NORTH MIAMI (LE FLORIDIEN ) -– The death of George Floyd – the 46-years old Afro-American killed in Minneapolis by a white police officer – shows that the movement “Black Lives Matter” does not falter. It pushed for the firing of all four officers involved in the fatal incident by Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo. Three days later, following heated protests and cries for action, former officer Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
But all that doesn’t stop protesters to continue marching in the streets of many cities in the United States and around the world and that includes residents of South Florida, a region home to a large black population.
On any given day, people spill out onto the streets, driven by fury. They march. They kneel. They sing. They cry. They pray. They light candles. They chant and shout, urgent voices, muffled behind masks. They block freeways and bridges and fill public squares. They press their bodies into hot asphalt, silently breathing for eight minutes and 46 seconds. They do all this beneath the watchful gaze of uniformed police officers standing sentry.
Haitians demanding justice for George Floyd
The struggle of blacks in United States is related to the daily lives of Haitian immigrants. Therefore, as people from the first free Black Republic, Haitians could not stay insensitive to the death of George Floyd. As protests continue to spread, Haitians in North Miami embraced the Black Lives Matter movement to demand Justice for all black people who are victimized by police brutality in United States.
Last Wednesday afternoon (June 10), a caravan of more than sixty vehicles crossed the cities of North Miami Beach and North Miami to honor the memory of the African-American George Floyd.
The peaceful protests organized on the initiative of Haitians and Haitian-Americans to denounce the injustices faced by the black community, started around 3pm in front of the headquarters of the police force of North Miami Beach. The caravan led by a symbolic hearse, has moved through 167th to 163rd Street and 6th Avenue to end in front of North Miami Police Headquarters on 124th Street and 7th Avenue Northeast.
“EQUAL JUSTICE” was printed on several mourners’ signs and T-shirts during the rally. Under a blazing sun, several speakers took the podium to show their support for this civil rights movement, and bashing the injustice black people have been facing for decades in America. Among those speakers were the Chief of the North Miami police force, Larry Juriga, the Mayor of the city, Philipp Bien-Aimé, and Commissioner Jean Monestime who represents District 2 on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners.
“The North Miami Police Department is outraged by the behavior of the Minneapolis police officers. The actions and inactions of the officers are contrary to the values and trainings of law enforcement and to all North Miami Police department missions. Excessive force, biased behaviors by police officers tear the very fabric of community policing which we work so hard to strengthen over the years. As peace officers of our community, we must do better to improve our trainings and protocols, so as a community, your trust in us is not lost. Transparency and accountability are the keys to demonstrating our commitment to serving and protecting our residents and visitors with respect, integrity, and professionalism,” said North Miami Police Chief Larry Juriga during his address.
North Miami’s mayor Philippe Bien-Aimé expressed his assistance to the peaceful movement, saying, “We are here today as a commitment. Me, as the Mayor of North Miami and the Mayor of North Miami Beach (ndlr: Anthony F. DeFillipo attended the rally), we are here today as a commitment. We are not here to protest, but to support you, because we as leaders were elected to set up policies, so that doesn’t happen in the City of North Miami, and the city of North Miami Beach. This is our job. We are not going to let some bad cops destroy the good job of the North Miami Police Department. We do understand that the police are there to protect and they need to work with the community because community policing is the best tool to address safety in our city.”
With an energetic voice, Miami-Dade Commissioner Jean Monestime followed Bien-Aimé on stage to criticize the longtime existence of systematic racism in America. “We all, white, black, yellow, brown, Asian, African-American, European, Latinos, must be sick and tired of that. We must deface racism. There should be no more places in our community for racism. Wherever we may come from, we all must stand together against racism, because after 400 years of systemic racism, if that’s still making me sick, it’s got to make all of you sick. No other black people should be losing their lives because of racism,” said the former North Miami Councilman-District 4.
Elizabeth Jeanty, one of the main organizers of the caravan rally explained to say that “all motivations behind the peaceful protest is the fact that we see a man (George Floyd) lying on the floor with an officer basically not given a blip of what is going on and actually the man now is no longer with us. As a black community, Haitian-Americans, Latinos, Afro-Latinos in Miami area, North Miami Beach, North Miami, I saw the need that we need to collaborate with both cities, and also have the police departments of North Miami Beach and North Miami joining us to make the event happen and to send a message of unity. The idea is to say enough is enough, equal justice, we are all blacks. We want to send the message no matter who you are, you have to be treated the same.”
Among the attendees were the majority members of both North Miami and North Miami Beach governments, including North Miami Vice-Mayor Alix Desulme and North Miami Beach Commissioner Barbara Kramer. Former Florida Senator Daphney Campbell and Gepsie Metellus, Executive Director of the Community Center Haitian Neighborhood Sant La also attended the peaceful protest.
This is a time to come together, to recognize and root out racism, and become one. Unity is the only path forward, not division and while our nation may be divided in the midst of these marches and protests, let us not fail to evaluate our own prejudices because it’s in our inherent prejudices that we find the roots of injustice. This event was necessary and many, many years in the making. The only real tragedy that will come of it is if nothing truly changes. Change is possible. Peace is possible. Love is possible. If we all work for it. Together.
Dessalines Ferdinand
ferdiinand@lefloridien.com