The 44 Percent: Desmond Meade, Florida redistricting & housing issues in North Miami
Wisdom is something earned not given.
You have to go through something. Have to have your life upended. And, most importantly, you have to bounce back.
Desmond Meade served a multi-year prison sentence and then helped to reinstate more than 1 million formerly incarcerated Floridians’ right to vote. We chatted last Saturday during Black Male Media Project, an annual event hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists’ South Florida Chapter, where he dropped the following gem:
“It is the people who are closest to the pain that are more times than not the ones closest to the solution,” Meade said.
.
In just 22 words, Meade advocates for people experiencing pain as a result of any form of prejudice — racism, misogyny, homophobia — to voice their concerns to those in power. The concept is simple: We just need to listen to one another.
INSIDE THE 305
Broken American dream: North Miami family races to find new home before imminent ouster:
The Herald’s Michael Butler took readers inside the home of the Honor family, who are in danger of being kicked out of their North Miami home of the past 11 years.
“(I felt) inferior, sad and nervous,” Marie Honor, 59, said in a recent interview at her house. “Maybe I was being discriminated (against) because I don’t have any money? Why does he (the landlord) treat me like that? I was so sad that I could not sleep.”
Honor, along with her sons Mardochee Pierre, 23, and Kervin Lundy, 19, live in the three-bedroom, single-family home with help from a Section 8 housing voucher. That she has to be out by June 23, before the end of the one-year period, makes the situation even more dire for the Honor family.
Because the Honor family is being forced to move before the end of the current voucher term, the family doesn’t have immediate access to a new voucher. Also, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development bases the amount of the family’s voucher on a property’s rental cost. Honor doesn’t know where she’s going to move her family, so she has no idea what the monthly rent would be at her next home.
Under the family’s current Section 8 voucher, Honor pays $1,001 toward monthly rent of $2,150, and the government covers the remaining $1,149. Her monthly jumped on Jan. 1 from $1,794 to its current rate. Honor already struggles paying rent and so far she’s only found prospective homes commanding higher rents.
“Without the voucher, we cannot do anything,” her son Mardochee said. “Even at the cheapest, some house rents are going for $2,500. It’s like they want to push us out of where we’re at now in an already inflated market. It feels like a predatory practice.”
American Black Film Festival returns to Miami:
The American Black Film Festival will touch down in Miami June 15-19. One of the largest Black film festivals, ABFF brings together film and television enthusiasts around content created and/or starring people of African descent. This year’s festivities will include screenings of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” and “Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution,” a two-part documentary that details the history of Black comedians and is produced by Kevin Hart, panel discussions about all things film and even an awards ceremony.
This year’s ambassador will be Issa Rae, who will give opening remarks and screen her new television series “RAP SH!T.”
OUTSIDE THE 305
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Florida Supreme Court decides to stay out of fight over DeSantis’ redistricting map:
Florida’s Supreme Court recently rejected a challenge to the congressional maps, essentially ensuring that the split of District 5, a large swath of annexed North Florida communities created to assist the election of a Black member of Congress.
The map, specifically ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis, cedes even more power to Republicans.
DeSantis argued that continuing with such a district would involve racial gerrymandering and violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The Legislature approved DeSantis’ proposal to revamp the district, condensing it in the Jacksonville area. But [Leon County Circuit Judge Layne Smith] ruled that the plan violated a 2010 state constitutional amendment — known as the Fair Districts amendment — that barred diminishing the ability of minority voters to “elect representatives of their choice.”
For more information on how redistricting has played out across the country, head over to the New York Times which explained how the process has become one big gerrymander.
Andrew Brown Jr. estate settlement:
The estate of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man gunned down by police in North Carolina, received a $3 million settlement, according to CNN.
Pasquotank County deputies fatally shot Brown in April 2021 while trying to execute a warrant for his arrest. Deputies fired approximately 14 shots at Brown, who they say drove “recklessly” in their direction while attempting to flee. Brown’s family, however, called the killing an execution.
“While the district attorney concluded that no criminal law was violated, this was a terrible and tragic outcome, and we could do better,” Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten said, adding that two deputies did not turn on their body cameras during the incident.
HIGH CULTURE
Get to know Dominic Fike in new GQ Profile
You probably first heard of Dominic Fike from “Euphoria.” I first heard of Dominic Fike through “3 Nights.”
A few of my favorite facts: he’s Filipino and African American, he’s from Naples, Fla., and he makes really good music.
The new GQ profile dives into the life of the 26-year-old whose fame has skyrocketed to pop superstar status since his acting debut in “Euphoria” (it also includes a hilarious story about how he bombed the initial “Euphoria” audition).
With it being Black Music Month and all, here are a few more of my favorite Fike tracks: “Hit Me Up,” “Vampire” and “Politics & Violence.”
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.
