Striving for Justice
A Black Sheriff in the Deep South
by Nathaniel Glover
Praise for Striving for Justice
“Nat Glover has lived an extraordinary life, growing up amid segregation and racial violence to become the first Black sheriff elected in Florida since Reconstruction and later a college president. As sheriff, he put important reforms in place and proved that community policing leads to lower crime, safer neighborhoods, and greater mutual respect between citizens and police. I’ll never forget joining Sheriff Glover for one of his famous walks through Jacksonville in 1995, watching him relate to everyone we met, and seeing how they looked at him as a true partner and source of energy and strength for their community. I’m grateful that he has decided to tell his story and share his wisdom in this book.” – President Bill Clinton
About the Book
On a sweltering day in August 1960, in the segregated Deep South city of Jacksonville, Florida, a seventeen-year-old Black boy finished his dishwashing job at Morrison’s Cafeteria, walked out the back door, and found himself in the middle of a nightmare.
Hundreds of white men with ax handles and baseball bats were attacking Black sit-in protestors in Hemming Park. Suddenly surrounded, the young man endured menacing blows and racist taunts. He called for help from a white police officer standing nearby, but no help came. And he felt an unwarranted shame he determined never to feel again.
His name was Nat Glover.
Nat’s life could have ended that day, but instead, the ordeal reinforced his plans to become a police officer. His belief in a better world could have faded to cynicism, but instead, it took root in his spirit. His desire to overcome the poverty and racism of his youth could have given in to shame, but instead, Nat resolved to dedicate his life to honoring the dignity of all people. This captivating memoir about a Black sheriff in the Deep South is more than a story of a remarkable man. It’s the story of how a country’s racially tragic past has reached the present, what true reformation means, and ways we can move forward in hope as we set our hearts on justice, compassion, and uncompromised truth.
About the Author
Nathaniel Glover survived the Ku Klux Klan in the then-segregated city of Jacksonville, Florida, and realized his youthful dream of joining and rising through the city’s often blatantly racist police force of the 1960s to become the first Black sheriff in a major city in the Deep South since Reconstruction. Nathaniel Glover rose from the ghetto to attain a bachelor’s and master’s degree, two honorary doctorates, and a historically Black college presidency.
Frederick Douglass Books