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Black Miami Matters

Black Miami Matters Tur | Black Miami Cultural & Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours

Black Miami Matters

Black Miami Matters Tour combines the most scenic and historic places in Miami.  It brings back Spanish Florida’s black history when the King of Spain declared Florida a “Slave Sanctuary” in the 1600’s, lasting until Andrew Jackson annexed Florida and tried to send Native Americans to Oklahoma and recapture the thousands of Africans living in Florida.  

Meaning the Underground Railroad went south thru Florida before it ever went north, provoking a 40 year war against the Seminoles, Miccosukee and Black Seminoles.  

The tour focuses heavily on Miami’s under appreciated role in the 1950’s and 60’s civil rights movement, with the Hampton Hotel the highlight of the tour.  Plus this crazy mix of cultures scattered thru Dade County.  

For groups > 13 you need your own bus.  Academy has a great driver, Ben, that i work well with as a step on guide.
2-3 stops per 4 hour tour.

Black Miami neighborhoods covered are:

Stops to choose from:

  • Coconut Grove
  • Overtown
  • Liberty City
  • Little Haiti
  • Brownsville
  • Hampton House  
  • Black Police Precinct
  • Lyric Theater (if open)
  • Haitian Heritage Museum
  • Key Biscayne Lighthouse
  • Virginia Key Beach
Private Black Miami Tours | Black History & Culture Tours | Miami Native Tours
Brownsville | Black Miami Tours | Private Tour Guide | Miami Native Tours

Brownsville

Brownsville’s Historic Hampton House is where “One Night in Miami” was filmed.  The guides make this the highlight of the day.  Nearby is  Georgette’s Tea room and the Lincoln Cemetery.  

Georgette's Tea Room | Brownsville, FL | Black Miami Tours | Private Tour Guide | Miami Native Tours
Liberty City Miami | Black Miami Tours | Black History & Cultural Tours | Miami Native Tours

Liberty City, Lemon City, Little Haiti, Little River.  Even locals don’t know where one ends and the other begins.

Recommended time 30-60 minutes.  

The 1980 McDuffie Riots left a scar still visible today.  A decorated Marine popped a wheelie on his motorcycle and wound up beaten to death by police.  An all white jury found the police not guilty and all hell broke loose.  

Liberty City Riots | Black Miami Tours | Black History & Cultural Tours | Miami Native Tours
Lyric Theater | Overtown Miami | Black Heritage Tours | Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours

Overtown

Overtown was the heart and soul of Miami’s black community before construction of the I-95 highway nearly destroyed it. Overtown is enjoying a kind of renaissance with new residence buildings, restaurants and spillover from Wynwood’s growth. The Black Police Precinct, the Lyric Theater, Dana Dorsey’s house, Dorsey field and all the1890’s churches all highlight Overtown rich history.

Dana Dorsey House | Overtown Miami | Black Heritage Tours | Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours

Coconut Grove

  • Bahamian Coconut Grove (West Grove) – Home to many 4th and 5th generation Grove families, Shotgun homes, Father Gibson’s church,  GW Carver k-12, Stirrup House, an apartheid wall, and the cemetery where Thriller was filmed.  
  • Recommended time is 30-45 minutes between the West Grove and Black Gables
Peacock Inn | Coconut Grove, FL | Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours

Black Coral Gables

A black neigborhood in Coral Gables?  Wasn’t that illegal?  Yes, Coral Gables was a Restricted neighborhood, and kind of still is. However, George Merrick left two areas on the other side of US1 for his Bahamian workers.  Anywhere you see the white stone street sign on the ground you are in the Gables. Few shotgun homes are left.

Historic Shotgun Houses | Coconut Grove, FL | Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours
Historic Bahamian Shotgun House | Coconut Grove, FL | Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours

Wynwood

Wynwood is one of the best stops on any tour.  The graffiti capital of the world.  Once the Puerto Rican barrio, Roberto Clemente was the leader of the first all black Pittsburgh Pirates that won a World Series.  Roberto Clemente park lies in the shadows of the ultra chic Edgewater condos facing Biscayne Bay.

To enter Wynwood Walls now requires pre-registration and a fee, killing that special pre pandemic vibe Wynwood Walls had.  

The Museum of Graffiti next door is a also a nice stop.  

Recommended time in Wynwood is 20 minutes without a stop.  An hour with a stop.

Wynwood Street Art & Graffiti Tours | Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours
Private Tours Key Biscayne, FL | Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park | Miami Native Tours

Key Biscayne

  • Bill Baggs Lighthouse – A National Underground Railroad Monument.  Hours open can be tricky.
  • The Lighthouse overlooks Stiltsville and the beautiful reefs of Biscayne National Park.  This was where Africans and Native Americans fled on boats to the Bahamas and Cuba to avoid being returned to their slave owner or sent on the Trail of Tears to a reservation in Oklahoma.
  • Recommended time 45-60 minutes, maybe more if combined with Virginia Key beach
Underground Railroad | Network To Freedom | Billy Baggs Cape Florida State Park | Key Biscayne, FL | Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours
Father Gibson | Coconut Grove & Overtown | Black Miami History Tours | Miami Native Tours
Athalie Range | Civil Rights Leader | Black Miami History Tours | Miami Native Tours

Bahamian born Father Gibson was an iconic civil rights leader with churches in Coconut Grove and Overtown. 

