Tallahassee, FL.,—Rattler Pride erupted in black-neighborhood Frenchtown, Tallahassee, on Oct. 23, 2026. Just a day before Florida A&M University’s Homecoming football game, thousands of alumni, residents, and more gathered for an evening of food, vendors, and music from live bands and popular rhythm and blues artist Keke Wyatt.
K. Lennorris Barber, FAMU graduate, Frenchtown native, and executive director of Mount Olive Affordable Housing and Community Development Corporation, the non-profit that organizes Frenchtown Rising, chose this location because of Frenchtown’s history.
“Frenchtown, which is the oldest African American community in the state of Florida─ and this whole strip [N Macomb St.] ─ used to be an enclave of self-contained businesses and homeowners,” Barber said. “After integration, gentrification started to take place, and now what you see is student housing proliferating throughout this community.”
“We don’t want that legacy of Frenchtown to disappear. We want to preserve that legacy, and we started Frenchtown Rising to reintroduce the world to Frenchtown’s people,” said Barber. “So we wanted to reconnect the Frenchtown community with Florida A&M University.”
Frenchtown Rising is a free event that uses sponsorships, vendor fees, and other contributions to fund this event and bring artists like Michel’e, Rick Ross and SWV. According to Norris, whenever there are leftover funds, Frenchtown Rising creates scholarships for FAMU students to give back to their community and create a pipeline of individuals to bring success wherever they go, including Frenchtown.
“We want people from Frenchtown who become prosperous to not consider moving away from Frenchtown as a measure of success but to help stay here and improve this community,” Norris said.
As many gathered, Black Voters Matter, Dr. Marlon Williams-Clark, the President of Tallahassee’s Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Jeremy Matlow, Tallahassee Commissioner and mayoral candidate, made special appearances urging residents to vote during the upcoming election.
Alongside the guest speakers, the Frenchtown Rising event featured many food trucks and vendors lining the street, where attendees could browse or grab a bite. Owner of Marvelous Marva Creations and Frenchtown Rising vendor, Marva Davis, notes how this event is great for her business whilst still being a moment of enjoyment.
“Everybody just coming together, enjoying each other, enjoying the festivities and just having a good time and you know─going to the vendors and purchasing.”
This event brought returning visitors as well as newcomers from out of town. Tallahassee resident Selena Smith is originally from Virginia, but since her three kids graduated from FAMU, she has become a supporter of this event.
“[We attend] to get out of the house and enjoy ourselves and see people I haven’t seen in a while. I like the constant community and the people that come to perform.” Smith said.
During the last hour of the event, R&B singer KeKe Wyatt performed several of her hit songs, including “Nothing in This World” and “My First Love,” as well as her renditions of “If Only You Knew” by Patti LaBelle and “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton.
