The 44 Percent: Shirley Gibson’s funeral, Black families fight for their land, Nancy Dawkins turns 100
Every city needs a Shirley Gibson.
The love the late Miami Gardens mayor poured into the city’s creation is something I hadn’t been privy to prior to moving to South Florida.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Gibson one afternoon at her home when I wrote about the city’s founding and the changes it’s seen.
But the first time I met her, she felt like home. I couldn’t put my finger on why but when I learned she was originally from Camilla, Georgia, it put me at ease: I was speaking to a fellow Georgian, albeit one who moved to Florida when she was 10, who offered Southern Hospitality at a moment when everything felt rigid.
Gibson was very exact in how she described Miami Gardens and debunked falsehoods projected on it, including the would-be city being too poor to function. “So when your government tells you that it resonates, and so we had to try to overcome that,” she told me at the time.
And overcome they did, starting with a campaign to clean the city up, which continues to this day, and the creation of Jazz in The Gardens which began in a parking lot and is now held in Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami Gardens was her pride, or “her baby,” as the city’s former interim city attorney Hans Ottinot described it.
Gibson reminds me of so many pioneers who are steadfast in wanting what’s best for the city they love and shaped them.
One could only hope to be the visionary and leader she was.
INSIDE THE 305:
‘My Grandma is my world:’ Remembering Shirley Gibson, Miami Gardens’ first mayor
Fittingly, Shirley Gibson’s memorial service contained a saxophone tribute.
“Good morning, I want to welcome you to Jazz in the Gardens,” said Pastor Wendell Baskin of the New Way Fellowship Praise & Worship Center, in a nod to the late Miami Gardens mayor’s creation of the premiere event and one of her accomplishments touted during the service.
At least 300 people, including Miami Gardens City Council members, attended Gibson’s services Tuesday morning inside the church on Northwest 22nd Avenue.
Gibson, remembered for her leadership and commitment to service, died Monday, Oct. 16. She was 79.
‘Give her her flowers while she’s here’: This beloved Miami activist just turned 100
Nancy Dawkins celebrated 100 years on Earth this month. Asked why she’s lived so long, she told reporter Isaiah Smalls: “It’s got to be by God because I’ve had a lot challenges but I pulled through some way. I live by the mantra: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
The celebration of Dawkins, who hit the century mark on Oct. 11, is one fit for a woman many deem the queen of Liberty City, maybe even Miami. An educator turned activist whose experience is woven into the neighborhood’s cultural fabric, Dawkins embodies the fight in a city often synonymous with relaxation.
The Business of Creativity: Insights from Miami’s Creative Visionaries
Content creation is a growing industry.
In Forbes’ second annual Top Creator list, the top 10 social media stars earned more than $310 million combined this past year. The most glaring absence on the list: Black women. Miami’s own Makisha Noël wants to change that.
“The culture has shifted so much and now is the time for Black and brown women,” said Noël, the founder of Creative Culture Tribe, a network of women of color that seeks to teach the business of creativity.
Noel will host “The Business of Creativity: Insights from Miami’s Creative Visionaries” panel on Saturday. Featuring visual artist Reyna Noriega, digital creator Emmy Petit, wealth advisor Dr. Nicole Garner Scott plus valuable insight from Florida’s Grow With Google Coach Vicente Pimienta, the gathering aims to educate aspiring entrepreneurs in the influencer space about how to monetize their passion.
“Women in our community are experts,” Noël said. ”What they don’t get is how to create a business around a product.”
The event will take place 5:30 pm Saturday at West Elm South Beach. Tickets start at $70.
OUTSIDE THE 305:
Resources for Black Families Fighting for Control of Their Land
Home ownership has been a concern for Black residents, particularly in the South especially with increasing mortgage rates. But for Josephine Wright, a resident of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, she’s worried about losing her land.
As Atlanta-based Capital B News reported: For more than 30 years, Wright has lived on the land, which has been in her late husband’s family since after the Civil War. After refusing to sell the land to Bailey Point Investment LLC earlier this year, the company sued her. They are constructing a 29-acre neighborhood with 147 housing units that engulfs Wright’s property. It claims Wright has three encroachments that bleed onto its property.
Capital B previously reported the intimidation and harassment she says she endured at the hands of the company, which include people trespassing onto her property; snakes in her window; and dirt and debris left on her automobile and house. Since the story was published, the Wright family has received support nationwide, including donations from superstars Snoop Dogg and Kyrie Irving, and now a home from media mogul Tyler Perry, according to her granddaughter Charise Graves.
Wright is still in the legal fight over her land, with a court appointed mediator aiming to resolve the land dispute. In the meantime, the nonprofit news outlet provided resources for residents in a similar position as Wright. Read their tips here.
HIGH CULTURE
South Beach food festival announces lineup for 2024. Here’s how to get your tickets
The 23rd annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival has announced its schedule for 2024, and its website is live for the annual browsing of culinary events, which include intimate dinners, walk-around tastings, master classes, appearances by Food Network stars and events under the big tents on Miami Beach.
The latest incarnation of the four-day festival runs from Feb. 22-25, 2024 and will include more than 500 chefs and wine and spirit producers.
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.
