Florida New Majority (FNM) and their partners hosted the second Freedom Forum last night at the Joseph Caleb Center in Miami. The first Forum, held July 2, was attended by more than 400 residents and featured three County Commissioners and their challengers.

More than 100 people attended last night’s Freedom Forum that featured the candidates in the State Attorney race. Questions were fielded by challenger Rod Vereen and Chief Assistant State Attorney Don Horn who served as a surrogate for the absent Katherine Fernandez Rundle.  

"I think the most critical election of this upcoming election season, is the State Attorney's race,” Pastor Joaquin Willis of the Church of the Open Door (UCC) Miami said, pointing out that too many African Americans are “finding themselves unjustly accused, and standing in the Miami-Dade County Courts." Willis served on a panel for the evening along with Brian Dennis of Brothers of the Same Mind and Nathaniel Wilcox of PULSE.

“We are coming together as a united community and hosting this forum to ensure that the top law enforcement officer in Miami-Dade is committed to a justice system that is fair to all the hard-working families in our county,” said Gihan Perera, executive director of FNM. 

FNM and their partners --- a coalition of community, faith-based and labor organizations have come together around the Florida Freedom Charter, which lays out a framework of values that organizations dedicated to equal rights and opportunity can agree upon.