Otis R. Anthony African Americans in Florida Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Naomi R. Williams
Publication Date
3-22-2011
Date
2007-11-01
Abstract
Oral history interview with James Tokley, Poet Laureate of Tampa, Florida. In this interview, Tokley discusses the history of Tampa's African American community and its influence on the city's development, in particular the Central Avenue business community and the Central Park Village housing project. In the late 1960s, Central Avenue began to decline. After integration, people could go to white-owned businesses and were no longer restricted to those owned by Black citizens, and urban renewal and the construction of Interstate 275 destroyed many of the buildings. Central Park Village was built in the 1950s to provide safe, affordable housing to low income families, and Tokley argues that stereotypes about the residents combined with political and economic conditions led to its demise. In this interview, Tokley also discusses his firm, Tokley & Associates, which does diversity effectiveness training.
Keywords
African Americans, Florida, Tampa, Social conditions, Social life and customs, Housing, History, Multiculturalism, African American poets, Poets laureate
Holding Location
University of South Florida
Language
English
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital only
Notes
Interview conducted November 1, 2007. Interviewed by Naomi R. Williams.
Identifier
A31-00093
Recommended Citation
Tokley, James E., "James Tokley Oral History Interview" (2011). Otis R. Anthony African Americans in Florida Oral History Project. 42.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/otis_anthony_ohp/42
Rights Statement
