A photo of a little boy she rescued in 2003 remains etched in her memory. Latosha Clemons carried the photo of Jake King after he nearly drowned in his grandparents pool on Christmas Day many years ago. The photo served as a reminder to why she served as a firefighter.
Now retired, there’s a new image etched in her mind. But this one causes her humiliation and pain. The former deputy fire chief in Boynton Beach feels hurt after essentially being whited-out from an art project for the city she’s loved and protected for more than two decades.
“I would hate to think that it’s racially motivated but I do feel it was intentional,” said Latosha Clemons, a pioneer with Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Department. It was her childhood dream to become a firefighter. She became the city’s first black female firefighter and the city’s first female deputy chief before her retirement in March.
Clemons and former Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Chief Glenn Joseph, who is also black, had their faces on a mural for the new Fire Station No. 1 replaced with the faces of white firefighters.
“Those alterations included modifying the images in the installation so that the individuals would not be specifically identifiable,” said City Manager Lori LaVerriere in a statement on YouTube.
“It went way too far,” LaVerriere added.
After a preliminary investigation, Chief Matthew Petty resigned and Debby Coles-Dobay, the Public Arts manager was terminated.
“I want to apologize, this should’ve never happened,” said LaVerriere.
Clemons believes she knows who did it. She just wants to know why.
“I was in shock, they whited out my face. Wow!” said Clemons.
The idea for the mural came about in 2019 when plans were being made for the design of the new fire station.
Clemons said the arts manager and staff worked together on the original project. The project was to show diversity and replicate “what we do in the fire service.”
The initial mural design featured a number of faces, but Clemons said the rough drawing was not diverse enough.
“Myself and staff gave her a bunch of pictures that would be great to go on the mural to represent the diversity of the city,” said Clemons.
One of those pictures showed Clemons with two other female firefighters, but only her face had been replaced. Clemons said the other black faces on the mural, except for Joseph’s, were left untouched.
“Serving the City, the community where I was born and raised has been my life blood,” she said. “After serving the City for more than 26 years and the fire department for nearly 24 years, I did my best to show love and treat everyone with respect. Why treat me that way?” she asked. “Why did I deserve it?”
The artwork has been taken down. The city manager says the original artwork will be installed sometime this week.
“The climate in which this racial insult took place raises a lot of questions,” said attorney Nicole Hunt Jackson.
Clemons would like to see the original mural put back up, “where all of our faces can be seen,” and for someone to be held accountable.