I just interviewed a Miami legend. Watch what she says — and listen to what she sings
Hello. I’m Jeff Kleinman, a longtime editor at the Miami Herald.
When I was a young reporter in the newsroom, I met a columnist I had been following since I was a school kid growing up in South Florida.
Her name is Beatrice Hines, and she is a legend.
Bea was the first Black female reporter at the Miami Herald, promoted in 1970 from her job as a newsroom library clerk. Bea moved to Miami as a young girl and went to Booker T. Washington High and lived in Liberty City. As a young woman, she cleaned homes in Miami Beach.
She had dreams and broke barriers.
It wasn’t easy, but Bea earned her journalism degree from Miami Dade College and went on to become a general assignment reporter at the Miami Herald. Then she became a columnist, writing about family and faith. And at age 85, she is still writing for the Herald each week.
I wanted our newsroom, especially younger reporters, to meet Bea and get to know her. So I sent an idea to the big boss, Monica Richardson, about inviting her to an upcoming staff meeting. Monica decided to have the whole community hear from Bea.
So on Feb. 16, Bea took a small stage at the North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens. And we talked.
The video above, shot by our colleague Jose Iglesias, is our conversation, along with questions she took from the audience of about 80 people.
Listen to Bea tell stories of what it was like to break barriers in Miami. And then, toward the end, listen to her sing a spiritual.
READ MORE: ‘She paved the way.’ How a woman with big dreams broke barriers to tell Miami’s story
