JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The Jacksonville community is mourning the loss of a civil rights icon, Ben Frazier, he died yesterday after a nine-month battle with cancer just one day after he celebrated his 73rd birthday.
“He fought until the end,” said Jacksonville NAACP President Isaiah Rumlin.
Rumlin says he just spoke with Frazier over the phone just days ago.
“It was either Thursday or Friday while he was in the hospital, he said continue to fight,” said Rumlin.
And fighting for what he believed in was something many say Frazier never backed down from.
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Rumlin says Frazier will live on in the Jacksonville community forever.
“He stood up for what he believed in. When an individual stands up and speaks on behalf of what he believes in, you can’t take that away from an individual,” said Rumlin.
Frazier was a pioneering voice for many in the community, from the removal of Confederate monuments in Jacksonville to redistricting, and fighting crime in the Northwest Jacksonville area.
All that Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman says he will be remembered for.
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“When you saw Mr. Ben Frazier, he was the same person all the time. What was important to him, what mattered to the people mattered to him,” said Pittman.
Attorney John Phillips, represented Frazier in two court cases from 2022, with the most recent being when Frazier was arrested at Jacksonville City Hall, speaking on the Confederate monument debate.
“When somebody is vulnerable and their back is against the wall, they’re different - and he wasn’t. He was still a righteous crusader and respectful,” said Phillips.
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Phillips said he doesn’t think Jacksonville will ever fully appreciate who Frazier really was.
“Ben was always trying to change the world for the least served within it. That’s a Christ-like job that not many people walk the talk on,” said Phillips.
As far as Frazier’s legacy in the Jacksonville community, Councilwoman Pittman had a few words that can sum it all up.
“His legacy is may to works I’ve done speak for me,” said Pittman.
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