These three Miamians had the courage to stand up against bigotry and for democracy | Opinion
In a moment when politicians seek to gain power by stoking fear and hate to divide us with our differences — party, race, place of origin or identity — one truth remains undeniable: courage has no political affiliation. It doesn’t need a voter registration card. It doesn’t ask for permission. It doesn’t have a preferred race, language or identity. It comes from lived experience — from facing injustice, surviving loss, carrying history and knowing that silence is complicity, especially when the country, communities and people you love are under attack.
To celebrate the ACLU of Florida’s 70th year, we convened communities across the state, with a grand finale gathering in Miami. We honored Floridians from a broad range of backgrounds, all of them united by something deeper: when their communities needed courage, they stood up.
In Miami, the birthplace of the ACLU of Florida, three champions of courage and hope answered the call: Ana Navarro, Dr. Marvin Dunn and Miguel “Mike” Fernandez.
Navarro is a political strategist and TV commentator who came to this country as a young immigrant from Nicaragua. She understands the dangers of authoritarianism, not as theory but as part of her lived history. When the Republican Party she still claims as her own embraced bigotry and attacks on democratic norms, she chose not to bend. She spoke up — with conviction. In a climate where opportunism thrives, she accepted the personal costs of courage. In a time of noise, she chose truth. And, instead of silent complicity, she chose accountability.
Dunn is a Miami historian and activist who has written extensively about the experience of Black people in Florida. He has spent decades preserving the parts of Florida’s history that some would rather bury. At a time when our state government is censoring books, restricting honest lessons about race and punishing educators for teaching facts, Dunn has refused to let the truth be erased. He has marched, taught, litigated, documented and carried forward stories that are essential to understanding who we are and who we must never become. His courage is a reminder that democracy dies where truth is silenced.
Fernandez — a Cuban-American businessman, philanthropist and healthcare company CEO — has demonstrated that real courage means calling out cruelty when we see it. When immigrant families were torn apart, when government power was weaponized to intimidate and punish those who simply sought safety, he didn’t look away. He used his voice, influence and resources to defend those with far less power. He reminded us that humanity must always be louder than politics.
Three people. Three different political backgrounds. One message: the fight for democracy belongs to all of us.
Florida is facing a wave of government overreach unlike anything we have seen in decades. We have leaders who believe they can decide what our kids read, what teachers can say, what medical decisions families can make, who gets to vote and who gets to belong. They are using the power of the state to punish dissent, silence communities and reshape freedoms that generations fought to secure.
But the truth — the one our honorees embody — is that the people of Florida are braver than the forces trying to divide us.
Across ethnicity, party lines, neighborhoods and counties, Floridians still believe in dignity. We believe the government should not control our voices, our votes, our bodies or our futures. We know that liberty means something only if it belongs to all of us.
The courage we have witnessed in Miami is not the exception. It is a reminder.
A reminder that every generation must choose to defend democracy. A reminder that rights survive only when people are willing to stand up for them. A reminder that the future of Florida depends not on fear — but on all of us refusing to surrender our principles.
The question is not whether the moment calls for courage. It does. The question is whether we will answer it.
So, I ask you: How will you answer the call?
Bacardi Jackson is the executive director of the ACLU of Florida.