see that.
I'll give you a good example. There was this barbershop that's
been there for 40 years. It's called Mop City.
I was in heart of Liberty City. They started building high rise
(27:52):
in Liberty City. They asked the guy that hey,
let's set, let's sit. They what they offered him and
correct $1,000,000 to sell Mop City so he can, so they could
just build a high rise there andhe refused.
He refused to refuse to refuse. So essentially the city raises
the taxes so he couldn't afford it anymore and they kind of
(28:14):
forced him out. So now as it as it stands right
now, that area where Mopsy was at is just a vacant lot.
There's nothing even there. They just tore down the building
to tear down the building. It's like that was a part of our
history. Like I remember as a kid going
in there seeing like the the Ebony magazines and all the
posters and everything like thatand it just getting the, the
(28:36):
sense of black pride. You know, it just like unity
'cause people, you know, much like church was in certain
areas. It's a barbershop with the place
where all the guys got together,had the conversation in that
community. And when you see things like
that getting taken away, it kindof deflates you.
(28:56):
It's the best way to describe it, yeah.
The only thing I could add to all of this at this time is
really in the latter part of what Miss Cruz was talking
about, the fight. And the fight is being able to
continue to fight to save the Jackson House and other
(29:17):
historical buildings throughout the United States that deal with
African history. But the thing I also want to say
is that we're organizing our voice.
So by being invited on this podcast and having us be able to
bring awareness to the to the historical Jackson House, that's
where people conversations can get organized.
(29:38):
So platforms like this can help us save our history as well.
Because Doctor Collins and Miss Pat Noel, I say this all the
time. Well, people don't know they'll
make it up. And so we don't want people
making up stories about our history or the path that we're
on or the status with the house.So we appreciate platforms like
(29:58):
this where we can come and and we ask questions so we can so
people can really know the heartbehind the house, the project
and see who the board says. I have two important questions
for y'all. One, what are some of the trials
and tribulations that you face trying to keep this house
(30:20):
afloat? And two, how can we as a
community help? That's the most important part,
once we know the trials and the problems, how we can combine
people together and unite peopleto help make sure that this
place stays where it needs to stay at.
(30:49):
OK, Yeah, yeah. Looking at smiling, one thing I
will say is, is when our major trials of tribulation when I
first got started about 10 yearsago and it's been about that, is
trying to get the structure together.
Because there were so many people who said what they were
going to do, but nobody did it and they'd had no intentions of
doing it. So there's so much falsification
(31:11):
that had centered around the house.
There was no structure to it organizationally or any other
way, and there was no money. So once as a group, we were able
to organize, we were able to getindividuals to recognize that we
were serious. We were able to get people who
worked with us, who kind of believed in US.
(31:34):
And once we reached that stage, still broke, no money, trying to
make sure we had a solid foundation in order to work
from. And once we got that, we got
slapped in the face. You guys need money.
But in addition to need money, we also needed to make sure that
we knew what we had, what we owned, what had been put in our
(31:56):
possession to protect and in order to kind of move forward.
I would just say one of the things was money starts flowing.
People who everybody say didn't help, they did help.
Oh, that mayor didn't help. Yeah, yes, he did.
Bob Buckhorn did help because hekept them from tearing the house
(32:16):
down and hadn't been torn down. We wouldn't be working on it
today. And he stopped the accumulation
of the fees that were being accumulated because of the
violation of codes. And he indicated that he would
stop them not that accumulate anymore, which had exceeded
$100,000 and that he would writethem off.
(32:40):
Then after he was gone, we had anew mayor came in, our current
mayor, Mayor Castor. What can I do?
Go and check to make sure that those codes are loan and they've
been paid off and things of thatnature and help us get some
money. And she says done.
We were blessed at some point. We don't say who did what, but
(33:02):
we were blessed with $1,000,000.After we got the $1,000,000,
people start wanting to get involved with us.
Then we wrote a grant. We also have state legislators
working with us. So money right now for us will
soon be an issue after we complete the construction.
But we got money to do the construction.
(33:24):
But now we run our heads up against a brick wall about
easement, extra property on the side you can't build.
Then some people tell us, yes, you can build things of that
nature. And so I think our biggest
struggle that we are having and we didn't realize and I really
think money is going to be easy for us over time because I think
we can do fundraising, I think we can write grants and those
(33:46):
kind of things that are out there for historical properties.
And that's why no matter what wedo, we've taken a real beating
and the house have taken the licking because we're trying to
make sure that we maintain the historic designation that Willie
Robinson mother was able to gainwhere we have national, we have
state and we have local historicdesignations for the house as
(34:10):
historic landmarks. And from there, the other
challenges we have, Angela has Doctor Scott has taken on a very
specific part of that challenge,working on one issue with us.
