By Keneesha Crawford
As growth continues reshaping neighborhoods throughout Miami-Dade, many longtime Black residents are grappling with a well-known query: How do you protect tradition, historical past, and neighborhood in a metropolis that’s continually altering?
That dialog sat on the heart of Black Miami Weekend, a community-centered expertise curated by Frolic Tradition and its founder, CiCi Battle. Designed to rejoice Black Miami whereas creating alternatives for connection, reflection, and cultural preservation, the weekend introduced collectively residents and guests alike to have interaction with the tales, folks, and locations which have helped form town. The weekend’s digital visible identification was created by Mariama Gregory.
The thought was born from a sentiment Battle had heard one too many instances.
“Folks would all the time say to me, ‘There aren’t any Black folks in Miami,’” Battle stated. “And I might reply, ‘I’m a third-generation Black Miamian — there are Black folks right here. However Miami is so segregated. That’s why we’re all separated.’ So I stated, you realize what, let’s create a weekend for folks to faucet in. A chance for vacationers who need to faucet into Black Miami, but in addition a chance for Black Miamians to get to know different Black Miamians.”
Held throughout the identical month as Florida’s Emancipation Day, which is commemorated yearly on Could 20 and marks the day enslaved folks in Florida realized that they had been freed, Black Miami Weekend supplied individuals a chance to rejoice whereas additionally reflecting on the historical past, identification, and legacy of Black communities all through South Florida.
Based as a platform devoted to highlighting Black tradition, neighborhood, and experiences in Miami, Frolic Tradition deliberately partnered with native organizations and cultural leaders doing significant work throughout the area. The weekend featured collaborations with Nadège Inexperienced of Black Miami-Dade and KeyMIA of Key2MIA, amongst others.
Programming included an artwork expertise at The Bass in Miami Seaside, a neighborhood teach-in at Legion Park, and a Black Miami Historical past Tour. Collectively, the occasions inspired individuals to discover Miami by way of a lens that’s usually ignored in mainstream narratives in regards to the metropolis.
For Battle, creating environments the place folks really feel seen and valued is simply as necessary because the programming itself.
“If we need to heart the oldsters who’ve been deliberately marginalized, we’ve to create areas the place they are often themselves — the place they are often celebrated, the place nobody goes to marvel what they’re carrying or in the event that they must look over their shoulder,” she stated. “Areas which are protected, the place all are welcome, however Black and Brown are centered.”
For a lot of attendees, the weekend represented greater than leisure. It was a chance to attach with a deeper understanding of Miami and the communities which have lengthy referred to as it house.
“Folks overlook that Black of us are an integral a part of Miami,” attendee Armando stated. “If you take a look at town you see Ocean Drive, a vibrant Latin tradition, lovely seashores — all of that’s necessary. However what you don’t see is the foundational Black of us who’ve been right here for generations.”
That sense of connection resonated with others all through the weekend.
“Feeling the sense of household with folks I don’t even know — I’ve by no means skilled that earlier than,” attendee Jade Lilly stated.
As Miami continues to evolve, conversations about development more and more embody questions on preservation, illustration, and whose tales are remembered. Black Miami Weekend sought to contribute to that dialog by creating alternatives for folks to have interaction with town’s historical past whereas constructing neighborhood within the current.
For Battle and Frolic Tradition, the mission stays easy: Tradition survives when communities actively select to guard it.
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