Beaches were once segregated which means that people of color were not allowed on places like South Beach unless they were going to work so how was South Beach integrated how did blacks eventually get the opportunity to go to South Beach just to enjoy it instead of just going
To work well to answer that question is to do this is to thank Reverend Theodore Gibson Mr Oscar range and Mr GTH Reeves for putting pressure on politicians and leading persistent consistent and peaceful protests on the beaches the protesters would put in their Beach clothes get in the water and enjoy the
Beaches that’s pretty much how they protested they enjoyed the beaches with the knowledge that they could possibly be arrested possibly get beat up or possibly even be killed Reverend Theodore Gibson Mr G Rees and Mr Oscar range were always prepared to talk to the politicians and always came with the evidence that yes
Blacks are entitled to enjoy every beach in south Florida and at a point the politicians just never responded never really talked never really argued with them so how did the beaches get integrated they just get integrated it just kind of just seamlessly seamlessly happened and when I say they were
Unbothered I mean that they weren’t really touched yes sometimes uh the whites or the police would threaten them but the protesters would just keep going until they were hurt or arrested and it just didn’t happen really and if an issue did occur such as a protester getting arrested on Southeast sh cranon
Beach there was simply be a loss suit and the authorities knew what the outcome of that lwuit would be the people of color would win and yes people of color did have the Virginia Key Beach but it was time to expand and get equal rights just like everybody else but let’s change topics
For a minute it’ll all make sense I promise people of color in South Florida did not always have a voice it’s amazing the technology that we have to get stories and information out there but let’s go back to the gy CR era you know the late 1800s and early 1920s when
Publications wrote stories or articles about the going on in the black community the stories were often minimized and weren’t in depth with that being said we can truly be grateful for people like my fraternity brother brother Henry Reeves who started the Miami Times brother Reeves relationship with journalism started as a young
Boy he was actually an apprentice for the Nassau Garian which is one of the biggest newspapers in the Thomas born in 1882 he attended public schools in Nassau and was tutored privately in university studies brother Reeds would eventually along with some of his Partners start the magic printing
Company in the midst of having this company he needed the materials for to operate so he took a trip to New York on his way back to the Bahamas he stopped in Miami and he realized that blacks didn’t have a voice fast forward in the year 1923 brother
Reeds created the Miami times one of the things that the Miami Times is famous for in my opinion is its obituary section we all have an auntie or Grandma who would always pull the Miami times or purchase one to Simply find out who passed away the week prior
It’s more than an obituary section to me to me the obituary section of the Miami Times symbolizes the closeness of the black community nine times out of 10 When Auntie or Grandma pulled the Miami times they knew someone who had passed away the previous week the Miami Times paper that’s here
In black and white is the June 1st 1957 Edition and what’s really cool about this paper is that this is one of the papers of course that was printed under the leadership of brother Henry Reeves and again brother Henry Reeves is the actual founder of the Miami Times what’s really cool is
That brother Henry Reeves great great grandson is now the current owner of the Miami times and the one that’s in color that we can see here was printed under his leadership Mr GTH Reeves said this our biggest stories in those days were the number of lynchings going on around the
Country imagine that being your main story We angered a lot of people but we kept the fight now it’s time to bring this full Circle if you haven’t figured it out by now Mr GTH Rees one of the men I mentioned earlier in the video is the son of brother Henry
Reeds and just to give you a refresher Mr G Reeves is one of the men who led the fight to desegregate the beaches here in South Florida now we’re in the early 1940s brother Henry’s son Mr Garth received his degree in print studies from Florida and University and would
Serve in World War II for about a year okay now let’s take a moment to analyze let’s analyze the fact that brother Henry re’s son went to um serve in World War II he would be overseas he would be in Europe and he would experience a whole different world a world where blacks
Were not being treated as badly as they were here in the states he brought that energy of what positivity could be back to the states he came back and he got right to work at the Miami Times under his father brother Henry Reeves brother Henry Reeves is one of
The charter members of the r Sigma chapter of f Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated here in South Florida however Mr Reeves Mr Henry Reeves son G joined Omega sci-fi Fraternity Incorporated I’m not for certain if he joined an undergrad at FAMU or if he joined after he graduated
However he is pictured here with the glasses and this is I believe this is the Sigma Alpha chapter of Omega SII Fraternity Incorporated this picture had to be taken between the mid to late 1940s and that’s Mr gries Right There
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