James W. Macon, educator, businessman, and newspaper publisher died last week while home with family.
A great man, a distinguished man, Macon sought to serve the African American community thorough education and publishing. T
The longtime publisher of The Florida Sun newspaper, Macon felt it was his duty to encourage and inform Central Florida’s African American community.
James W. Macon, educator, businessman, and newspaper publisher died last week while home with family.
A great man, a distinguished man, Macon sought to serve the African American community thorough education and publishing. T
The longtime publisher of The Florida Sun newspaper, Macon felt it was his duty to encourage and inform Central Florida’s African American community.
“We’ve got to wake up and pay attention to the things going on around us”, said Macon. “If we don’t, we’ll continually be left out.
A long time resident of Washington Shores, Macon first came to Orlando as an educator and guidance counselor, which brought him to Jones High School. “It was so bad in those days, that folks didn’t dare challenge authority figures. It was obey or be punished”, Macon said.
Among his passions was reading. He was an avid reader which explains his passion for newspapers which ultimately led to his acquisition of The Florida Sun, the oldest black newspaper in the state of Florida.
“The Florida Sun was organized in response to an atrocity”, he said, referring to the Ocoee massacre when several African Americans were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. Many had their homes burned and their land seized, which to this day has never been corrected.
The Florida Sun newspaper will continue on, with Keith Longmore of The Pine Hills News taking over. This newspaper is important to the history of the African American community, and must continue. And it will”, said Longmore.
James Macon died while at his daughters’ home in Pine Hills, he was 81 years old. He will be buried in Bunnell, Florida and will receive a military funeral.
