Walter L. Gilbert, III
Children imitate the actions of adults. Walter Gilbert’s boyhood experiences confirm what behavioral psychologists know.
Children imitate the actions of adults. Walter Gilbert’s boyhood experiences confirm what behavioral psychologists know. His mother attended community meetings with her son and daughter in tow. The children had no say in the matter as she headed out of the door. At the gatherings, the young man saw neighbors and friends of the family. Something happened while watching organizers articulate their vision for Newtown and neighborhood improvement strategies. “That was the yard man, the roofer guy or the guy you knew down the street as the garbage man. But when they came to these meetings they changed. They became super people. They were talking about making things happen and how to do it, how we were going to go about it as a group and how we needed to form different committees. I’m sitting there looking. Wow!” Men such as the late Neil Humphrey, a Newtown entrepreneur and the late John Rivers, then Sarasota NAACP president made an indelible impression on the young man who would hold the same position years later. “[Humphrey] was probably 5’5” and might’ve weighed 155 pounds. If he raised his voice you could hardly hear him. I thought he was a meek little man; but in these NAACP meetings he was fire and brimstone.” Gilbert participated in a federal lawsuit against the City of Sarasota for single member district voting. The court’s decision in favor of the plaintiffs opened the way for African American representation on the city commission.
