Miami, FL – The 34th Annual Mary Williams Woodard Legacy Kwanzaa Celebration will be presented on Saturday, December 28, 2024, from 3 PM to 6 PM at the Samuel Johnson Youth Center, located at Charles Hadley Park. This exciting event is hosted by the City of Miami in partnership with the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association, the Arthur and Mary Woodard Foundation for Education and Culture, Osun’s Village Miami, and Behavioral Health Associates of South Florida.

Kwanzaa is a time to reflect on community, culture, and the values that unite us. “Kwanzaa provides each of us an opportunity to reflect on the seven principles. and reaffirm our African heritage and culture,” said FAMU Alumni Miami-Dade Chapter President Miranda Albury.

Talitha Anyabwele

Diaunte Jenkins

Shardonay Daily

This year’s celebration will feature engaging activities, cultural performances, and opportunities to learn about the rich traditions of Kwanzaa. Our Kwanzaa message will be delivered by author, educational consultant and CEO of Black Girl Speaks, Talitha Anyabwele and talent performances  will be shared by director, choreographer, dancer and educator Diaunte Jenkins and singer Shardonay Daily. Youth attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in Zoe’s Dolls Great Toy Giveaway, where “little brown dolls for little brown girls,” educational toys and books for boys and girls will be distributed.

Here are this year’s Community Elders to be honored at the celebration. Community Elders are selected for their longstanding contribution to the uplift of the Black community .

• Barbara Anders
• Rodney Baltimore
• Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall
• Harold Ford
• Richard Gibson
• “Broadway” Cuthbert Harewood
• Rubye Howard
• James “Munch” Mungin
• Eric Pettus
• Veronica Rahming
• Pierre Rutledge
• Dininzulu “Gene” Tinnie
• Dr. Wallis Tinnie
• Thomasina Turner
• David Williams Jr.
• Robert Wilson

Community members are encouraged to bring donations of new, unwrapped educational toys and books for boys and girls to support this initiative. Your contributions will help ensure that every child in our community has access to resources that inspire learning and growth.

If You Go:

Event Details:

- Date:  Saturday, December 28, 2024

- Time:  3 PM - 6 PM

- Location:  Samuel Johnson Youth Center at Charles Hadley Park

- Address:  4900 NW 12th Ave., Miami, FL 33127

Don’t miss this afternoon filled with joy, education, and community spirit as we honor Kwanzaa together. RSVP via Eventbrite at https://bit.ly/famukwanzaa24.  For more information, contact the FAMUNAA Miami-Dade Chapter at [email protected].

Let’s celebrate our heritage, honor our elders and empower our youth!

One of the hottest local political races is the City of Miami District 5 Commissioner race. A forum is being held this evening, Tuesday, October 5 at 6 PM at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 740 NW 58th Street, Miami, FL 33127. The election will be held on November 2, 2021. The run-off is scheduled for November 16, 2021 should no candidate realize more than 50 percent of the votes cast. 

The candidates for the City of Miami District 5 seat are François Alexandre, Zico Fremont, Michael Hepburn, Christine King, Revran Shoshana Lincoln, Stephanie Thomas, and incumbent Jeffrey Watson. Hot 105’s Rodney Baltimore will serve as moderator. 

The forum is being hosted by Faith in Florida and the African American Council of Christian Clergy and Central Dade Pastors. It will be presented in person and online.  Should you choose to attend in person be advised that CDC guidelines must be followed.

The forum will be broadcast live on YouTube and Facebook. Get informed and Go Vote!

Today, the City of Miami is expected to announce Houston police chief Hubert Arturo “Art” Acevedo as Miami’s next police chief. 

Acevedo, 56, was born in Havana, Cuba. His family emigrated to the United States in 1968, when Acevedo was four years old. He grew up in California and received his bachelor's degree in public administration from the University of La Verne. 