We have Miss Cruz, who have beenextremely instrumental in
looking out there on what's on the horizon from a historical
(34:31):
perspective. And, and I, I was trying to
figure out what time I was goingto leave the church because
right now they're not being recorded and they're not
recording them. But I think that they would be
great in that area. And I'm going to leave now if
(34:51):
it's OK, ladies, you guys got itright.
Is it OK, Mr. Cox? Of course it is.
I thank you for all the. Here's what I'm going to say is
thank you, thank you, thank you.Bring us back again.
Of course. My pleasure.
We've done about a month or two you can bring us back and say,
hey, they've started and we'll do those do that again with you.
But I want thank you for offering us and, and this is
(35:19):
kind of like what we need to educate the community because at
some phase the community will see what we've done and those
that cannot appreciate it will and those that appreciate it and
want it to happen, they as well.We'll be pleased with what they
(35:39):
got a word out about something. They'll come on in and do it
with us. But I'll see you soon at 851
Jack St. We'll do a podcast from there.
That sounds great to me. I'll make the drive.
All righty. You got Pat.
You got Miss Cruz. Here you have Angela and these
special names, that's why I callthem Pat and Angela.
But Doctor Scott and they're going to carry it on.
(36:01):
And my church was probably saying we're not being recorded,
so I'm going to jump on them. But I I'm so appreciative for
what you were doing for us and we look forward to working with
you. Thank you so much ladies, you
got it. And yes, ma'am, I'll take the
latter part of your question. You said as far as how people
(36:23):
can get involved and help. Let me clarify something first
because I know people's heard that oh $1 million.
Let me clarify that for them. Considering when you're when
you're doing restoration work for historical spots, that is
not a lot of money. That money goes by fast.
So this is the constant. I know people who hear that
like, oh, everything must be solved.
(36:45):
No, it is not solved. You know, they're going to need
more money for they're going to need more funding.
They're going to need more things for like construction
work and you know, you have to get permits and get them like
there's a landmark and things like that.
It's a lot. It's a long hard process.
So I wanted to make sure I made that clear before we moved on.
(37:05):
Like, hey, they're still going to need a lot of help.
That's that's help, that's help,but it's still need a lot more
help. And that's why it's important
for my listeners and people out there to be willing to help, to
save and preserve this property.Now you can go Doctor Scott.
So that's the perfect end because what I was going to say
(37:26):
is I would love for your listeners to visit our website.
On the website we have a calendar where we do community
meetings quarterly and we have an other events where we can
have the community come in and ask questions and they can hear
some of the details that you just spoke about where we're in
a project like when we have our RFP out right now, the request
(37:47):
for proposal. Also we're looking for an
architect firm so that they can work with us as far as getting
the contract managers working with the engineer firms.
But we're doing everything in the guidelines of what I state
grant funding tell us to do. And that is aligned with the
City of Tampa procurement process as well, so that we can
(38:07):
have an equitable process of those firms that we're looking
for in order to help us restore and rebuild the Jackson House.
So as people come to our community meetings, they visit
our website, they should learn additional information as well.
Perfect. OK.
(38:28):
I'd like to just also put in there that, you know, we plan
God plan. We say God plan is best.
It has taken a long time. There have been many people
involved in trying to assist us with different components of
getting the project from the financial back in the political
back. And we had City Council members
as well as the mayors and you know, people of influence that
(38:51):
has supported this initiative. They have come to us, met with
us giving us guidance in what tohow to.
And then there was a huge part that we was on.
This is undertaken if this is a historical landmark.
And so we had to learn what thatwhat that means.
It's not just rebuilding a house.
There are certain policies and regulation that go along with
(39:14):
that. And we have to learn that for
your city, for your state, and for the national registries.
So that is a learning curve for us because we have to know what
to expect if we have someone come in to do.
We have to be the we of the guardians of this.
So we have to know what, what, what we're supposed, what is
supposed to be done so we can make sure we protect those
(39:36):
policies and procedures and not lose any, any status with the
national landmark, historical landmark.
So that was, that was some research that needed and some
education for us to see what it,what it took.
And so if that's, this had happened 10 years before, we
would not have probably had thatinformation so that we can
(39:59):
champion this thing as a historical site because we none
of us had that background reallywhen we came in.
We were just passionate about saving history.
Passionate about trying to help Mr. Willie Robinson to see the
the dream of his mother come true.
And, and we felt it was significant for the city of
Tampa. We know that Tampa is a rapidly
(40:21):
developing city, metropolitan ifyou want to call it.
