If Florida boots Confederate general's statue, here are some candidates to replace him

Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
Friday, September 11, 2015 12:23pm

... Marjory Stoneman Douglas Author of the 1947 classic Everglades: River of Grass, chief protector of Everglades National Park and a fan of really big hats. I once saw her, not long before she died at age 108, standing in front of then-Gov. Lawton Chiles and the Cabinet and wagging her finger at them over something they had done that was bad for the River of Grass. A finger-wagging, big-hat-wearing, little old lady would be a great pose for a statue ...

Zora Neale Hurston Author of Their Eyes Were Watching God and Florida folklore collector. She'd show up in turpentine camps and phosphate mines miles from any town, claim she was a bootlegger on the run and thus convince the suspicious folks to take her in and tell her their stories. She narrowly avoided being killed in a Polk County jook joint -— and became the first writer to use the word "jook" in print. I'm picturing a statue of her with her with her head thrown back, singing along with a blues guitarist ...

Osceola Seminole Indian chief and military strategist who beat five U.S. generals and was captured only by use of a phony flag of truce. The Seminoles' own history describes him as "elegant in dress, handsome of face, passionate in nature and giant of ego," which sounds perfect for a statue ...

James Weldon Johnson Lawyer, diplomat, civil rights activist, author. This Jacksonville native wrote the landmark poem "God's Trombones," the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," dubbed "the black national anthem." His statute would have to depict him wearing a lot of hats ...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/perspective/perspective-if-florida-boots-confederate-generals-statue-here-are-some/2245133