Acevedo began his law enforcement career with the California Highway Patrol in 1986 as a field patrol officer in East Los Angeles. He rose through the ranks and was named Chief of the California Highway Patrol in 2005. From July 2007  through December 2016, he served as Chief of Police for the Austin, Texas Police Department. In November 2016, Mayor Sylvester Turner appointed Acevedo to lead the Houston Police Department. Acevedo is the first Hispanic to be named to that position. With Turner’s term coming to an end, the availability of the Miami position was good timing for Acevedo. 

Comfortable on camera, as evidenced by his appearances on national news programs, the Cuban-born but West Coast reared Acevedo will be thrust into the Miami culture where his political affiliation and actions appear contradictory. Although a registered Republican, Acevedo appeared in a video segment on the opening night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. He is also one of the few to push back on Donald Trump openly. He also condemned the killing of George Floyd and walked in the procession for the burial of his remains. 

Acevedo did not formally apply for the Miami position. There was an expectation that something was amiss as there were several applicants for the Chief of Police position and the announcement of the selection was delayed by more than a month. Insiders expect more changes at the top levels of the Miami Police Department as there are rumors that Acevedo will bring staff with him.

Acevedo follows Chief Jorge Colina, who led the Miami police department for three years and announced his retirement earlier this year. 

Perhaps the Black community in Miami is on the precipice of a political and cultural revolution. Perhaps this generation of millennials will usher in a resurgence of Black unity and Black power reminiscent of Miami’s past. On Sunday, November 1, 2020, the men of the Beta Beta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, executed a community caravan to bring awareness of the importance of the using the right to vote to effect change for our people and the community at large.

For this ambitious project, the fraternity partnered with Florida Memorial University, South Florida’s only HBCU. Before the fraternity members and their supporters set out on their journey, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony that included dignitaries from the university’s Board of Trustees.

As the attention-getting caravan, with full escort, rolled into the first of four stops, the early voting site at the Miramar Branch Library & Education Center, the energy was immediately apparent. The featured speaker at that location was the honorable Wayne Messam, mayor of the City of Miramar and member of the Beta Beta Lambda Chapter. The fraternity distributed t-shirts and bottled water to early voters waiting in line.

The excitement continued at the next stops, the early voting sites at the North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens and the North Miami Library. The caravan concluded at the Joseph Caleb Center early voting location, in the City of Miami, with messages from community leader and past chapter president, Pierre Rutledge and current chapter president Michael Grubbs.

More than 200 people in 70 vehicles participated in the caravan. At each of the stops, hundreds of voters and onlookers were educated on “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People,” a national program of Alpha Phi Alpha since the 1930’s when many African-Americans had the right to vote but were prevented from voting because of poll taxes, threats of reprisal, and lack of education about the voting process.

“Yesterday...I looked into the eyes of children and our seniors across South Florida and saw the impact of the Beta Beta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, "Alpha Train" Road to the Polls. It offered hope and meaning to a community struggling to believe in the Democratic process within our country. We endeavored to wake up South Florida and let our name, example and action(s) lead the way,” said Taj Echoles, chair of Beta Beta Lambda’s Alphas In Action Task Force, the civic engagement arm of the chapter.

About Beta Beta Lambda Chapter (adapted from Chapter's website):

Beta Beta Lambda Chapter has been an active part of the Greater Miami community since its inception on November 19, 1937. Like many chapters across the country, it was established by men with a common interest in improving the community through education and public service.

The chapter’s founding members are Felix E. Butler, MD, Nathaniel Colston, MD, Ira P. Davis, MD, Aaron Goodwin, MD, Frederick J. Johnson, Samuel H. Johnson, MD, Leo A Lucas, and William H. Murrell, MD. Under the leadership of Solomon C. Stinson, Ph.D., the chapter was incorporated in the State of Florida as a legal entity on November 30, 1978. Under the leadership of Earl H. Duval Ph. D., the Beta Beta Lambda/Alpha Foundation was created and incorporated on September 25, 1995.

