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David Dukes was born in the mid-1940’s in Madison, Florida, and was a prominent civil rights activist in the Florida primarily during the mid-1960’s. At the young age of 17 on August 6, 1963, Dukes “declared a war on injustice, discrimination, and segregation ” During this time, he helped lead sit-ins, a NAACP youth council, and then became a staff member at CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) in May of 1964.

While working with CORE in Mississippi, his family was forced to leave their home. Despite this, he stayed in Madison and the surrounding areas to continue to work on prevailing civil rights issues, primarily the desegregation of businesses and schools following the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Dukes went on to create the Johnson-Brinson Project, which was an “after school program to increase educational goals, reduce school dropouts, decrease teen pregnancy, decrease juvenile criminal behavior, reduce violence and drug abuse ” in his home town of Madison, Florida. He currently lives there and is retired.

Early Life
Dukes grew up in Madison County, Florida. He lived with his mother, who worked as a maid and housekeeper for a white family, and his siblings. He spent much of his young life questioning the status-quo and his life in general. When in school, Dukes says that he first realized his frustrations when saying the pledge, saying “I should have ended [the pledge] with ‘liberty and justice for all whites,’ then I would have been speaking the truth .” Dukes spent his summers working in the tobacco fields along with his siblings. The whole family worked to pay the bills, as Duke’s father was not around. The family was so poor that “The lights were out more often than they were on ." The lack of his father fueled much of his rage towards his contemporary society. Dukes desire to be a part of the movements that would consume his life are entirely self-motivated, as he was to start the movements that would change Madison forever.

Sit-ins and the NAACP Youth Council
On August 6th, 1963, at just sixteen years old, Dukes held the first sit-in in Madison Country history. Joined by friend and local Jerome Jackson, the pair went to the Robert’s Drug Store lunch counter. Once there, the pair purchased a few magazines and sodas, and proceeded to sit down at the whites-only lunch counter. Once she caught wind of what was happening, an employee pulled the chairs out from under them, screaming the whole time. They simply moved tables until the police arrived.

Dukes was placed in jail overnight. After being released from jail the following morning, as it was his first offense, his mother threatened to send him to Miami to live with one of his sisters. Determined to fight for the rights of the African American community, he evaded this plan. Despite a lack of support from the community, Dukes worked to organize students, having them join a chapter of the NAACP Youth Council, one of which he was the president. This group’s primary goal was to help abolish segregation in Madison County.

Foremost Dairy Farm Boycott
The Foremost Dairy Farm was the primary dairy provider for the area. The company owned a dairy bar known as the Hillcrest Dairy Bar in town that was once segregated, but due to an architectural addition they had decided only serve whites. After a failed attempt to negotiate with the owner who stated “I will never serve Negroes [at the dairy bar] again ”, Dukes decided to go forth with a proposed boycott upon the company and its products.

The largest impact of the protest was first seen at the all-black Madison Training School. According to Dukes “90 to 95 percent of the student and faculty members left their milk in the containers ”. Although the Foremost Dairy Farm was not desegregated, there was great change, including schools choosing different dairy providers and the black community having more awareness of their power and situation.

Chuck Wagon Sit-in and the Civil Rights Act of 1964
After the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in order to appease the mainstream Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dukes and the NAACP Youth Council, along with CORE, decided to test out the new legislation. They staged a sit-in at a local restaurant, The Chuck Wagon, in which they had the cops called on them and were taken to the county jail overnight on trespassing charges. This led to the largest meeting of the NAACP Youth Council yet, gaining the group and the movement a lot of momentum in Madison.

The owner of the Chuck Wagon, Mr. Kent, attended another meeting that followed, stating that he will desegregate the restaurant and even hire black staff. However, after the hiring of black waitresses, “whites began to picket and boycott… placards had such slogans as ‘Nigger waitresses inside,’ ‘Don’t eat here, Niggers must go’", and later on Mr. Kent’s business was vandalized and he was even run off the road by local whites in cars. He was beaten. Eventually, however, the picketing and violence towards the Chuck Wagon and Mr. Kent ceased. It was not going to be an easy road ahead despite the passing of the new legislation.

