The 44 Percent: Youth mentorship, Kendrick Lamar, A’ja Wilson steps up
Not everyone knows the history of Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriette Moore.
But earlier this week, more than 120 Miami-Dade County Public School students from Miami Edison Senior High, Miami Northwestern Senior High, Miami Jackson Senior High, and William H. Turner Technical Arts High learned a brief history of the Moores and their untimely deaths.
The Marshall L. Davis, Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, in partnership with the Miami Herald and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, held a Black History Month event, Courageous Voices: The Moore Legacy, dedicated to learning the Moores’ story.
Students listened to a discussion from activist and former professor Marvin Dunn about the history of the Moores, civil rights activists in Florida who died in their home from a bomb placed by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1951.
The discussion is important as we’re seeing increasing efforts to limit how Black history, especially local Black history, is taught in schools and as companies scale back their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts nationwide. One person, Nakia Bowling, is leading the effort in ensuring young Black children know their history through the Art of Transformation after school program, which offers myriad activities for students and “required reading” books from the likes of Toni Morrison and others.
It’s likely the programming Black students needed.
INSIDE THE 305:
This Miami native wants to teach Black students things they might not learn in school
Race and culture reporter Raisa Habersham wrote about how Miami native Nakia Bowling is using an after school program to support and educate Black schoolchildren.
On a breezy February afternoon, a cacophony of sounds can be heard from the Miami Shores Elementary School with soaring sights to match: Students in the Art of Transformation after school program are busy doing acrobatics from aerial silks, learning dance steps in the bandroom, working on art projects or building sail cars, which are powered by wind, in their STEM class.
This is the vision Nakia Bowling has for young Black children in the communities she services. “I wanted activities you typically don’t find in communities of color,” she said.
‘A dictatorship of indifference’: Haitian priest outraged over treatment of immigrants
WLRN reporter Wilkine Brutus wrote about how a Little Haiti priest is concerned about how immigration policies have scared many families into not attending church services.
On a recent Sunday morning, the Haitian congregation at the Notre Dame d’Haiti Catholic Church in Miami’s Little Haiti, sang the lyrics “Glory to our God in heaven.”
Presiding over the flock of followers was a familiar face: Father Reginald Jean-Mary, well known as Father Reggie, a prominent local Haitian-American Catholic priest.
These days Father Reggie is especially worried. He notes that on this particular Sunday that hundreds of fewer parishioners are seated for a second service. And he’s sure he knows why the church pews are empty: Many immigrant families are hiding in fear of President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation plan.
OUTSIDE THE 305:
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance was far deeper than rap
In his Herald opinion piece, Dolphins reporter Omar Kelly described how musician Kendrick Lamar’s polarizing Super Bowl halftime show was about much more than rap music.
Kendrick Lamar wasn’t performing music on the world’s biggest stage. He was administering a lecture in code that was aimed at mainstream America.
The Pulitzer-winning hip-hop legend delivered a tutorial in song on what it’s like to be black in America during his Super Bowl halftime performance on Sunday night.
It’s a complicated discussion not everyone can digest, but Lamar’s performance and show illustrated how being a person of color in America is a game (his set was a Playstation joystick controller) we’re all trapped inside, and forced to play.
“The Revolution is about to be televised,” Lamar said after delivering a freestyle of an unreleased song in the first minute of his 15 minute show. “You picked the right time, but the wrong guy.”
A’ja Wilson Debuts Her Long-Awaited Nike Signature Shoe
After years of speculation, three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson’s shoe is coming out very soon. ELLE reporter Adrienne Gaffney spoke to the women’s basketball phenom about the details of the shoe and more.
A’ja got her shoe. On Monday, the Las Vegas Aces center unveiled her signature Nike A’One in Columbia, South Carolina, the capital city where she both grew up and played her college career. The moment came as the coda to a touching weekend that also saw Wilson return to the University of South Carolina to see her number 22 jersey retired.
Fans of the three-time MVP have been eagerly awaiting the shoe—it was so anticipated that when she announced it was in development in May 2024, she wore a sweatshirt that read, “Of Course I Have A Shoe Dot Com,” a URL that redirected to the announcement on Nike’s website. But they are going to have to wait just a bit longer—the shoe will officially be released this May.
“I felt like, for once in my life, I didn’t have to just pinpoint one thing. I could literally have it all,” Wilson, a self-described fashion girl, told me during our sit-down backstage at the A’One unveiling.
HIGH CULTURE:
Rastafari Day and Drum Circle at NoMi Village
This Saturday, Rastafari Day and its drum circle will continue the Reggae Month celebrations in South Florida. The free event is from 4-10 p.m. and features live performances from several reggae artists like Big Youth. For good vibes this weekend, visit NoMi Village at 12351 NW Seventh Ave., North Miami.
Where does “The 44 Percent” name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter’s title.