In June 2006, AlphaLand Community Development Corporation was created and incorporated under the leadership of Gregory D. Gay, Dana C. Moss, Sr. CPA, Lyonel Myrthil, and Eric Hernandez, Esq. The foundation and CDC are 501©3 not-for-profit organizations. The chapter’s executive board also serves as the Board of Directors of the foundation and the CDC has a separate board of directors with membership from the chapter.

Beta Beta Lambda Chapter and its subsidiaries are providing leadership through its many service activities such as Alpha Outreach, Project Alpha, Alpha-Dade Youth Sports Program, Alpha/Big Brothers & Big Sisters Partnership, Sankofa Project, Knights of Gold, Boy Scouts Troop 1906, Alpha/Head Start Partnership, Voter Education Project, and Scholarship Award Program.

Related Links:

Beta Beta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Facebook)

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated

Photos: AJ Shorter/AJShorter Photography

A Sunshine Meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m., tomorrow, Monday, September 14, 2020 regarding the renaming of the Miami International Airport. The meeting is between Commissioners Esteban Bovo, Vice-Chairwoman Rebecca Sosa and Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson. We don’t know any additional details. There was a previous attempt in 2018 by Commissioner Jean Monestime to rename the airport after Former City of Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre. Commissioner Sosa objected; the airport is located in her commission district.

Meeting details are in the notice below.   

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA

PUBLIC NOTICE

NOTICE IS GIVEN that a Sunshine Meeting between the Honorable Commissioner Esteban L. Bovo, Jr., Miami-Dade County Commissioner, District 13; the Honorable Audrey M. Edmonson, Chairwoman, Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, District 3; and the Honorable Rebeca Sosa, Vice-Chairwoman, Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, District 6, is scheduled for Monday, September 14, 2020, at 1:00 p.m., to discuss Miami International Airport Renaming. This meeting will only be held virtually utilizing communications media technology made permissible pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Orders.

Interested parties may:

(1) Join the meeting live online to speak where permissible or listen to the meeting by registering in advance at: https://miamidade.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4iY3NPRdTdyoXP8D3YmawA. Zoom registration will be available beginning September 10, 2020;

(2) Call into the live meeting by phone to speak, if permissible, or listen to the meeting by dialing in at: US Toll-free 877-853- 5247 or 888-788-0099 and using Meeting ID: 992 5401 6580; to avoid delays you may register in advance at https://miamidade.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4iY3NPRdTdyoXP8D3YmawA

(3) if you are deaf or hard of hearing, you may join the meeting using Florida Relay Service by dialing 711 on your telephone.

1. Miami-Dade County provides equal access and equal opportunity in its programs, services and activities and does not discriminate on the basis of disability. To request materials in accessible format, a sign language interpreter, Communication Access Real-time Translation services, and/or any other accommodation to participate in any County meeting, please contact Lenna Borjes, (305) 375-5380, [email protected] at least three days in advance of the meeting to initiate your request. TTY users may also call 711 (Florida Relay Service).

If you have any questions or require additional information regarding the virtual meeting, please contact Lenna Borjes at the Office of Commissioner Esteban Bovo, Jr. (DIST. 13) at (305) 375- 5380 or send an email to: [email protected]. (Due to COVID -19, staff is currently working remotely, but will respond within a reasonable period of time to messages which have been received).

HARVEY RUVIN, CLERK

MELISSA ADAMES, DEPUTY CLERK

See Public Notice below. A Public Hearing has been scheduled to be held on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 9:30 AM, to address issues including the establishment of a West Grove Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and to prepare a community development plan for the area. The meeting will be webcast. See instructions to participate by Zoom or by phone. 

The City of Miami Police Department, in conjunction with the ladies of the Miami Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, is holding a gun buyback event to reduce gun violence in the city.

