MIAMI – The Miami-Dade County Independent Civilian Panel (ICP) is the impartial entity created to conduct independent investigations and review and hold public hearings concerning complaints or grievances made against sworn officers of the Miami-Dade Police Department. The ICP will hold its monthly meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at the Joseph Caleb Center – Main Lobby, 5400 NW 22nd Ave, Miami, FL 33142. Concerned residents can also get an update on proposed legislation to eliminate civilian review panels in Florida. 

Miami-Dade County ICP meetings are open to the public. Residents are encouraged to attend and learn more about the work of the ICP. ​For more information, email Ursula Price, Executive Director, at [email protected].

If You Go:

New members of MDEAT Board of Trustees with Vice Chair. From left, Kametra Driver; Danny Felton, Sr.; Raymond Fundora; Steven Henriquez; X, Vice Chair Hannibal Burton; Kimberly T. Henderson; Andrea Forde; Patricia Jennings Braynon; and Rashad Thomas. Not Pictured: Basil A. Binns II and Christopher Norwood.

Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust (MDEAT), a county agency charged with ensuring that Black residents participate in Miami-Dade County's economic growth, recently welcomed ten new trustees to its Board. An agency of Miami-Dade County government, MDEAT is governed by a board of trustees appointed by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.

"I am feeling very positive about the future of the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust. We have gained tremendous momentum over that past year," said Hannibal Burton, vice chair of the MDEAT Board of Trustees. "I am extremely excited to accelerate that momentum and dig into areas we have only been able to talk about at this point. We are expanding the agency and transmitting a higher quality of service for our community."

"Since assuming the position as executive director, I've been committed to finding the best talent and resources to help stimulate the economic revitalization our community deserves," said MDEAT Executive Director William "Bill" Diggs. "I look forward to working with our new trustees and leveraging their resources and expertise to elevate Black participation in Miami-Dade County's economic growth."

Board membership is based on the availability of positions and expertise in one of the agency's core service areas of economic development; housing advocacy; youth services; and research and policy. Ten candidates rose to the top of the field. Each appointment is for a three-year term.

The Board welcomes Basil A. Binns II, Patricia Jennings Braynon, Kametra Driver, Danny Felton, Sr., Andrea Forde, Raymond Fundora, Kimberly T. Henderson, Steven Henriquez, Christopher Norwood, and Rashad D. Thomas. They join current trustees Erbi Blanco-True, Hannibal Burton, and Julio Piti.

"As a Miami native, I am excited about the opportunity to serve and impact Miami-Dade County. I appreciate the great work MDEAT is doing to create more Black homeowners and entrepreneurs," Rashad D. Thomas, MDEAT Board Member and Regional Director, AT&T.

The MDEAT Board meets monthly and leverages three action committees: Economic Development Action Committee, Housing Advocacy Committee, and Youth Action Committee. Meetings are open to the public and posted online.

“We have similar goals around expanding equity of outcome around Black homeownership and business ownership," Kimberly T. Henderson, president and CEO of Neighborhood Housing Services of South Florida. "Those things are key to transforming our community and reducing the wealth divide between Blacks and other groups."

Amid the region's housing affordability crisis, several of MDEAT's board members are positioned to give the agency a competitive advantage to create effective advocacy and solutions for Miami-Dade County's most vulnerable residents.

"I am happy to serve and help our community receive its fair share of affordable housing opportunities," said Patricia Braynon, MDEAT trustee and retired director of the Housing Finance Authority of Miami-Dade County.

Following the riots that erupted in 1980 after white officers were acquitted for the death of Black businessman and former Marine Arthur McDuffie, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County collaborated to create Metro-Miami Action Plan (MMAP) in 1983 as a solution to socioeconomic disparities in employment, economic development, education, housing, health and human services and criminal justice. In 1992, MMAP was further empowered by becoming a trust, and in September 2009 it was reorganized into MDEAT by ordinance 09-70.

Since its inception, MDEAT’s focus has been on addressing socioeconomic disparities within the Black community. MDEAT does so by focusing on the individual (i.e., youth and individual family member support), building neighborhoods through the expansion of homeownership, and supporting the foundation of strong Black businesses and economic development via job creation, entrepreneurship, business retention, and expansion. These three gears - family, neighborhood, and business - work together to connect the Black community to resources, funding, and programming that together create whole communities.

