The 44 Percent: Home for the holidays, new Miami-Dade commission chair & Basquiat
This time of year, the little things matter.
Family, freedom, friends – all just mean a little more when the calendar hits December.
These things are often taken for granted. I’m guilty of it. And I’m sure you are, too. Let us not, however, forget how easy these things can be taken away.
Just look at Brittney Griner. This time last month, she was in a Russian penal colony with no idea when – or if – she’d ever come home. Over a substance that’s used medicinally in more than three-quarters of the United States. And what happens as soon as her release is announced?
“Wait nah!! We left a marine?!! Hell nah,” Dallas Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons tweeted, referring to former Marine Paul Whelan. Although Parson later walked back his statements, the near 40,000 retweets suggest he was far from the only person thinking that.
Tone deafness aside (trust me, this is mighty difficult to overlook but the L.A. Times and Insider already delved into why), the fact that at least one American is home should be a cause for celebration. Aren’t the holidays supposed to be about joy, giving and cheer?
Just so it’s clear: Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison. Her appeal was unsuccessful. She very well could’ve spent the next nine holiday seasons thousands of miles from home. Her freedom was most certainly not promised. Again, the little things.
In her second Instagram post since her release, Griner thanked everyone for sending her letters of support. Each message, she wrote, “helped me to not lose hope during a time where I was full of regret and vulnerable in ways I could have never imagined.” She also expressed gratitude for the ability to spend the holidays with her family but also implored everyone to not forget about the people who are still wrongly detained. In other words, the little things matter.
INSIDE THE 305
Neglected for decades, Miami-Dade’s Poinciana site now in a heated development contest:
Two development groups – one backed by Moishe Mana, the other backed by Michael Swerdlow – are currently battling over control of a disparate, 24-acre swath of land in Liberty City called the Poinciana Industrial Park. The parcels were once believed to be key to Liberty City’s revival following the McDuffie riots in 1980 but efforts to resurrect the former commercial district have been stifled.
One of the biggest concerns among community members is the Swerdlow group’s lack of local ties, according to the Miami Herald’s Douglas Hanks. Mana’s group includes the 79th Street Corridor Initiative, a nonprofit “led by Black executives, including director Ron Butler and Teri Williams, president of OneUnited Bank” that also “has a partnership with a development entity affiliated with the Urban League of Greater Miami.”
For more information on each group’s plans, Hanks included a summary of the two proposals.
Let’s not be ‘stewards of the status quo,’ Miami-Dade’s new chair says after oath:
District 1 Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III was sworn in as chair of the Miami-Dade Commission last week, becoming just the sixth Black elected official to hold this role. In his speech, he invoked Florida historical icons while promising to face Miami-Dade’s transportation, economic and environmental challenges head on.
“We know that if Henry Flagler could connect a train from Jacksonville to the Florida Keys, then we can build the Metrorail up 27th Avenue to Broward County, and we can build a Baylink from Miami Beach to the mainland,” Gilbert said, referencing the railroad mogul before recalling the pioneering work of Miami’s first Black millionaire, developer D.A. Dorsey.
“If D.A. Dorsey could develop affordable housing 100 years ago,” Gilbert said, “then we should be able to make housing more affordable today.”
OUTSIDE THE 305
Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders among 13 JSU transfers:
The fallout from Deion’s departure continues.
A total of 13 Jackson State players, including former No. 1 recruit Travis Hunter as well as Deion Sanders’ sons Shedeur and Shilo, have entered into the transfer portal, according to On3.com. Of the 13, at least four – Hunter, Shedeur, Shilo and Tyler Brown – will follow Coach Prime to the University of Colorado.
After pledging that God sent him to save HBCUs, the elder Sanders will be taking with him SWAC Offensive Player of the Year (Shedeur), an all-SWAC first team offensive lineman (Brown) and the first five-star recruit to sign with a HBCU (Hunter).
Texas police officer found guilty of manslaughter in killing of Atatiana Jefferson:
Ex-police officer Aaron Dean was found guilty of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Atatiana Jefferson who was killed inside of her Fort Worth, Texas home in 2019.
After considering both a murder charge and a lesser charge of manslaughter, the jury elected to go with second-degree manslaughter. Dean could face anywhere between two and 20 years in prison as well as a maximum fine of $20,000.
HIGH CULTURE
Happy Heavenly Born Day Jean-Michel Basquiat:
My favorite visual artist Jean-Michel Basquiat would’ve 62 today. In his honor, here are three Basquiat facts:
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s father was Haitian.
Basquiat’s work has sold for roughly $2.6 billion between 2008 and 2022, making him the fourth best-selling artist in the world, according to the Burns Halperin Report.
In the late 1970s, Basquiat formed a band named Gray in which he played the clarinet.
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.
