Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust: 40 years since McDuffie, with little change

These last few weeks have been very telling of where we stand as a society. To think that we’ve made so many “strides” only to have the bandage peel off and layers of deep systemic issues be revealed once again. Coincidentally, this year is the 40th year since the McDuffie riots erupted in Miami, and things still have not changed in regards to police brutality and social justice.

The Black community has always been marginalized and ignored. The evidence is right before us in the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on the African-American community. And the outrage from the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd is more proof that Black people are fed up in this country.

We have reached an intense boiling point in this country, and Black people are crying out to be heard, understood, empathized with, and shown justice. Meanwhile, most of America remains silent or politically correct throughout all of this.

As an agency of Miami-Dade County, the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust (MDEAT) is here to be a resource for the county. It is MDEAT’s role and duty to advocate for economic progress specifically for the Black community. While businesses are slowly reopening following the pandemic, many Black businesses won’t even get the opportunity to reopen because the impact and burden from COVID-19 was far too much to bear.

So what do we do now? The disparity is far too great and must be acknowledged. For one, resources need to be set aside and allocated to address the health disparity and identify which Targeted Urban Areas (TUA) have been the most impacted by COVID-19. We cannot have food deserts, food swamps, unaddressed co-morbidities, culturally insensitive health care and Black maternal mortality and not expect infectious diseases and pandemics to disproportionately affect the Black community.

Secondly, Black businesses need intervention. We did not receive the PPP funds and saw other communities benefit from the federal government’s support. At MDEAT, we quickly deployed our Small Business Capitalization Grant to distribute $2,500 grants to businesses within TUAs. Miami-Dade County also rolled out the $5 million Small Business Assistance Forgivable Loan Program (SBAFLP) to issue loans of up to $25,000 that can be forgiven if certain criteria are met. But that’s still not enough, and solutions need to be both scalable and sustainable.

Additionally, the civil unrest following the brutal murder of George Floyd requires that this community acknowledge social injustice in the way that the Black community is policed and unfairly sentenced for crimes in comparison to their other counterparts. And until the officers are convicted for the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other deaths before these, Black people will continue to be enraged.

Ultimately, this cannot be Black people’s fight alone if we want to see real change. We must make sure to exercise the right to vote. It takes the power of the vote to change people in position and to change the system. We must also support Black businesses, reverse the outward migration of Black residents, and increase both Black home-ownership and personal wealth across the county. Ultimately, if part of Miami-Dade County suffers, all of Miami-Dade County suffers.

John Dixon is executive director of the Miami-Dade Economic Advocacy Trust. This letter was signed by Khalid Salahuddin, first vice chairperson; Katrina Wright, second vice chairperson; James Bunyan, chairman, Housing Action Committee; Hannibal Burton, chairman, Economic Development Action Committee.