The buyback allows anyone to surrender weapons anonymously in exchange for cash/gift cards, valued at $250 for rifles .223 caliber and higher (AK-47, AR-15, etc.) and at $50 cash/gift card for any firearm.

Bring your weapons to the Belafonte-TACOLCY Center, 6161 NW 9th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33127 on Saturday, June 16, 2018, between 10 AM and 1 PM. No questions asked!

Social media was abuzz today as a video, posted on Facebook, showed a man face down on the ground being handcuffed by a City of Miami cop. As other cops gather, one officer, from a running position, kicks the suspect in the head.  As clear as day, a compliant, handcuffed person is on the ground and kicked in the head. The officer obviously didn't know he was being recorded on video. Don't they wear body cams? The fact that the officer felt comfortable enough to inflict brutality on the suspect is quite disturbing. This incident occurred this morning at the Culmer Place Apartments in Overtown.

As quickly as that video circulated, City of Miami Chief of Police, Jorge Colina posted a tweet indicating the video had been reviewed and the officer had been relieved of duty. Before we have a Kumbaya moment, understand that the police union is involved and they will protect their members. The State Attorney's Office has been contacted about this incident and the case must take its course. The video is so clear that it's challenging to even think of a defense. Hopefully, the suspect gets a great lawyer and sues the City and that officer.

We are still awaiting details on everyone involved. A lot of things happen behind the scene so #STAYwoke.

New Washington Heights Community Development Corporation presents FolkLife Friday Open Air Market Festival every first Friday along the 9th Street Pedestrian Mall located adjacent to the Historic Lyric Theater in Miami’s Overtown community. Powered by The Southeast Overtown Park West Community Redevelopment Agency, the festival is Overtown’s longest running and most consistent festival, celebrating over a decade of success highlighting South Florida’s movers and shakers, rhythms and vendors offering arts and crafts, foods and more.

FolkLife Friday returns Friday, May 4, with a new look, new sound and over 30 vendors offering custom created products from delicious Caribbean bites, freshly squeezed juices, skin oil and soaps, jewelry, artwork and so much more. Civil Rights Foot soldiers will also be honored by New Washington Heights President Jackie Bell and School Board Member Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall.

Bell, the matriarch of Overtown and founder/creator of the FolkLife Friday festival is a walking talking community treasure. Having lived most of her life in Overtown, her love for the community and desire to maintain and share its glorious history is paramount. One vehicle to accomplish that goal is this festival she founded nine years ago.

Revamped with new hours, 11 am to 8pm, it precedes the Lyric Live Talent Showcase at the Historic Lyric Theater, and will now include a Happy Hour from 5 pm to 8 pm, complete with full bars, appetizer samples, “Sip n Paint” with MUCE Art and live music featuring the “Larry Dogg Band”. Songstress Maryel Epps will kick off the day’s entertainment at 11:30 a.m.

If you go:
Friday, May 4, 2018
11 am – 8 pm
9th Street Pedestrian Mall
NW 9th Street, Miami FL 33136
(Adjacent to the Lyric Theater)

From left, Nicole Gates, owner of Lil Greenhouse Grill in Overtown and community matriarch, FolkLife Friday founder/creator Jackie Bell.

Miami, FL - On Saturday, September 3, Hillary for Florida and the Democratic National Committee opened a DNC Headquarters in the Miami neighborhood of Little Haiti. The office serves as a hub for organizing activity in the local Haitian community - allowing supporters to mobilize and help elect Hillary Clinton and Democrats up and down the ballot in the upcoming General Election.

Several community leaders, campaign staff and volunteers were on hand for the office opening as was a handful of Anti-Clinton protestors. American voters, regardless of political affiliation, can’t afford to sit out this election. We also can’t afford a racist, hateful, divisive Donald Trump presidency.

Little Haiti DNC Headquarters/Hillary for Florida Office:

5905 NE 2nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33150 

From left, Me, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson, and Michelle Austin

 @vanessawbyers