She was evicted as a child due to racism. She’s now leading anti-racism curriculum effort.
Miami-Dade County School Board Member Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall believes the time has come to end racism in Miami-Dade County’s public schools. At the June 17 School Board meeting, she spoke from her heart as she laid out plans for a new curriculum to do just that.
“We’ve got to start somewhere,’’ she told me in an interview after the meeting. “Our schools are a perfect place to teach our children how not to be racists. The time is now.”
The School Board voted 8-1 to pass her presentation entitled, “Racial and Cultural Understanding and Appreciation Curriculum.”
Bendross-Mindingall, a Miami native, is no stranger to racism. She is a product of Miami’s segregated schools and has seen racism at its worst.
As a child, her family was among those who were evicted without notice from what used to be the Railroad Shop neighborhood (now Allapattah), so an all-white school could be built. Although she was a young child at the time, the memory of that fateful, rainy evening left an emotional scar that has never quite healed.
But like many other Blacks, her parents picked up the pieces of their lives and moved on, while instilling the value of a good education in Bendross-Mindingall and her siblings.
She listened to the admonition of her parents and went on to excel as an educator before entering politics. She never forgot her Christian upbringing. Now a member of Bible Missionary Baptist Church where Dr. Rev. Henry Peoples is the pastor, she was baptized as a child at Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church when it was located in Overtown.
Bendross-MIndingall is well known in the Liberty City area, where she once served as the no-nonsense principal of Lillie C. Evans Elementary, a school that served many low-income families.
She saw the potential in her students, as well as in some of the parents, many of whom were single mothers and high-school dropouts. Bendross-Mindingall encouraged them to go back to school, and some of them even became teachers.
While she has been a fighter in the civil rights arena for many years, Bendross-Mindingall said it was watching George Floyd die at the hand (or knee) of a racist white police officer in Minneapolis that caused something in her to “snap.” She said when the idea of the new curriculum came to her, she knew it was good.
“But it takes courage to be in the lead and I had praying parents who instilled in me to pray about everything, so I prayed over the idea and asked God for guidance.
“To say that the physical, psychological, and emotional damage that has arisen from the most recent events surrounding the incident in Minneapolis is heartbreaking would be an understatement. I believe that as a Christian politician and educator, I must speak out on the injustice that is going on in this country today.
“I join with all, especially the young adults, who say we are going to show the world that we will not live in a society filled with hate. As an educator and School Board member, it is my job to teach the children. And I do mean all the children.”
Her proposal asks that the School Board direct Superintendent Alberto Carvalho to:
Review the available curriculum-based options that address racism and cultural understanding
Establish a student-led task force that would meet monthly to discuss institutional systemic racism in society
Require the task force to make quarterly reports to the School Board
In consultation with relevant departments of Miami-Dade Public Schools, develop and/or enhance a district-wide curriculum that addresses racism and cultural understanding. Report back with recommendations to the School Board on Aug. 12, 2020, so that the new curriculum can be incorporated into the 2020-2021 school year.
Since the proposal became public, Bendross-Mindingall said several other states have contacted her.
“It’s going to move,” she said, “because our children understand that there has to be change. The world won’t get better without them and we must help them.”
Recognizing the good works of The Links
A warm Neighbors in Religion salute to the Miami-Biscayne Bay Chapter of The Links on its 10th anniversary.
Although the national organization was founded in 1946, the Miami-Biscayne Bay Chapter is the only chapter to be chartered at the organization’s National Assembly. For two years, 31 women worked tirelessly organizing and delivering service to the Miami community before traveling to Detroit on June 30, 2010, to officially become members of the new chapter.
Since then, the chapter has continued delivering award-winning programming to the Miami-Dade community. Some programs include Expect Respect, a program in collaboration with the Miami-Dade Community Action and Human Services Department; the ButterF.L.Y. Girls mentoring program at several Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and Legal Education Program for teenage parents attending COPE North.
“We have accomplished much during our first decade,” said chapter president Georgia McLean. “Although we are in the midst of a global health pandemic and national unrest, our chapter will remain steadfast and innovative in our commitment to deliver service to Miami-Dade County residents.”