Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
TEACHING YOUTH ABOUT DIVERSITY
Dolphins do their best to break down cultural barriers
MIAMI — Music and art hold a universal language that has a way of moving people, uniting them, and so do sports.
Moved by the beating of the drums he heard, and the traditional Haitian dance moves he saw, Kimler Previlon made his way into the middle of the dance circle that had formed inside of the Little Haiti Cultural Center.
He immediately began showing off his Fortnite dance moves, and doing the “Orange Justice Dance” he and his peers used to impress the Nancy St. Leger (NSL) Dance Ensemble, which had just given them a show.
Previlon was one of nearly 100 students from diverse backgrounds throughout South Florida on Tuesday who experienced Little Haiti and Liberty City for the first time as part of the Miami Dolphins’ Football Unites program.
Football Unites is the newest charity arm of Dolphins owner Steve Ross’ franchise, and their first venture has been hosting cultural tours throughout Miami and Fort Lauderdale to show students, Dolphins players, community leaders, and law enforcement officers the richness and diversity that makes South Florida unique.
“We want to level the playing field to make South Florida healthier, educated and more united,” said Jason Jenkins, the Dolphins’ senior vice president of communications and community affairs. “Through the football unites program we want to bring people, especially youths of different races, genders and sexual identities together, and use the carrot of football as a platform to learn about social justice, and learn about race relations to drive progress in our community.”
The goal is for these diverse groups of students from Black, Hispanic and Jewish communities to grow up interacting with each other and to break down barriers.
Tuesday is usually an NFL player’s day off, but a dozen or so players have regularly attended the three Football Unities Cultural Tours because it has helped them learn what makes South Florida unique.
“When I first got here, I [experienced] culture shock from seeing all the different people,” said cornerback Xavien Howard, who is in the midst of this third season with the Dolphins. “Taking the tour, I’m learning more about it, but it’s a lot deeper stuff that I didn’t realize.”
So far the tours have visited the Freedom Tower in the heart of downtown Miami, which once served as the port of entry for Cuban refugees. They were also given a tour of Little Havana and Overtown. Last month, they went to the Holocaust Memorial and the Jewish Museum of Florida, and then attended a Rainbow Crosswalk in Miami Beach, and visited Palace Restaurant, interacting with the LGBT community.
“I’ve learned so much. I’ve learned its more to Miami than South Beach,” said rookie linebacker Jerome Baker. “To get to know and see different communities and cultures is a blessing.”
On Tuesday, the group saw the efforts being made to preserve Little Haiti, a community outside of downtown Miami that is in the midst of being gentrified, and got a tour of Liberty City.
Chef Creole owner Ken Sejour provided each attendee soup joumou, which is a traditional Haitian soup eaten on January first to celebrate Haiti’s independence from France.
He explained that the Haitian citizens used to plant the squash and pumpkin seeds that would be cultivated in Haiti and sent overseas. But they could never eat the fruits of their labor. Once their independence arrived in 1804 the Haitians feasted, and eat the soup annually as a reminder of the country’s journey, Sejour explained.
“I want to know who you are. That’s the only way we can become a closer community,” Sejour told the tour. “We can’t be guessing about each other.”
The tour explained how Liberty City Square, which is known as the Pork and Beans because of the brown colored shotgun homes made famous by A&E’s police show “The First 48,” was America’s first public housing program in southeast.
The present day challenges of gentrification was given a surface-level explanation, and those on the tour got to see the firsthand effects on those in the community.
“We’re glad to see some of these changes happening in the community, but at the same time we’re trying to preserve the culture,” Sandy Dorsainvil said as she gave a tour of the Little Haiti Cultural Center’s art gallery.
“This is about figuring out how to make the world a better place,” said Previlon, a student at Riverland Elementary, of the tour.
Programs like these are helping our young people understand what is needed in this day and age, and that’s unity achieved through education and understanding. The hope is that the adults will learn to follow their lead.