Athalie Range was born in Key West to Bahamian parents, another iconic civil rights leader that was in President Carter’s limo when the the limo was pelted w rocks right after the McDuffie riots.  

Virginia Key Beach | Blacks Only Beach | Key Biscayne, FL | Black Miami History Tours | Miami Native Tours
Virginia Key Beach 2 | Blacks Only Beach | Key Biscayne, FL | Black Miami History Tours | Miami Native Tours

Virginia Key

Pictured on the left is Dr. John Brown, another iconic civil rights leader.  His wife still maintains the church they built, Church of the Open Door, in the heart of Liberty CIty.  

Virginia Beach was created in August 1945 after Rev Mundi and a dozen other WWII veterans went swimming at Haulover Beach, an all white beach.  The white people went crazy.  A week later the city created Virginia Key beach.  Usually this tour just passes by the beach, but a stop can be requested. 

Liberty Square | Pork and Beans | Liberty City | Black Miami Tours | Private Tour Guide | Miami Native Tours
  • In the heart of Liberty City is Pork and Beans aka Liberty Square, now deserted (pictured left), replaced by lovely apartments (pictured right). 
  • I want to know what the Related Group got in return for their beautiful work on Liberty Square.  Related projects are scattered all over Liberty City and Brownsville.
Liberty Square Renovated | Pork and Beans | Liberty City | Black Miami Tours | Private Tour Guide | Miami Native Tours
Little Haiti Tours | Black Miami Cultural & Heritage Tours Miami Native Tours
Little Haiti, like almost all of Black Miami, is undergoing rapid gentrification. The Buena Vista neighborhood with all those elegant 1920’s homes became a Haitian neighborhood back in the 1980’s. Now Haitians are pushing north toward North Miami and NMB.
Little Haiti Tours 2 | Black Miami Cultural & Heritage Tours Miami Native Tours
Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali | Miami, FL | Civil Rights Protests | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours

Why does the Black Miami Matters tour obsess over Muhammad Ali? 

In Miami we say Cassius Clay was born in Louisville, Muhammad Ali was born in Miami.   

The Beatles & Muhammad Ali | Miami Beach, FL | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours
Cassius Clay Beat Sonny Liston | Miami Beach Convention Center | Private Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours

Miami is where Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston in the most famous fight in boxing history.  The F.B.I. was so scared of Clay’s new friendship with Malcolm X and Clay’s joining the Nation of Islam, the FBI considered  canceling the fight at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  

Cassius Clay | Miami Beach, FL | Private Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours
Cassius Clay | Miami in Miami | Private Black Miami Heritage Tours | Miami Native Tours

I always pass by Muhammad Ali’s home passing from Brownsville to Liberty City on the Black Miami Matters tour.  A very simple house.  

Bob Dylan & Muhammad Ali | Miami, FL | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours
Spanish Slavery | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours

Spanish Florida began Black history in the United States in 1513 with Juan Garrido, a native of the Congo, who accompanied conquistador Ponce de Leon to help claim La Florida for the King of Spain.  

Spanish Florida was declared a “Slave Sanctuary” in 1693.  Any  slave escaping British America could live in freedom in Florida if they converted to Catholicism, baptised their children, and defended Florida against British attacks.  Not that they didn’t have slavery (see picture on left).  

St. Augustine was founded in 1565 w mostly native and African population.  A mix of escaped slaves, refugees from other Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, and a few Spanish. 

A black township named Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé was built a mile north of the city to defend the city from a British invasion. Today called Fort Mosé.  A visit to this state park will turn the history of Florida upside down from what Tallahassee teaches us.

Black Militias in the Americas | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours

The 300 years of Spanish Florida history has largely been erased by Tallahassee despite our long Native American and African history.   Led by General Andrew Jackson, America’s first ethnic cleanser, the United States attacked and stole both East and West Florida from Spain, leading to 50 years of war with the Black Seminoles, called the Seminole Wars bc Jackson could never admit his real motive was to recapture slaves for his slaveowner buddies.  Northern states would never have funded a Black Seminole war to recover slaves bc Northern states did not have slaves.  So Jackson lied, saying he had to pacify the savage natives.  

Africans mixed with multiple tribes, Upper Creeks, Lower Creeks, Red Stick Creeks, Miccosukee that were chased into Florida fighting the US Army,  the first war Americans never won.  

Francisco Menendez | Fort Mose | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours
Runaway Slaves from Carolina Reach St. Augustine, FL | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours

Our rich Native American and African history has had bleach poured all over it by Tallahassee.  If you are driving down the state to Miami, you especially need to stop at St. Augustine to push reset on everything you learned about Black history in America.  

Historic Black Fort Settlements & Villages in Florida | Private Black Miami Tours | Miami Native Tours