Walk to remember: Lenny Curry meets Black Lives Matter

Lenny Curry wants people to wear masks. But he can't make them do it.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a former chair of the Republican Party of Florida, pledged Tuesday that “real change is coming” to the city.

Curry, on the steps of City Hall with Jacksonville Jaguar Leonard Fournette, was responding to unprecedented protests in the city ahead of a walk organized by the running back.

Protests have rocked Jacksonville for weeks, but Curry has not shown until this one.

The walk had its tense moments, with Curry standing alone for a couple of minutes on the lawn of the courthouse, being berated by a megaphone just feet away.

The Mayor, cautious for so long on social issues, demonstrated commitment to second term evolution, standing impassive as that happened, then taking questions on certain issues from reporters, but not others, like the controversial bid for the Republican National Convention, or how President Donald Trump would regard these conciliations.

For Curry, who just a few years back said that national anthem protests by NFL players were stupid, the move represents the latest dramatic policy evolution for Curry, who came around on LGBT rights legislation this year also.

The Mayor’s hard-right supporters have long since broken with him, and he clearly is embracing a new approach to governance.

Confederate monuments, long a bone of contention, have started coming down.

Curry said he “evolved” on the importance of the issue in remarks to reporters during the march to and from the Duval County Courthouse.

“I’ve heard people … I’ve evolved,” the Mayor said.

Early Tuesday, the monument in Hemming Park was removed.

“The others in the city will be removed as well,” Curry said to cheers. “We hear your voices, have heard your voices on a number of issues. Bodycams, economic opportunity, infrastructure.”

“I understand the anger and the frustration, OK? I hear you, I’m going to walk with you,” Curry said.

In comments to reporters, Curry vowed to “find common ground on issues that matter to people.”

The Mayor will introduce legislation bringing together the Sheriff, State Attorney, Public Defender, City Council, Mayor and “independent voices from the community that will be heard.”

Fournette, addressing the crowd in front of City Hall, was blunt.

“We gotta stop that racism. That sh*t is bad,” the Jaguars’ running back said to cheers from the crowd.

“My fear right now is my kids being stopped,” he said, noting that the Confederate memorial in Hemming Park is gone.

“We came together. The statue’s gone. That’s a big thing,” Fournette said.

Sheriff Mike Williams said he has “always listened to the community” and his door is still “open.”

Williams said he never expected his participation in a march put together by Fournette, but the “relationship” Curry and the Jaguar have allowed that to happen.

The Sheriff added that there has been a lot of “change” in JSO since he took over in 2015, and lauded the decision to remove the monument in Hemming, which “impeded the conversation” for necessary change.

“There’s work to do. There will be work to do for the next sheriff,” Williams said, noting that the city has changed as well, and has different expectations from law enforcement.

Though Mayor Curry and Gov. Ron DeSantis are political allies, Curry noted that he has not talked to the Governor about these decisions.

“They’re all on me,” he said.