And so we see the changes that'sgoing around.
We have comments from people that's all knock it down.
What's the significance? You know, that's somewhat like
how we treat our, our human beings as the elders as well.
History is important and, and maintaining and holding history
(40:42):
is important. And so that's where we're
focusing now on all the information that we needed.
We've had people in the city andthe county that has helped us
with records fine and all information that we need.
Now moving forward with engineering, with architect, I
mean, we don't know what it's going to take, how much more
money. What I mean in the beginning I
said 5 million because once you go underground and you see
(41:04):
what's there, what's not there, we don't know.
But just to have that buffer so we can build this thing back
with integrity and with, you know, make it look, you know,
spectacular. We that the funds is going to be
important for that. What people can do for us is
stay informed. Don't assume, don't be cautious
(41:26):
or what information you hear outthere.
If you want to know the truth and be accurate information, try
to attend one of the meetings that Angela just mentioned.
Come to our community meetings. We just need, you know, that
kind of support. Eventually we'll need financial
support. We have plans and things that we
would like to do to the house. We don't just want it to be a
(41:47):
landmark, just something that's just a staple and a monument.
We want it to be functional. You know, we want to make it a
functional place that has answers and solutions to some of
the problems that we see in our communities.
So we want to bring that significance into the house.
When we have functions, we hope that people will come and
support it, not just wait. OK.
They, they, they, you know, they've overcome that challenge
(42:08):
a bunch of restoring the house now is rebuilt and that's it.
You know, we would hope that youwill continue to can support
this house and be patrons of, you know, the events and
activities that we want to host in the house as we preserve
history and continue the legacy for our future generations.
Love. It one more thing I want to say
(42:31):
before we go so that it's important we're talking about
things that inspire you early inthe show.
What's inspiring me right now ishearing you women with passion
discuss the Jackson House. And I'm going to tell you why.
In a time where we have so many people who have been deflated,
(42:52):
who've been let down, who've kind of just been pushed aside,
who've almost given up hope on so many things because things
aren't great for them right now,it's inspiring to see you ladies
pushing to say no, we're going to keep fighting.
This is what we're fighting for.This is what we stand for.
This can't go down like this. We need this place to stand.
(43:16):
And I wish that there were more people out there like you
because that's what we need right now.
We need people out there who aregoing to fight for what they
believe in, for our values, and most importantly, our history.
Because every day we watch our history get erased and us get
forgotten. And with everything we provided
(43:37):
to this great country of ours, Ithink that alone is a shame.
And I love that we still have people out there fighting to
preserve that. So for me and from everybody
who's listening, I want to say thank you for fighting a good
fight and keeping that going. Thank.
You. And thank you for providing the
(43:59):
platform. Of course, of course, my my
pleasure and my honor. So for those who want to
support, let them know how they support and where they can find
you, you ladies at too so they can support you guys, OK?
Well, I would love for them. To visit
(44:20):
www.jacksonhousefoundation.org please visit our website.
On our website you'll see the different merchandise that we
have. So as you get merchandise that
is donations towards us, we havemugs, we have T-shirts and we
have plaques. So oh, you can just give a
(44:40):
donation as well. So please visit our website for
that. So for those donation, I am
going to say this as well. You said shout out what we do.
I'm getting on the board on October the 17th, 2025 in the
Tampa Bay area at the current hotel, we are working towards
100 black leaders and entrepreneur to come out to
(45:03):
support the Jackson House. We do.
We do a silent auction that evening where we can actually
have some fun. Learn more about the Jackson
House. And we also support the
relationships within our communities and beyond through
entrepreneurship. So I will share that information
with Devin, but they can find additional information regarding
(45:23):
that will also be on our websiteas well on the Jackson House
website. So if you go there and click,
you will find information towards that Friday night event,
October the 17th, 2025 at the current hotel in the Tampa Bay
area. Perfect.
And I like to challenge the artist.
I saw some artwork and some wonderful photography of the
(45:46):
home and some artists that are doing some great things.
So keep keep the art coming so that we can at one point
assemble this in one given spaceand tell a story through our own
expression and interpretation ofthe arts of the Jackson House.
And that that's visual arts as well as other arts.
It could be stories, plays, you know, poems.
(46:08):
Let's generate that that that energy with the arts so that we
can continue to inspire through that means of the arts.
I love it. That is fantastic.
Keep keep this going, keep pushing, keep fighting.
You're fighting a good fight. We're going to get it done.
(46:31):
I have faith in it. Thank you ladies for coming on
and as always, Delvin Cox experience.
We are out peace. Thank you.
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