Desmond Meade speaks to students in Florida Memorial Universityâs Construction Trades program. COURTESY OF MIAMI DOLPHINS
SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER
MIAMI GARDENS â On April 27, Florida Memorial University (FMU) hosted a book signing event with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), in partnership with the Miami Dolphins and Lennar Foundation.
Students from FMUâs Certificate Program in Construction Trades program had the opportunity to hear from FRRC President and Executive Director Desmond Meade and were provided a copy of his book âLet My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens.ââ
The memoir recounts Meadeâs personal journey and activism to restore voting rights to returning citizens who have served their terms following Floridaâs passage of Amendment 4 in 2018. Copies of the book given to students were purchased by the Dolphins from African American owned Pyramid Books in Boynton Beach.
In 2019, after 89 years, Miami Shores elected the first Black woman to sit on its Village Council. In fact, Crystal Wagar automatically became mayor because she was the top vote-getter. Two years, later, two more Black women — one who now is the new mayor — have joined her on the five-member council, along with a gay white man. This is a welcome evolution.
Our theme for this postseason is United in Black: The 2021 HEAT Playoffs presented by AT&T. As the franchise makes its 20th appearance in the NBA Playoffs in the past 26 seasons, one of the underlying goals of the defending Eastern Conference champions is to use the platform of the Playoffs to continue the conversation around social justice as the team competes for its 4th NBA title.
Individual game tickets for Round 1 home games of the 2021 United In Black Miami HEAT Playoffs presented by AT&T will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. An Amex presale will take place from Tuesday, May 18th at 5:00 p.m. to Wednesday, May 19th at 1:59 pm. There will be a four-ticket limit per household per game. Individual game ticket inventory is limited and tickets are expected to sell quickly. Fans can purchase tickets online at HEAT.com.