Gallery: Leroy Johnson Black History Month Program

Lizzie Jenkins, left, a niece of a Rosewood teacher, speaks after receiving a National Civil & Human Rights award from Larry Johnson, the son of the late Rev. Leroy Johnson, right, during a Black History Month program held to honor the late Rev. Leroy Johnson at the Howard Academy Community Center in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, February 17, 2022. Johnson, who passed away in 1998, was honored for his lifetime of helping the black community in Ocala and Marion County. He was one of the first black deputies at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, owned a diner and two gas stations and gave other black community members loans, in addition to many other good deeds. He endured death threats from the Ku Klux Klan and broken windows and racial slurs painted on walls were common. Johnson also served as a pastor at New Zion A.M.E. Church in Raleigh and later, Bethel A.M.E Church in Gainesville. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.