Four generations of Black educators run deep in this Florida community

If you’re looking for an example of Black excellence in the schoolhouse, Mercedes Flowers is the blueprint, honey. Strict yet soft. Diligent and warm. From 1946-1979, Flowers set the foundation of knowledge for the minds of third and fourth graders at Oakland Elementary in Haines City, Fla. A Talladega College alumna, she reinforced the importance of education while also teaching social studies at Oakland High School, which was attended by Black students across Polk County, Fla. during segregation.

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