OCALA, FL (352today.com) – An Ocala civil rights activist and community leader is being honored with a street designation bearing his name.

The announcement was made at the Ocala City Council meeting on March 4, 2025. NW 24th Road, from NW 20 St. to NW 21st Ave., will now also be known as Whitfield Jenkins Road.

Rodney Long, who has known Jenkins since he was 22, spoke in support of the designation, calling it a fitting tribute. Long, formerly the executive secretary of the Alachua County Branch of the NAACP, developed a deep friendship with Jenkins, who was president of the Marion County branch of the NAACP.

Jenkins’ selflessness and courage were instrumental in driving change within the community. “I think it should’ve happened long before now. It shouldn’t be happening now because he’s not here to actually enjoy it,” said Long, noting that Mr. Jenkins couldn’t attend the meeting due to his current hospitalization. “But if you look at the decades of service, he’s given unselfishly to the citizens of this city and this county, and he gave without expecting anything in return to make sure all of the people in Ocala and Marion County actually live up to those principles espoused by Dr. King, and what the Constitution says, that we’re all supposed to be equal.”

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Jenkins, with a distinguished resume, has been a leader in the fight for equality. He has served as a member of the Florida Commission on Human Relations (1988-2000), a commissioner on the Ocala Housing Authority (1988-2000), and president of the Marion County NAACP on three occasions. He was first and third vice president of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP (1985-2003) and served on boards including the Ocala/United Way of Marion County (1984-88), Ocala/Marion County Boys & Girls Club (2005-2015), Greater Ocala Community Development Corporation (1994-2010), and Ocala Lease Housing Corporation (1990-2006). He has also been president of the Florida A&M University National Rattler ‘F’ Club Inc. (1988-present) and the Liberation Ocala African American Council (2016-present).

“It is something that we should’ve done a little while back, it’s now, and it’s something that’s well-deserved,” said Loretta Jenkins, Whitfield Jenkins’ wife, thanking the council for bestowing this honor upon him. “He paved the way for a lot of things to happen in Ocala.”

The Ocala City Council first approached Jenkins years ago during a rock-throwing incident, Loretta Jenkins recalled. However, it is his leadership qualities that have set him apart.

“That was the thing that propelled him to get out there and fight a little bit more for what he knew was justice and equality for everybody,” she said. “He’s never been afraid to speak up. Whenever he walked into a county commission meeting, a city council meeting, or a school board meeting, it would be the same reaction: ‘What is Mr. Jenkins here for? What’s up?’ They kind of knew that whatever had been going on in the community that was in a state of disarray, Whitfield Jenkins was there to speak up. He’s a man of research. He’ll research things out until he gets to the bottom of it. I think this is something that’s well-deserving of him.”

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