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| | {{Infobox Biography | | {{Infobox Biography |
| − | | subject_name =B. J. Brooks | + | | name = Brian Hooper |
| | | image_name = | | | image_name = |
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| − | | date_of_birth =[[November 26]], [[1935]] | + | | date_of_birth = |
| | | place_of_birth = | | | place_of_birth = |
| − | | date_of_death =[[February 15]], [[1998]] | + | | date_of_death = |
| − | | place_of_death =Pensacola | + | | place_of_death = |
| | | occupation = | | | occupation = |
| | | religion = | | | religion = |
| − | | spouse =Lucille Brooks | + | | spouse = |
| − | | parents =[[John B. Brooks]] | + | | parents = |
| | | children = | | | children = |
| | | signature = | | | signature = |
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| | }} | | }} |
| − | The Reverend '''Billie Joe (B. J.) Brooks, Sr.''' ([[1935]]-[[1998]]) was a Pensacola [[civil rights]] leader, two-time president of the [[NAACP]] Pensacola branch, and pastor of the [[Greater Mount Lily Baptist Church]].
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| − | In December [[1974]], when black motorist [[Wendel Blackwell]] was shot and killed by an [[Escambia County Sheriff's Deputy]], Brooks urged [[Escambia County Sheriff]] [[Royal Untreiner]] to suspend the deputy pending a full investigation. When Untreiner refused, Brooks led a [[Blackwell demonstrations|series of demonstrations]] early the next year, along with local [[SCLC]] leaders [[H. K. Matthews]] and [[Otha Leverette]], that culminated in a [[February 24]] confrontation in which 47 people were arrested for unlawful assembly, including the three men. Brooks and Matthews were later charged with additional counts of felony extortion and convicted on [[June 10]], [[1975]].
| + | Brian Hooper is an attorney at Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. |
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| − | In [[1996]], Brooks accused deputies with the [[Escambia County Sheriff's Office]] of using excess force in killing a 15-year-old boy who pointed an empty shotgun at two undercover officers posing as pizza-delivery men.
| + | Mayor Ashton Hayward appointed Hooper as Chair of the Mayor's Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee (URAC) to help guide the growth and development of downtown. |
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| − | In [[1997]], he helped derail a proposal to rename [[Bayfront Parkway]] and [[Main Street]] after [[Wikipedia:Martin Luther King, Jr.|Martin Luther King]], feeling the street's proximity to the [[Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant]] would be undignified to Dr. King's legacy. Instead Brooks pushed to rename [[A Street]], which runs through a predominantly black neighborhood, after the slain civil rights leader, but failed to gain sufficient support. (A portion of [[Alcaniz Street]] was eventually renamed [[Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive]].) Also in 1997, Brooks supported two black [[City of Pensacola Parks & Recreation]] workers who were fired after an altercation with white [[Pensacola Police Officer]]s outside a community center.
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| − | Brooks passed away on [[February 15]], [[1998]], at the age of 62. Reverend [[Michael Johnson]] said of him, "He had a burning desire to help people. Like most people that take on that kind of leadership, even if it meant sometimes sacrificing, he would do it."<ref>Obituary. ''Palm Beach Post'', February 19, 1998.</ref>
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| − | The local [[NAACP]] chapter has established a scholarship in his honor.
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| − | ==References==
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| − | {{reflist}}
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| − | [[Category:Civil rights activists|Brooks, BJ]] [[Category:NAACP|Brooks, BJ]] [[Category:African-American religious leaders|Brooks, BJ]] [[Category:Baptists|Brooks, BJ]]
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Brian Hooper is an attorney at Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Mayor Ashton Hayward appointed Hooper as Chair of the Mayor's Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee (URAC) to help guide the growth and development of downtown.
