Florida Matters Podcast Extra: remembering Gwen Henderson

The Tampa City Council announced Tuesday morning that Henderson died at her home of natural causes overnight.

Henderson was an educator and bookstore owner. And in this episode, we’re revisiting Florida Matters host Matthew Peddie's conversation with Henderson last year at Black English, the store in Tampa Heights that she ran with her daughter, Ariel.

When they sat down to chat, the bookstore had been open for just a few months. And Henderson was not even a year into her role as a councilwoman. 

They talked about her entry to politics after a long career as an educator, and pushing back with her bookstore as the state of Florida changed its Black History curriculum and pulled books from library shelves and school classrooms.