Black Miami residents connect with leaders over concerns at Brownsville event
Black community leaders and professionals connected with residents on Saturday during the State of Black Miami 2023 event at Brownsville’s Joseph Caleb Center. The event consisted of three panels covering mental health, generational wealth and education and had more than 60 community members in attendance.
“Our vision is to be the voice of Black Miami,” said Black Affairs Advisory Board chairman Pierre E. Rutledge. “We seldom get opportunities to talk about real issues. We just don’t get a chance to talk. The panels that we’re having are with some real serious issues, talking about mental health, generational wealth, and we should have more of these.”
Miami-Dade County has a nearly 20% Black population. Even though Miami is regarded as being a diverse city, Black community needs can often go unnoticed, increasing the need for events like the State of Black Miami to amplify local Black voices.
Black youth account for only 17% of the local youth population and make up 63% of arrests in that age group, according to education panelist Dr. Marcus Bright. Supporting young people begins with these candid, open community discussions, he said.
During the generational wealth panel, real estate investor Robert Henderson said he believes people should still buy property when possible as a way to build wealth even in South Florida’s current housing crisis.
“I was 21 when I bought a duplex in North Miami for $70,000,” he said. “Today that duplex is worth $490,000 and each side brings in $1,750 a month. The problem is that we spend everything that we get. Income is not wealth. You can be rich today and poor tomorrow. Wealth is having an overhead of $3,000 a month and bringing in $5,000 a month.”
Daniella Pierre is the president of the North Miami chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was emphatic when discussing the need for community support to preserve Black history education in Florida schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has worked to diminish the importance of Black history for school age students.
“Our Jewish brothers and sisters who helped found the NAACP are serious about preserving their history and legacy,” she said. “We have to be the same. While we advocate for our policy at the state level, we need you locally at the school board meeting.”
Liberty City resident Theophilus Williams was in attendance and believes more people would attend community meetings if they were aware the meetings were happening, At 67, Williams remembers a time when crowds of residents would attend meetings at the Joseph Caleb Center.
“When it comes to Black issues, they don’t put it out to the public for the people to come out and attend the meetings,” he said. “Most people aren’t on social media. What they need to do is go door-to-door and put the word out. You have people come to talk, but they don’t address our concerns. Some panelists don’t stay the entire time.”
Rutledge is hopeful that community events such as the panel discussions can happen more frequently to bridge the gap between Miami’s political leaders and the Black community.
“This is the start and it’s an annual event. We’re hoping to broaden it so that we can have it maybe quarterly or semi-annually every year where we sit down and we just have a dialogue, come up with some action items and then take those items and try to bring them to fruition to help our community.”
