Pensacola historian, activist and 'icon' Georgia Blackmon dies at 82

Georgia Blackmon could be intimidating at times. She could give you a hardened look that could wither a soul or bark out an order like she was a Parris Island drill sergeant. Though no drill sergeant ever had dreadlocks as magnificent as hers.

But odds are, if Georgia Blackmon liked you, she loved you. And if she didn't like you, she probably loved you still – as long as you stayed out of her way and didn't block her far-reaching vision.

Because Georgia Blackmon was a visionary. She was also a community leader, historian, businesswoman, activist preservationist and Pensacola native who devoted herself to bettering her neighborhood, her community, her people and her city.

Blackmon died Monday evening surrounded by family. She was 82 years old. Service details have not yet been finalized.

"Georgia Blackmon was a mover and shaker and a difference maker,'' said Walter Gulley Jr., who called Blackmon his "second mother."

"She was a pillar of wisdom and a pillar of this community. She was dissatisfied with mediocrity and wasn't just concerned about what was going on today. She was concerned about how things will be down the road. That's the kind of vision she had.''

Gulley is board president of the Ella Jordan African American History Museum in Pensacola, which exists largely because of Blackmon's dogged efforts.

One of her visions was restoring an old, decrepit Queen Anne cottage home at the corner of LaRua and C streets - an old historic structure that was scheduled to be demolished by the city. Blackmon, through her nonprofit organization Mother Wit Institute and along with Beverlyn Baines and others, rallied the community and raised money to save and rebuild the house long-known in the neighborhood as the "pink house." More than $350,000 was raised, largely through modest donations, to fund the renovation.

Today, the pink is bright and vibrant, and the rebuilt, gorgeous house is now home to the Ella Jordan African American History Museum. Jordan was an African American seamstress who founded the Pensacola's Federation of Colored Womens Clubs, Inc., in 1929. Jordan and the organization purchased the home, built around the 1890s, and moved its headquarters there in 1951 when clubs, organizations and other gathering spots were still segregated. The club, and home, received visits from influential people across the country, including Eleanor Roosevelt and noted educator Mary McCleod Bethune.

Through the years, it was used by organizations such as sororities, book clubs and educational groups until it fell into disrepair in the early 2000s, receiving significant damage from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

The home and museum are now part of Blackmon's rich legacy, which includes the Gathering Awareness and Book Center, the first Pensacola bookstore that specialized in Black and African-American history and culture.

Blackmon first opened the African-American-centered bookstore in her home in 1989, before moving to a store on Fisher and E streets. She moved the store to its final location at 314 N. DeVilliers St. in 2014 — right next to her favorite hamburger spot, Blue Dot.

"When I did, I had to tell myself not to eat a hamburger every day,'' she said in December 2018, when she announced she would be closing the Gathering Awareness and Book Center in early 2019, right around the same time she cut off her gorgeous, decades-grown dreadlocks. "Because that's not real good for you. So I eat one about every other day. That's not real good either. But I love them."

Blackmon's bookstore was just as the name applied – a place of gathering and awareness.

"It truly was a gathering of people,'' said Mamie Hixon, longtime University of West Florida Writing Lab director, who grew up just a few streets away from Blackmon. "There were old, young, Republicans, Democrats, Jews, protestants - the works. It could be a gathering of hippies or senior citizens that would come into the store for political, religious and spiritual conversations."

Blackmon would regularly schedule speakers and events at the shop to bring in diverse viewpoints and stimulate conversation and healthy debate. It was the same vision she had for the Ella Jordan Home - to stimulate education and discussion.

Hixon said it was Blackmon's fierce determination that helped the Ella Jordan Home restoration come to life.

Georgia Blackmon's Gathering Awareness to close in February after nearly 30 years

"I am so grateful glad she lived to see her vision fulfilled,'' Hixon said. "There were times when I wondered if it would ever happen. Georgia never doubted."

Hixon also knows about Blackmon's "drill sergeant" tendencies.

"She could be gruff, caustic,'' Hixon said of her friend. And if Blackmon needed Hixon to be a speaker at an event, she would more often issue a command. "Sometimes she would ask. But she would do what she needed to do to get things done."

UWF English instructor and Blackmon friend Scott Satterwhite first met Blackmon in 1999 when he was working on a local campaign to get Mumia Abu-Jamal off of death row. Abu-Jamal was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. In 2011, after numerous appeals, the prosecution agreed to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"We began talking about activism and her experiences in the Civil Rights Movement way back then,'' Satterwhite said. "We exchanged books and became friends. It was hard to go in her shop for just a few minutes because you'd end up being there for hours, literally."

He said Blackmon's passing "is a terrible loss for the community."

"It is hard for me to think of a woman in Pensacola that carried as much history as Georgia Blackmon,'' Satterwhite said. "You know how they say that when an elder dies, a library burns? To think of all of the knowledge that died with her is hard to imagine. She did leave an incredible legacy, not only with the example of her bookstore but most importantly with the Ella Jordan Home."

Rev. John Powell, founder and director of Truth for Youth, which operates and organizes events and character-building sessions for young people, called Blackmon "an icon."

"She was my inspiration for what I do for Truth for Youth,'' Powell said. "She was my leaning post. And she was a true humanitarian."

Vin Durant, president of the Pensacola chapter of the NAACP, echoed Powell in calling Blackmon an icon.

"I grew up on 7th Avenue about two blocks from Ms. Blackmon's home,'' Durant said. "She was without a doubt a community icon. She was known for rallying community members together when it came to important issues in our community. I recall her forming a community youth group over 40 years ago in which my parents had my siblings and I join the organization.  She was an entrepreneur, organizer, political activist and leader."

She was also a wife, mother and grandmother and aunt to many.

Folks who know her best said she was heartbroken over the 2022 death of her beloved husband, Johnny Blackmon, a retired aviation mechanic. They were married for 59 years. They had two children, Teresa and Chris, and five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

"I'm so proud of my mom and what she had accomplished,'' Chris Blackmon said. "I won't be able to see her anymore, but she's still here with us."

Tributes poured in on Tuesday as news of Blackmon's death made its way through the city.

At the Ella Jordan African American History Museum on Tuesday, board member Sadie Knight fought away tears as she talked about Blackmon.

"I just emailed a friend and said, 'Everywhere I look ...,''' Knight said, before halting for a few seconds to compose herself. "Everywhere I look I see her. She was a mainstay in this town, a true presence."

Robin Reshard, a founder of the Kukua Institute in Pensacola, said of Blackmon: "If ever there was a woman who lived her life as a full human being in mind, body and spirit, Georgia Blackmon was that woman. She shared the world's knowledge with Pensacola and highlighted the cultural, economic, political, educational and social abilities of Black folk - without apology and with full inclusion of anyone who was willing to learn."

Earlier in her life, Blackmon worked at a dress shop in downtown Pensacola and would participate in marches and demonstrations against segregation in Pensacola. She would later work as a sales associate for McCrae's, a long-gone department in Cordova Mall, for 19 years.

Updated Ella Jordan House is telling the stories of Black contributions to Pensacola life

Blackmon was known as a spiritual person, though in her own way.

In 2018, she told the News Journal that she was "very spiritual,'' adding that she "doesn't have a smidgen" of traditional religious and church culture.

She also talked about her goal and legacy.

"I want to make the community a better place,'' Blackmon said. "I've lived here all my life. Worked here all my life. This is my home."

And undoubtedly, Georgia Blackmon made her community and hometown a better place for all.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Georgia Blackmon Pensacola Ella Jordan museum visionary dies