Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} When eleven-year old Rodney Hurst accepted his American History teacher’s invitation to join the Jacksonville Youth Council NAACP, he could not have guessed at the enormous impact it would have on his life, Jacksonville history or the Civil Rights Movement. Hurst’s book, It was never about a hot dog and a Coke, released in January, 2008, is subtitled “A Personal Account of the 1960 Sit-in Demonstrations in Jacksonville, Florida and Ax Handle Saturday” and recounts the events leading up to and the fallout from the bloody events of August 27, 1960.            On that day, 200 ax handle and baseball bat-wielding whites attacked young Blacks, led by Hurst as Youth Council NAACP President, staging sit-in demonstrations at white lunch counters in downtown Jacksonville. Aptly named Ax Handle Saturday by the media, the event gained national attention and thrust Hurst and the Youth Council into the spotlight of the Civil Rights era. Ironically, the local press and media blacked-out all news of the events prior to Ax Handle Saturday, and reported sparingly on the those events after Ax Handle Saturday. Hurst writes with clarity and an historical eye as he details the times, the mood and the people of Jacksonville in a time of high tension and change. Part memoir, part history and part biography, It was never about a hot dog and a Coke provides a chronicle of the pivotal event and an in-depth look at the players whose lives and actions helped make Jacksonville and America what it is today.       The book is a captivating history lesson, whether you were there, only heard the stories, or, as is the case with so many people today, know next to nothing about the violent years of the Civil Rights struggle.  

In addition to his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, Hurst served two four-year terms on the Jacksonville City Council. He is responsible for a number of “firsts” in the Jacksonville Community: he was one of the thirteen original national recipients of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Television Fellowships; he was the first Black to co-host a television talk show in Jacksonville on PBS Channel WJCT; he was the first Black male hired at the Prudential South Central Home Office in Jacksonville, Florida; and he was the first Black to serve as the Executive Director of the State of Florida’s Construction Industry Licensing Board. A Life Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Hurst is involved with a number of Boards and Agencies in the Jacksonville Community. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force.
Hurst speaks extensively on Civil Rights, Black History, and Racism. He was the featured speaker at the City of Jacksonville’s 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Breakfast in 2010, the featured speaker at the 2013 Nassau County Annual Martin Luther King Breakfast, and the featured speaker for the 2013 Brevard County NAACP Branch Freedom Fund Dinner. He also was the keynote speaker at the 2013 Induction Ceremony of the Florida Civil Rights Hall of Fame. Hurst speaks at college and university campuses throughout the state of Florida and the country.