Miami Herald (Sunday)

South Floridians’ perspectiv­es on Blackness,

- BY C. ISAIAH SMALLS II csmalls@miamiheral­d.com

As Rajee Narinesing­h sat in the baking South Florida sun, tears began to stream down her face while she reflected on her ancestors’ grueling voyage from Africa generation­s ago, and their enslavemen­t on plantation­s in the Americas.

A Black trans woman, Narinesing­h has faced her own struggles: bullied as a child, ostracized by family members and brutally attacked three separate times. The DNA that flows through her veins gives her power, she says.

“It’s the strength that I carry from [my ancestors] that helps me get through,” said Narinesing­h, wiping away tears.

This past year brought an array of challenges to get through — for the nation as a whole and Black Americans in particular. The pandemic has disproport­ionately affected Black Americans; vaccine acceptance has been dampened by a history of government abuse. The murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor punctuated a history of Black deaths at the hands of police. The insurrecti­onists who stormed the Capitol brandished symbols of white supremacy, bringing racial hatred to a fever pitch.

In this Black History Month, drawing courage from the past was a common theme among 28 Black South Floridians in

terviewed for a Miami Herald Instagram project. The individual­s represente­d a slice of the region’s 1 million-plus Black Americans — well-known and private, married and single and gay — that presents a living history of Black South Florida.

Our question was simple: What does Blackness mean to you, and how does it influence your mission, your goals, your life? As the Herald team discovered, the answers were complex and varied, often shaped by the person’s roots — in the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Yet some ideas were common: the importance of perseveran­ce and a passion for empowering the next generation.

Interviews by reporter C. Isaiah Smalls II and images by visual journalist­s Carl Juste and Daniel Varela appear on the Miami Herald’s Instagram page. The project was produced by Miami Herald editor Forrest Milburn.

‘WE HAVE A HISTORY OF CHARGING THROUGH ADVERSITY’

The perseveran­ce that enabled Black Americans to survive the Middle Passage and the rigors of segregatio­n has been passed down from generation to generation. For many, that same spirit of resolutene­ss is an ongoing necessity.

“We have a history of charging through adversity and forging ahead in spite of [our circumstan­ces] and I have responsibi­lity to carry that tradition on,” said Derek Fleming, the managing partner at Red Rooster Overtown.

Dr. Henri Ford agrees. “We see that Black and brown people who are disproport­ionately being affected by the ravages of COVID-19, a reflection of the structural inequities that have existed for so long,” said Ford, the dean of University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. “So we cannot relent; we have to continue to fight.”

For others, like Miami Edison High teacher Kalyn Lee, resiliency inspires her to educate students about the reality of the Black experience.

“I am charged from my ancestors to make sure that I am dispelling the myths of what Blackness is seen overall in society,” said

Lee., standing in front of a mural of local civil right activist M. Athalie Range.

Drawing from the wisdom of Zora Neale Hurston, blackness doesn’t simply revel in tragedy, said entreprene­ur Yvonne Rodriguez. It’s an asset, one that demands constant celebratio­n.

“We are a walking monument to our ancestors,” said Rodriguez as her twin Yvette puffed on a cigar from Tres Lindas Cubanas, a company that the sisters co-own.

“My sister and I, we’re in a constant celebratio­n of the miracle that is us.”

‘INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION’

For many of the 28, Blackness didn’t just mean drawing strength from the past; it also meant working to create a better tomorrow.

As a site director for Breakthrou­gh Miami, Webber Charles fights for equality in after-school programs that encourage children from low-income communitie­s, regardless of color, to aspire beyond their current surroundin­gs.

“Black and justice are inseparabl­e,” he said.

“Whether you’re Nicaraguan, whether you’re Honduran, whether you’re Cuban, whether you’re white, Anglo — the work that I aim to do in this community, as a Black man, is to not only better the living conditions of young Black people as a whole but everyone,” Charles said.

After losing her 17-yearold son to a vigilante in 2012, it was only natural that Sybrina Fulton would focus on opportunit­ies for the next generation, though the Trayvon Martin Foundation.

Martin’s killing “made me more passionate about how African Americans [and] people of color are being treated and what I can do to be a part of this whole dynamic,” Fulton said, standing beneath the street sign dedicated to her son.

That same passion also motivates Evan Forde, the first African American scientist to do a research dive on a submarine. As one of the handful of Black oceanograp­hers, Forde invariably drew the job of leading Black History Month activities at the National Oceanic and Atmospheri­c Administra­tion every February. The years have begun to weigh on Forde, who admitted to being “tired” of being the Black spokespers­on.

But the past 12 months have ignited something within him.

“Until I successful­ly inspire the next generation of Black scientists and community activists, then there will be nobody to speak for us,” said Forde as he reclined in front of the NOAA

Edouard Duval-Carrié,

making history today and recognizin­g the outstandin­g contributi­ons that people of African and Caribbean descent have made. It comes this year at an important marker in time. As the Your Blackness project says, it comes at a complicate­d point in our nation’s history.

The series and the 2021 celebratio­n of Black History Month comes after a year that brought with it a period of racial reckoning resulting from racial inbuilding in Virginia Key.

For Narinesing­h, the simple act of openness has inspired countless others to be themselves.

With violence against the trans community reaching a record high in 2020,

justices that led to protests across the country and where a pandemic disproport­ionately affected the Black community.

This work is important. It’s our job as journalist­s to educate and inform, not to be passive observers of the world. It’s my hope that the Miami Herald’s and el Nuevo Herald’s coverage of Black History Month has enriched someone.

We didn’t want to just write about Black people shopping for groceries can be dangerous for Narinesing­h and those like her. But, influenced by the sacrifices of generation­s before her, Narinesing­h said hiding is not an option.

and Black things and Black places because it’s February. To do that alone would be shallow, disrespect­ful and ignorant to some degree. Black history is history that should be celebrated all-year-round. We will keep sharing these stories, and that’s why your subscripti­on and your support matters.

Our goal is to teach a bit about Black history and current history makers, to tell you more about your state, your city, your com

“Isn’t it about making it better for the next generation to come?” Narinesing­h said.

Kalyn Lee,

Teri Williams,

munity, your neighbors, the people who are changing the world and how the world is changing because of them.

We have an obligation to keep telling these stories. It can’t, and won’t end, with February. If you missed any part of this series or other coverage we had for Black History Month, be sure to search for it online or in our eEdition and tell others about it too.

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