Miami's Diverse and Colorful
Culture
Let's talk about the culturally
diverse areas of Miami Fl. Miami can be regarded
as a mosaic of people. This is what
makes the Miami Fl area such a
diverse and culturally rich place to
vacation, visit or live. Some of the
ethnic groups that have moved into
the Miami area have retained their
cultural characteristics and
languages. These people have
formed what is called an ethnic
enclave, the
definition of which is a population
of people that form a community in a
city and retain their cultural
characteristics.
The overall culture of Miami and
the
Miami-Dade area are heavily influenced by
its large population of ethnic Latin
Americans and cultures from the Caribbean islands such as Jamaica,
Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, and Cuba. This explains why
the major
languages spoken are English,
Spanish and Haitian Creole.
There are also large populations of
residents and
undocumented citizens that come from Russia,
Argentina, the Bahamas, Ecuador,
France, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica,
Haiti, ...almost every country you
can think of.
For our purposes here we will
cover the ethnic areas that
may be of interest to someone on a
Miami vacation. Like all areas of large cities
one should be careful not to get
into the wrong area and to
avoid going to some places at night.
Little Havana -
Cuban Community
Named after the capitol and
largest city of Cuba, Little Havana
is the cultural and political center
for Cuban Americans. Little
Havana came into full blown
existence after the Mariel Boatlift
in 1980. A Cuban community was
already established here, then Fidel
Castro announced that all who wanted
to leave Cuba (which was going
through a economic and political
crisis) may do so. North America's President Jimmy Carter,
granted asylum to the immigrants and
around 125,000 arrived in Florida
with around 50% staying in Miami.
Little Havana is a vibrant
Hispanic community with hand rolled
cigars, Cuban coffee, vibrant
colored architecture and the
pulsating sounds of Latin music.
You will find colorful monuments to
Latin heroes past and present as
well as the famous Cuban cigars, and
food. You will also find the
famous
Guayaberas, a popular Cuban
shirt listed on our shopping page.
Calle Ocho (8th Street) is the main
street of Little Havana and the name
of one of the major Miami events, if
you are there in March you do not
want to miss
Calle Ocho.
Little Havana has been described
as like stepping back in time in old
Havana in Cuba and listed below are
some of the highlights of this must
see and do vacation spot:
- Visit the various shops and
restaurants on 8th Street (Calle
Ocho) between 12th and 27th Ave.
for great cuisine, herbs, and
hand rolled cigars. Let's
not forget the Guayaberas which
many famous people, including
some presidents have come here
to purchase.
- Maximo Gomez park or as the
locals call it Domino Park, is
where you will find older Cuban
men playing dominoes and
checkers every day in a peaceful
setting. You will find a large
mural here depicting the Summit
of the Americas.
- Cuban Memorial Plaza - On
13th and 8th you will find a
memorial park with monuments to
Cuban heroes and artists.
This includes a monument to The
Bay Of Pigs heroes (shown above). Offerings
are left here around a tree to
the spirits of loved ones who
have passed
- If you can swing the last
Friday of every month, this is when
Viernes Cultrales (Cultural
Friday) takes place. This
is a large, family friendly,
Latin street party with food,
art, music, dancing, and street
performers.
- Versalles Restaurant -
Everyone gathers here for fine
cuisine, coffee and politics.
This is a world famous
restaurant.
- The Tower Theatre- This
landmark theatre has been redone
and is part of the Miami
Miami International Film
Festival's presentation of
films.
All done and said Little Havana
is like Havana, Cuba in the middle
of Miami. The Cuban culture
has survived and thrived here and
this is a wonder to see.
Little Haiti
Little Haiti is just north of
Downtown and spans 54th to 87th
streets and is surrounded by I-95
and the Florida East Coast railways.
This colorful community with a
Caribbean flavor is another ethnic
area in the city of Miami Fl.
which needs to be considered and
treated as an ethnic enclave.
The Haitian community does not enjoy
the sam e privileges or economic
status as the Cuban community.
But Little Haiti does border the
Design District which is home to
artist's galleries and designers
alike.
Little Haiti was once called
Lemon City, but that changed as the
influx of Haitian refugees came to
Florida by boats and rafts to escape
their poor and sometimes violent
country under the rule of Baby "Doc"
Duvalier who took over at the age of
19 after his dictator father
Francois Duvalier died. These
fleeing Haitians were detained if
caught and many were returned to
Haiti and subsequently killed.
I personally witnessed the American
Coast Guard returning a boat of
Haitian's to Port-au-Prince Haiti.
When I asked what would happen to
the people on the boat the captain
of the coast guard ship said they
would more than likely be put to
death by Baby "Doc" Duvalier.
But this was in 1983 and the country
of Haiti has seen much violence and
political unrest. Let's get back to
Little Haiti.
Thank God for this colorful
community that has served as a haven
for Haitian's that settled in Miami.
Property values are going up in the
area which should help this
community. Things to see and
do in Little Haiti are:
- Little Haiti has various art
shops
- Famous Creole Food
- The sounds of Haitian
Compass music
- Caribbean style marketplace
- Duplicate of the Iron Market
in Port-au-Prince
- West Indian Celebration in
June
- Voodoo Shops (if you are
interested)
Visit here if you are interested
in a real life picture of Haitian
lifestyles and culture without the trip to
Haiti. But take caution if people
appear unfriendly and visiting at
night may not be a great idea.
Overtown Miami
This once vibrant neighborhood is
the oldest Black neighborhood
in Miami. At one point,
tourists flocked to Overtown's
nightclubs and restaurants.
Famous performers such as
 Nat King
Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Billy
Holiday, to name a few performed
year round at clubs and theatres in
Overtown. After the civil
rights movement and Black Americans
gained more freedom as to where they
resided and worked, middle class
residents moved out and left
starting the decline of the
neighborhood. Many residents
were displaced by the 2 interstates
that were built in the area and by
an urban renewal program that
demolished buildings that they
deemed unfit. Overtown became one of
the poorest areas in South Florida.
Because of Overtown's proximity
to Downtown Miami there is renewed
interest in rebuilding the area
along with the redevelopment of
Downtown. Since 2000, middle
class homes are being built in the
area.
Here is a list of historical
landmarks in Overtown:
-
The Dorsey House - This is the
rebuilt mansion of the first
Black millionaire in Miami.
-
Old Black Precinct - The
only Black police station and
courthouse in Miami.
-
L.
E. Thomas building - The home of
the first black magistrate.
-
The Lyric Theatre - As
pictured above is located in
the area formerly known as
"Little Broadway" and opened in
1913, this theatre was part of
the area that black performers
such as B. B. King, Patti LaBelle, Count Bassie frequented
before the civil rights
movement.
-
Historic Churches - Greater
Bethel AME, Mt. Zion, St. John
Baptist, and St. Agnes
Episcopal. Mt. Olivette
Missionary Baptist Church is
also known as Nassau Missionary
Baptist because of its Bahamian
roots
This development of the area
continues and a lot of Black History
could be lost if no one takes the
initiative to save these buildings.
The people of Overtown remain poor.
This is considered a high crime
area.
Other Ethnic Enclaves
Following is a list of other
ethnic enclaves in the Miami Area:
- Little Jamaica
- Little Moscow
- Koreatown
- Little Tel Aviv
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