Dr. John Newman, Senior Pastor at The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary, joined News4JAX anchor Bruce Hamilton on this week's episode of Politics & Power to discuss what’s at stake in the 2026 midterms and whether the Supreme Court's Callais ruling turned the clock back on the civil rights movement.

Three new historical markers are now telling the story of Jacksonville’s role in the civil rights movement — and the national history that unfolded right here in Northeast Florida.

Conversation about Wade Ins at St. Augustine Beach

One of the stops on the recently opened Black Heritage Trail in St. Johns County

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is expanding in 2026 to include Jacksonville, the city announced Thursday, creating a local trail of place-based markers, educational programming and storytelling that will highlight streets, neighborhoods and institutions where civil rights organizing took root.

St. Johns County announced it will renovate the old jail instead of demolishing it. The St. Augustine Jewish Historical Society shares the significance of the jail and what it means to know that it will be saved.

The St. Johns County Cultural Resource Review Board is considering demolishing the historic old county jail, a site linked to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s arrest during the civil rights movement. Local groups are advocating for its preservation as a landmark.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream of equality for all. Behind the scenes, many people helped make that dream a reality.

Sixteen Jewish Rabbis were arrested 60 years ago today for demonstrating against segregation in St. Augustine. They were walking along side Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King.

An internal affairs investigation ruled officers involved in bursting into a woman’s home and detaining her in a case of mistaken identity did have the legal authority to enter her home because they were investigating reports of gunfire.

Traffic stops are the most common police interactions in the United States, but they can also be among the most dangerous, with risks for both law enforcement officers and civilians. A recent incident in Camden County, where a traffic stop escalated into a deadly shooting, has raised questions about the need for a safer approach to traffic stops. Civil rights activists are now pondering whether a different approach at the beginning of such stops could prevent such tragic outcomes.

A local activist who was unlike any other, Reverend Davette Turk, died last week at age 87 after a long battle with dementia.

Three monuments erected in Chicago and Mississippi to honor the teen who was murdered in 1955

Reverend RB Holmes, pastor of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church of Tallahassee, Florida, and other leaders address what they call "dismantling of African American studies."

Organizations that worked closely with Ben Frazier say the work is not done.

The metal tanks, which historians said were also used for baptisms, were some of the few options for Black Americans in Jacksonville during segregation.

Civil Rights activist Ben Frazier has died after a nine-month battle with cancer.

When Black and white swimmers jumped in together and integrated the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, owner James Brock was so enraged he grabbed a bottle of acid and threw it into the pool. The fallout from that act is still being felt today.

Della Simpson Maynor was just 14 when she marched for voting rights in her hometown of Marion, Alabama, but she says she clearly remembers the police attacking the demonstrators.

A News4JAX I-TEAM investigation uncovered a mistaken identity of a Northside woman. The woman, Khristi Jackson, feels her civil rights may have been violated by Jacksonville police officers who forced their way into her home without a warrant.

Florida advocacy groups have issued a state travel advisory based on controversial bills being pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this legislative session.

Saturday marks 62 years since Ax Handle Saturday in Jacksonville when a mob of white men downtown chased and beat African Americans with ax handles and other weapons.

A civil rights conference in Jacksonville makes its debut Thursday after a two-year delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Capitol has unveiled its first Black American statue, replacing a confederate general.

Attorney Bill Sheppard was known for using the U.S. Constitution to fight civil rights injustices in Jacksonville and in Florida for nearly 60 years.

The Florida Department of Education is defending its decision to remove a page from its website that provided links to anti-bullying resources, including those specifically geared toward LGBTQ youth.

#ChooseYourChallenge is a social media campaign for International Women's Day which is March 8, 2021JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Monday is International Women’s Day -- a day of activism to celebrate the women’s suffrage movement and bring awareness surrounding issues of discrimination, human rights and equality. Some local activists are sharing their voices through a powerful social media campaign called #ChooseToChallenge. There’s also a march planned to take place at James Weldon Johnson Park from Noon-2:30 p.m. in Jacksonville on Saturday. Bonnie Hendrix, president of the Women’s March Florida joined us on The Morning Show to explain how the movement is a call to action for women’s issues. Watch her interview below:

We celebrate Martin Luther King Day around the activist’s January birthday, which is Jan. 15.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. It has been 60 years since the brutal display of violence now known as Ax Handle Saturday unfolded in downtown Jacksonville. And they came in with their baseball bats and ax handles and they started beating on us. He said officials began desegregating public schools in the early 60s, which included Ribault and Raines high schools in Northwest Jacksonville. Ribault High and Ribault Junior High those schools were built for the white kids who lived in the Lake Forest-Ribault neighborhood where I lived, he said. Finally by 1963, you had a situation where about 13 students, African American students, were integrated into five white schools, Lisska told News4Jax, noting that other civil rights issues came to light in the 60s.

ATLANTA Civil rights icon, activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis died at the age of 80 on Friday night after a six-month battle with cancer. As a teenager, he joined the civil rights movement after being recruited by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A mural honoring Lewis was on display in his congressional district in Atlanta, Georgia, and many came to the mural to pray, show their respects and mourn Lewis. The world mourned the death of Lewis, the last living civil rights icon of the Big Six with King during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. He was the kind of civil rights activist that didnt just speak against injustice, he risked his life to fight against injustice.

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. Florida county commissioners voted Tuesday against removing a Confederate Flag that has flown outside its courthouse since the Civil Rights era. Walton County commissioners voted 3-2 to leave the flag despite please from several residents who said it had hurtful racial undertones. Walton officials said they would not consider removing the city's Confederate memorial. Tyrone Broddus told commissioners Tuesday that the Confederate Flag flying in front of a public courthouse sends a clear message to African Americans. We come to the courthouse looking for justice and when we see the Confederate Flag or the Stars and Bars we realize we are still not receiving the justice we are guaranteed, he said.