Log on to www.miamidade.gov/EconomicAdvocacyTrust, re for more information on MDEAT and critical community statistics and data.

Related Links:

Murdered: Arthur McDuffie and the 1980 Miami Riots
A Few Bad Apples

McDuffie: The Case Behind Miami’s Riots

Thirty-Year Retrospective: The Status of the Black Community in Miami-Dade County 

2013 Karen Moore Islands of Poverty in a Sea of Wealth

This evening, the Religious Affairs Committee of the Miami-Dade Branch NAACP will continue with their series on local religious leaders, Meet the Pastor.

This episode’s special guests are Rev. Dr. Jimmie L. Bryant, Senior Pastor and Lady Estella King-Bryant of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Liberty City. You don’t want to miss this lively, educational, engaging and motivational conversation. Pastor and Lady Bryant are inarguably one of the most forward-thinking religious couples around.

• When: TONIGHT, July 11, 2022, 7:00 PM ET 
• Where: Via Zoom & Facebook Live 
• ZOOM Meeting ID: 853 4173 4135  Passcode: 640493 
• Facebook Live: @MiamiDadeNAACP

MIAMI – February 3, 2022 – Community Health of South Florida Inc. (CHI), is proud to host Give Kids A Smile Day on February 4, 2022. The annual event provides free dental screenings, cleanings, vanish, sealants and giveaways to children ages one to 16 years old.

“Every year we see children who have never been to the dentist on this day,” said Dr. Sheri Watson Hamilton, D.M.D., CHI Dental Director. “That’s a sad state of affairs, as lack of dental care can leave a child in pain or suffering with other health related consequences.”

CHI, a non-profit healthcare company has been a beacon of hope providing access to high quality healthcare for all regardless of insurance status, income level or background since 1971. To mitigate against the COVID-19 virus, various safety protocols have also been implemented to promote a safe, welcoming environment. As such, appointments will be required to ensure patient safety.

In partnership with the American Dental Association (ADA) Foundation, the Give Kids A Smile (GKAS) program provides oral healthcare to underserved children at no cost. Since 2003, local GKAS events have helped more than six million children get access to dental services with the help of dentists and healthcare organizations across the United States.

“With so much focus surrounding the pandemic, it is important to remember not to neglect routine healthcare,” said Dr. Watson-Hamilton. “Children should not be deprived of good oral health, which studies have shown can have a positive impact on the body’s overall health and wellbeing.”

CHI will be offering these free services for children at the following locations:

• Doris Ison Health Center 10300 SW 216 St. Miami FL 33190

8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

• West Perrine Health Center 18255 Homestead Ave. Perrine FL 33157

8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

• South Miami Health Center 6350 Sunset Dr. South Miami FL 33143

8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

• West Kendall Health Center 13540 SW 135^thAve. Miami FL 33186

8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.

• Martin Luther King Health Center 820 SW 1^st. St. Homestead FL 33030

8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Appointments are required, call (786) 272-2100.

The Miami-Biscayne Bay Chapter of The Links, Incorporated will host an Estate Planning Virtual Conversation designed to educate communities of color on the importance of drafting a will to communicate final wishes and determine inheritance rights to the assets of their estate. A panel of legal and financial experts will share strategies for the process of probate/succession assets and property, ways to protect the legacy of land/home ownership and financial planning. The panelists are Marva Wiley, Esq., Vernita Williams-Eganti, Esq., and Amy Dawkins, Financial Advisor. 

Virtual Conversation on Estate Planning: How to Create Generation Wealth

Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

Multiple Platforms: Zoom and Facebook

The entire community is invited to attend this free virtual event, but register in advance at: https://tinyurl.com/65ha4nh4

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!

Almost three million people in Florida have contracted COVID-19, and more than 41,000 have died. Of those statistics, Miami-Dade County represents more than 583,000 of those cases and almost 6,500 deaths. The Delta variant of COVID is much more contagious and severe. Yet, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders have manipulated some parents to use a CDC (Center for Disease Control) preventive measure to protect school children, parents, and employees as a first amendment parental right. No matter how much the Board of Education says it’s not about mask-wearing, it clearly is. To suggest or declare anything different is a lie. Risking lives by politicizing COVID is shameful and illegal. It is tantamount to child endangerment.

