TAMPA HEIGHTS, Fla. — Tampa City Councilwoman Gwen Henderson has lived in Tampa Heights for the past 32 years before taking over on council earlier this year.
"Tampa Heights is the place to be. We deserve your attention, and we're gonna get it no matter what," Henderson said.
Overall, the Tampa Heights community is continuously involved in local government, fighting for what they believe in and what they want their community to look like.
"I think our reputation is not necessarily what's at stake, but it actually matters. We mean something to Tampa," she said. "People want to live in Tampa Heights because it's a perfect location. It's right next to downtown."
Henderson will also be opening a bookstore in Tampa Heights in December, a dream that is near and dear to her heart.
"It's important not just to the Tampa Heights area to bring in a business, but we haven't had a Black-owned bookstore of this character in a very long time," she said. "I'm doing it in honor of a guy named Sam Camp Hightower, who's my great, great, great grandfather, who was born into slavery. He died not being able to read or write, and I'm going to read books for him and sell books in his honor."
