Categorized | Local News

Noted Morehouse College Graduate And Tampa Icon Passes

MYRON A. JACKSON

 

     Myron Alonzo Jackson, the youngest child of Attorney Harold Andrew Jackson and Jacqueline Haynes Jackson, was born on October 10, 1954, in Tampa, Florida.

      Myron’s educational journey began at Helping Hand Day Nursery and continued at Paul Lawrence Dunbar Elementary School, and St. Peter Claver Catholic School. He graduated from Tampa Catholic High School in 1972 and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, in 1976.

      After returning to Tampa, Myron worked at the Tampa Urban League and eventually retired as a Community Relations Specialist with the City of Tampa. He also served on the advisory team of the NEA Research Labs cognition and coordination in music across the lifespan at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

      Myron was a dedicated member of St. Peter Claver Catholic Church for 58 years, where he served as an Altar Server and drummer for the choir. His passion for the arts spanned over six decades, encompassing poetry, music, and instrument making, particularly African drums.

     In 1980, Myron and his wife, Natalie, founded Kuumba Dancers and Drummers, a community-based organization dedicated to promoting African cultural heritage. Through this organization, Myron inspired many young poets and touched the lives of thousands of children in the Tampa Bay Area and beyond. He was also a member of the Mujucu Jazz Band of Tampa.

      Myron received several accolades, including the Florida Association of Multicultural Education Trailblazer Award and the Arts Recognition Award from the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. He was honored by the Tampa/Hillsborough Youth Council, and Kuumba Dancers and Drummers received the Weekly Planet’s Best of the Bay/Best Dance Company Award.

     He was preceded in death by his parents. Myron is survived by his wife, Natalie Jackson; their children, Nebulah O. Jackson and Aaliyah K. Jackson; granddaughters, Zenalla P. Forman and Zaleah J. Forman; brother, Harold A. (Mary) Jackson; mother-in-law, Emma L. James of Orlando; brother-in-law, Kenneth A. (Lenora) James of Orlando; sister-in-law, Monica E. James; the Kuumba Dancers and Drummers family, and many other relatives and friends.

     In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Zero Prostate Cancer, a Black men’s prostate cancer initiative, or similar efforts.

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