Work Outside of Madison
Despite apprehension and outright refusal, Dukes was sent to other parts of Florida to help aid in the struggles Dukes was sent to Havana, Florida to meet with community leaders there. He canvassed for voters and worked to build protest and community in Havana.

While testing a truck stop under Dukes and CORE, Stevie Hendley, a tenth grader at Northside High School, called Dukes and said “The man is coming at us with a gun.” According to witness reports, the group of testers were harassed by a white man, Rannie Forehand, and the cops were threatened to be called, and were. They were brought inside the truck stop and held hostage. They were finally thrown out and left the stop. Forehand was not arrested or charged.

After spending some time in Madison and then in Miami, in December of 1964 Dukes and some others headed to Mayo, Florida in Lafayette County, which at the time had no black registration for voting, and was the only county in Florida with that situation. Only some people were registered while Dukes was there. The house where Dukes was staying turned him away after a short stint away, as they had had arson threatened upon them if he was to stay with them again. He left for Tallahassee shortly after this.

Return to Madison; Summer of 1965
By April of 1965, the NAACP Youth Council had changed its name to the Madison County Student Movement, and Dukes was elected president of this group as well. A letter demanding for segregation in the area to be completely demolished was sent out to all businesses by the group, in compliance with the Civil Rights Act. This had Dukes receiving death threats from around the county by the white community and harassment from the black community in reference to his countercultural behavior. After a three-day conference in Mississippi, his entire family had moved to Miami. Duke’s mother said that she “could not take anymore… was tired of the white people threatening [Dukes], watching the house ”, and therefore she moved the family down south. Dukes refused to join them.

His desire to stay came from a boycott that was implemented on the new theatre in town. He was arrested, and his trial was held on July 2nd, 1965, where he was declared guilty of “disturbing the peace.” This decision, however, was overturned in an appeal at circuit court.

Dukes continued to work in Madison. Once Supter James Jr decided to run for the office of city commissioner, Dukes and the Madison County Student Movement group were focused primarily on city voter registration. Shortly after the election, the group held a march against the schoolboard on August 4th, 1965, despite lacking support from the local Civic League.

There was a boycott implemented on the Madison county school movement that was to take place starting on the first day of school August 19th. There was about 90% of the student body involved in the protest on the first day. The superintendent believed that the schools starting on separate dates was the only problem, but this was not the case. With conflicting information, Dukes and the rest of the group had to fight hard to make sure people did not attend school on the day the white school started, August 30th. The boycott was still effective despite slightly raised attendance. A representative was sent from Tallahassee to Madison on September 1st, and therefore the picketing was called off for that day. The Madison County Student Movement was able to choose nine adults to represent them at school board meetings in order to help fight for their cause, and the boycott was called off.

Cherry Lake Segregation
Dukes’ next battle was the desegregation of Cherry Lake, a local swimming hole. After being unable to enter, Dukes, CORE, and SCLC, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, sent white testers in to create proof that Cherry Lake was in fact segregated. With proof, they filed a case against Madison County, Florida and other affiliated groups, including The Cherry Lake Civic Club, of which whom was the only defendant not dismissed. The club was ordered by the court to cease discriminatory practices.

On first visit to the Lake post-decision, Dukes and the others were met with great protest. With over 100 white people there ready to attack them, one man pulled out a tank of gasoline. However, he did not attack and they were able to escape. They planned to visit again a few days later, this time with protection. It was an overall success.

Decision to Leave Madison
Dukes left Madison for his own safety and wellbeing and headed to Miami on September 25th, 1965 and began to attend Miami-Dade Junior College-South. He spoke in many classes and led discussions and activism throughout his time there.

Impact of Movement on Dukes
Despite the emotional trauma being a part of the movement gave him, Dukes continued be an activist for his entire life. In the 1990’s, Dukes went on to create the Johnson-Brinson Project, which was an “after school program to increase educational goals, reduce school dropouts, decrease teen pregnancy, decrease juvenile criminal behavior, reduce violence and drug abuse”