July in November Heritage Festival honors Perry legacy

An upcoming Ocoee event aims to memorialize a figure in history who was killed but will never will be forgotten.

Residents will have a chance to honor the memory of Julius “July” Perry at the July in November Heritage Festival Saturday, Nov. 2, at Bill Breeze Park in Ocoee — almost a century after the black resident was lynched by a mob during the Ocoee massacre Nov. 3, 1920.

The festival, put on by State Sen. Randolph Bracy in partnership with July in November Inc. and the Bridge the Gap Coalition, aims to celebrate the legacy of Ocoee’s historical black community while taking a moment to reflect on Perry’s death.

Locals can expect art and cultural vendors, a Kwanzaa parade, activities for children, musical entertainment and a special program featuring July Perry descendants Janice Nunn-Nelson, Stephen Nunn and Bridgette Hogan.

According to a monument placed earlier this year in downtown Orlando, a black resident named Mose Norman attempted to vote on Election Day Nov. 3, 1920, but was turned away. After trying a second attempt to vote, Norman was assaulted by armed white men stationed at the polls and chased away. Norman reportedly fled to the home of Perry, a friend and business associate. The angry mob surrounded and burned the home — Norman was able to escape, but Perry was arrested, transported to Orlando and thrown in the Orange County Jail after suffering a severe injury.

A lynch mob took Perry from his cell shortly after and hanged him. That was followed by two days of violence, where a white mob burned 25 black homes, two black churches and a masonic lodge. The Ocoee massacre resulted in the deaths of between six and more than 30 black residents, and the entire black community was driven out of Ocoee within a year, according to the monument.

The event aims to reflect on the past and recognize how far the community has come, Bracy said.

“I think it’s important that we recognize our history here in Central Florida and, more specifically, Ocoee and we continue to grow as a community,” Bracy said. “Obviously, Ocoee today isn’t what it was — it’s a very diverse community and we celebrate that.”

HONORING A LEGACY

As great-grandchildren of Perry, Janice Nunn-Nelson and Stephen Nunn said they’re honored and thankful for the opportunity to pay tribute to his legacy alongside great-great-grandchild Bridgette Hogan. 

Stephen Nunn said that their mother, Geraldine Nunn, isn’t able to attend the event but is extremely supportive. Coretha Perry Caldwell, their grandmother, was July Perry’s oldest daughter and was present during the violence that day in 1920.

“We’re excited about this opportunity — we believe it’s not with the intent to stir up more racial division, but more so it’s the intent to bring more racial harmony through awareness of things that have taken place,” Stephen Nunn said.

“We feel this is beyond just making a case for July Perry and him being lynched,” he said. “We believe that’s huge, that’s big and we are not going to take light of that, that the story centers around him. However, we believe this represents all the descendants of Ocoee, as well, but not only the descendants of Ocoee, the descendants of any city, town, state, nation where things have been done with intentional hatred and disdain because of the color and the pigmentation of a person’s skin. For that reason, we are taking the torch and we want to be champions to suggest that it doesn’t have to be that way. … We want to make crystal clear that, for us, this is not a platform for fame or platform to be seen or platform to present ourselves to be celebrities … it really is about passion, it’s about legacy, it’s about history, it’s about people.”

Nunn-Nelson said that the family history continues to push them to speak out.

“I think we have a responsibility to carry this legacy on and to continue to involve people about what took place,” Nunn-Nelson said. “What happens is sometimes we become comfortable in thinking that everything is good and where it should be and that is so far from the truth. So in order to continue to make progress, continue to open eyes, continue to focus, I believe that it is definitely our responsibility to make sure that people become more aware and do not become complacent  and comfortable and feel like ‘OK, everything is alright,’ because it isn’t.”

The Bridge the Gap Coalition, a local nonprofit that’s helped make the upcoming event possible, looks “to provide innovative solutions and social interventions that eliminate cultural, generational and socioeconomic gaps in marginalized communities.”

Amy Lalanne, co-executive director of development for the coalition, said the event will teach and celebrate the different principles of Kwanzaa, which were exemplified by Perry himself.