The 44 Percent: Florida’s Emancipation Day + Biden’s billion-dollar promise + A Black pioneer in space
This week, many Floridians celebrated Emancipation Day to commemorate May 20, 1865 —the day the Emancipation Proclamation was first read in Tallahassee, officially freeing enslaved people in Florida.
This occurred 11 days after the end of the Civil War and two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed those enslaved in southern states.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, it was not implemented in many states that were under Confederate control. For example, on June 19, 1865, about 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The soldiers announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were now free.
This newly freed people in Texas dubbed the day as “Juneteenth.” June 19 is now a federally recognized holiday.
Floridians, however, have long recognized “Emancipation Day” or “May Day” in Florida on May 20. Celebrations for the day include food, games and parades.
The city of Gainesville has a month-long “Journey to Juneteenth” celebration beginning on Florida Emancipation Day (May 20) and lasting through the Juneteenth holiday (June 19). The celebration is meant to honor the arduous journey to freedom while staying true to the history of Florida Emancipation on May 20.
Inside the 305
‘A canvas for black artistry’: Miami exhibit celebrates Harlem Renaissance literature and art
Miami-based art curator Chris Norwood’s “Silhouettes: Image and Word in the Harlem Renaissance,” is an exhibition celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the start of the Harlem Renaissance. At The Wolfsonian in South Beach, the show, up since November, closes on June 23.
The exhibition is a treasure trove of history. Take James Weldon Johnson, a recurring character in the show and a true Renaissance man.
Born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Johnson was a prolific author, a musical theater song writer, a U.S. diplomat in Latin America under the Roosevelt administration, the first Black man to sit for the Florida bar and the first executive director of the NAACP. And, Norwood almost forgot to mention, Johnson is best known for writing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song known today as the Black national anthem. He wrote it as a poem, and his brother composed the music. Johnson was the principal of the school where a choir of children first performed the song in Jacksonville to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday. Johnson and his brother moved to New York City, where they wrote hundreds of songs for musicals, Norwood said. In his absence, the song spread through the South, resonating with Black children. The song was later adopted by the NAACP.
Diddy seen hunkering down in Miami Beach after issuing apology over shocking video
Disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was spotted in Miami Beach on Sunday, two days after a horrific video emerged of him attacking his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura.
In the March 5, 2016, surveillance footage, exclusively released by CNN on Friday, Combs is seen hurtling down a L.A. hotel hallway in a towel and viciously attacking Ventura, kicking her while she is on the ground. The never before seen beatdown lined up with allegations Ventura leveled against her ex in a now settled lawsuit filed last November.
Outside the 305
Biden Promises $16 Billion in HBCU Funding as Morehouse Valedictorian Calls for Gaza Ceasefire
While giving the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black all-male college, President Joe Biden, whose administration has contributed $16 billion to HBCUs told the crowd, “I’m investing 16 billion more dollars, the most in our history, because you’re vital to our nation.”
With Biden hoping to mobilize support among Black voters and young Americans who are dissatisfied with the war in Gaza and other policies, the president’s appearance at Morehouse was an attempt to acknowledge objections to his administration and appeal to critical parts of his base. This appearance likely went as well as the administration could have hoped, but it will take more for Biden to address the concerns entirely as he seeks reelection.
Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, becomes oldest person to reach space
Ed Dwight, America’s first Black astronaut candidate, made the trip to space via Jeff Bezos’ rocket company on Sunday.
Dwight was an Air Force pilot when President John F. Kennedy championed him as a candidate for NASA’s early astronaut corps. But he wasn’t picked for the 1963 class.
Dwight, now 90, went through a few minutes of weightlessness with five other passengers aboard the Blue Origin capsule as it skimmed space on a roughly 10-minute flight. He called it “a life-changing experience.”
“I thought I really didn’t need this in my life,” Dwight said shortly after exiting the capsule. ”But, now, I need it in my life .... I am ecstatic.”
The brief flight from West Texas made Dwight the new record-holder for oldest person in space — nearly two months older than “Star Trek” actor William Shatner was when he went up in 2021.
Culture
In addition to honoring Americans who died in active military service, Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of the summer, and Miami is ripe with festivals and events during the long weekend.
Hyundai Air & Sea Show and Music Explosion, South Beach, May 25-26
Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company
Salute American Heroes at The Gabriel South Beach
Rooftop BBQ at SLS LUX Brickell’s Altitude & Lounge
Pink Flamingo Party at Sora Rooftop
Memorial Day Weekend at Morada Bay Florida Keys