This unbelievable attempt at political bullying and intimidation will come to a head in Miami-Dade County at 11 AM today when the school board convenes. The School Board and Superintendent are in the media spotlight and in the crosshairs of Gov. DeSantis, the Florida Board of Education, and the State Commissioner of Education because of non-compliance with the governor's ban on mask mandates. 

Gov. DeSantis threatened to withhold budget from non-compliant districts and Pres. Joseph Biden interceded in support of Broward County and Alachua County school boards and superintendents who have stood their grounds. 

Will the Miami-Dade County School Board and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho protect the District, or will they cave to the authoritarian Republican leadership of the state? Based on public comments, it appears that at least one Miami-Dade School Board Member has already said no to the mask mandate, and others might try to please everyone, which will be a sure failure to the students, parents, and employees of the District. 

Situations such as this test the integrity and courage of leaders. There are few if any, options to compromise while the Delta variant ravages our community and more COVID mutations are on the way. It’s so unfortunate that elected, and appointed leaders are willing to choose politics over people, but we’ve seen this before when they choose profits over people.

Here is the link to the subject board agenda item, H-17, proffered by the Vice-Chair of The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida,  Dr. Steve Gallon III -   http://pdfs.dadeschools.net/Bdarch/2021/bd081821/agenda/h17rev.pdf. Please tune in online or attend  in-person  today. 

The South Florida Chapter of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College will present their "All That Jazz" 2021 Virtual Scholarship Fundraiser and Live Auction on Sunday, June 27, 2021, 3 PM ET.

Event co-hosts are Spelman alumnae Christie Grays Chambers, commercial realtor and founder of I am CHIC, and Betty Davis, Chief Meteorologist, WPLG-10.

You can win exquisite items while empowering the next generation of global women leaders in the liberal arts, sciences, and business.

Since 1881, Spelman College has produced notable alumnae such as Stacey Abrams, Alice Walker, Rosalind Brewer, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Esther Rolle, Dr. Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Marian Wright Edelman, and Bernice King.

RSVP at sfnaasc.org.

On Sunday, June 6, 2021, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated made history with the chartering of a new chapter serving Wellington and the Western Communities in Palm Beach County, Florida. The Alpha Alpha Upsilon Omega Chapter is the first African American organization actively involved with community service in the Village of Wellington.

The South Atlantic Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Carolyn Gause Randolph of Columbus, Ga., was the chartering officiant for the ceremony that was held in the Grand Ballroom at the Village of Wellington Community Center. Fifty-two college-educated and professional women are now forever recorded in the annals of the organization as charter members.

Prior to becoming a chartered chapter, this group of women formed the Crowned Pearls of Wellington Interest Group and set out to address needs among the disadvantaged black and brown populations in the Western Communities of Palm Beach for more than a year.

"Our mission is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women to improve social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of service to all mankind." Chapter President Geneva Pettis-Hassell explained, "We are committed to helping each other and positively impacting the communities in which we live and work."

Despite the pandemic, The Crowned Pearls of Wellington Interest group served their community by hosting and assisting with providing food for healthcare professionals at Wellington Regional and Palms West Hospitals, voter registration efforts, donating, and volunteering with Feeding South Florida food drives, collecting and distributing toys and backpacks. The group also hosted a virtual college fair, supported a fund-raising effort to raise funds for historically Black colleges and universities, and mentored students participating in the Village of Wellington's Students Working to Achieve Greatness (SWAG) program more.

The group's volunteer and community efforts are consistent with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority's Incorporated motto, "Service to All Mankind."

Notable Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated members include Vice-President Kamala Harris, U.S. House of Representatives Member Frederica Wilson, Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Award-winning Film Director Ava DuVernay, International Tennis Player and Professional Golfer Althea Gibson, First Female Astronaut Mae C. Jemison, Actress Phylicia Rashad, Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott-King, Author and Poet laureate Maya Angelou, Inspirational Speaker and Author and Lawyer Iyanla Vanzant.

Pictured above from left: Alma Henry-Morman, 1st Vice-President;Marcia Rowe Hayden, Vice-President of Operations; Carolyn Gause Randolph, Regional Director of the South Atlantic Region; and Jenny Pettis-Hassell, President