From ashes to activism: Liberty City’s 7th Avenue transformation to hub for social change
Dr. Armen Henderson’s career almost went in a totally different direction.
In the summer of 2013, he was interning at a Houston hospital with dreams of one day being its CEO. Then George Zimmerman was acquitted of a murder charge in the death of Trayvon Martin. For the North Philadelphia native, the acquittal and subsequent protests made him question his purpose.
“I was just really upset that I chose the path to become a hospital CEO and yet people are experiencing trauma and dying and they aren’t even in the hospital,” recalled Henderson, a doctor within the University of Miami Health System and founder of the Dade County Street Response.
In the pursuit of providing medical services to the communities that need them most, Henderson recently opened up a free clinic in Liberty City, the latest addition to a growing activist enclave around Northwest 54th Street and 7th Avenue. The clinic is inside The Black Men Build Hub, next door to the community fridge Village Free(dge), three doors down from the Roots Collective Black House and across the street from the Miami Workers Center and Power U.
Given the block’s history and its destruction during the 1980 Arthur McDuffie race riots, this sort of transformation is a “big change,” said Dexter Gunder, a Florida organizer at Black Men Build.
“I never thought it would be built back up,” added Gunder, who grew up in Liberty City. “If you go up the street, you can see some places still look torn down.”
From commercial corridor to activist hub
In December 1979, several white Metro-Dade Police officers brutally bludgeoned a handcuffed McDuffie, a former Marine and insurance agent, to death. The officers then attempted to stage the incident as if McDuffie, who had been riding his motorcycle, crashed his bike.
Six officers were charged in connection to the killing, then five months later an all-white jury found them not guilty. Liberty City soon erupted in riots. Over the course of four days, 18 people were killed and more than $100 million in property damage occurred.
Marvin Dunn, a historian and Florida International University professor emeritus, was in Liberty City the day the riots began.
Much of the looting occurred on 7th Avenue, which was a commercial corridor that had a supermarket, furniture store and a Harley-Davidson franchise, he recalled.
“The riot was because of the injustice in the case, not the killing itself,” Dunn said.
Despite federal government funding, 7th Avenue never truly recovered. Approximately $22 million was loaned to small business owners following the riots. Roughly 90% of the money went to either white or Hispanic business owners, according to Dunn’s book, “Black Miami in the Twentieth Century.”
“Many of the businesses that were there before the riot moved using government money to get out of there,” Dunn said. “The intent was to help them rebuild where they were.”
There’s a connection between that type of divestment, the violence that once gave Liberty City its notorious reputation and the organizations now moving to that area, Henderson said.
“If you look at the defunding of social services of individuals who have been traditionally neglected in this country, we are the way we are because of a governmental neglect,” he said. The only way to counteract the lack of government involvement is to provide those services. Neighborhoods “that have low crime got libraries, green spaces, respite and all these services that we don’t have. We just get police.”
Village Free(dge) founder Sherina Jones said the various organizations lining 7th Avenue show “we don’t need a savior.”
“We’re here to heal, help and get people to a better place in life,” she added.
When Jones started the Village Free(dge) in August 2020, she saw a void that needed to be filled during the pandemic when people lost jobs. What started as 300 sandwiches being made in her mother’s kitchen is now an operation that feeds upwards of 200 people per day, has two additional locations in North Dade and gives out clothes and shoes.
“That’s what this is,” said Jones. “Us showing up for our people.”
The Roots Collective built a garden on their back wall to help Jones with her food efforts. It will also serve their spring break program where local children will learn how to cook and about the importance of healthy eating.
“We’re in a food desert in Liberty City,” said Danny Agnew, a co-founder of Roots Collective. “Healthy fruits, veggies and herbs are not only needed but it’s also a tool to help us educate people the importance of having fresh food.”
Phrases like “institutional racism” and “anti-capitalism” mean little when you’re worried about your next meal, said Isaiah Thomas, another co-founder of the Roots Collective. Through block parties, their collection of Black empowerment apparel and providing spaces for businesses, the Roots Collective name is a testament to its mission to stay “rooted in our community,” he added.
“We have to be that bridge because our people won’t get to where they need to be until the social justice world meets that guy on the corner,” Thomas said. “We always have that open door policy for the community.”
Since 1999, Miami Workers Center has focused on issues ranging from equitable housing to domestic worker rights. Their location on 7th Avenue, purchased in 2012 according to executive director Santra Denis, was intentional.
“We needed to be in Black communities because that’s where the work is happening but that’s also where people are experiencing the most injustices and we wanted to be able to respond quickly,” said Denis, noting that their Tenant Bill of Rights proposal designed to create some protection for renters as the cost of living continues to rise throughout Miami-Dade, was drafted with input from residents of Liberty City and other Black communities.
Miami Workers Center’s tenant, Power U, is trying to develop the next generation of community leaders.
“Young people, historically, have always played a huge role in movements,” said James Lopez, executive director of Power U. One goal is to ensure that as Miami continues to evolve as an international tech hub, the city’s “progressive activist community is actually comprised of working class young people and working class families that are actually from here,” he said.
While Power U’s focus is on local youth, Black Men Build is trying to get more Black men involved in the community.
“The number of brothers who were taking part of movement spaces and activities was shrinking,” said Phil Agnew, a co-founder of Black Men Build. “Brothers didn’t seem to be excited to be part of the movement.”
Black Men Build, which has hubs in Detroit, St. Louis and Oakland, seeks to provide political education and also skills training in part through the deconstruction of popular narratives of masculinity. Its weekly men’s circle is intended to encourage vulnerability as the group discusses day-to-day problems. Its WARTIME Magazine provides a creative outlet for Black expression. And its social media posts showcase the diversity within the Black community.
That Phil Agnew of Black Men Build and Danny Agnew of Roots Collective are brothers with organizations less than a block from each other shows how intertwined this community is.
“Nothing is going to happen without partnerships or coalitions,” said Phil. “We need partnerships, we need to be in coalition with others or else we aren’t going to be effective in what we do.”
‘There’s power in us being in coalition’
As these organizations continue their work, Gunder believes that collecting data will be the most important aspect. Each organization serves a specific niche yet creating a database of the people who frequent their various services will allow them to better show how people are struggling.
“If we can show donors statistics from Black Men Build, Village Free(dge) and Roots Collective, we can effect change,” Gunder said. If the community served grows, it could lead to more funding.
In the meantime, Henderson already has his mind set on expansion. A sobering center to help inebriated individuals regain a clear head will soon be part of the clinic. He plans to set up a Freedom House Mobile Crisis Line as an alternative for emergencies that will send mental health professionals rather than police.
“No one person is going to lead all the work,” Henderson said. “It’s stressful but we all lean on one another to get the things that we need done. There’s power in us being in coalition.”
Corrects name of police department involved in McDuffie case to Metro-Dade Police.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 12:31 PM with the headline "From ashes to activism: Liberty City’s 7th Avenue transformation to hub for social change."
