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#OneNightInMiami 
was set in Brownsville, Florida (Central Miami-Dade). A neighborhood that started as white-owned farmland and transitioned into a Black neighborhood. Kinda like Memphis’ “The Curve” or 125th Street before the Harlem Renaissance.
Brownsville’s been through it.
was set in Brownsville, Florida (Central Miami-Dade). A neighborhood that started as white-owned farmland and transitioned into a Black neighborhood. Kinda like Memphis’ “The Curve” or 125th Street before the Harlem Renaissance.Brownsville’s been through it.
Back then, and now, white families would sometimes become disenchanted with an area. Black folx, looking for safe/isolated spaces would come...take a look around...and say “we’ll take it!” Very much like Brownsville, MD. By the 1960s, Brownsville, FL was predominantly Black.
Black folx also yearned to stretch their limbs, especially those from congested areas. Overtown, FL was 1 of those areas. In Brownsville, you could get a house with yards, trees, wider streets.
I’m familiar w/ this b/c it’s happened in many areas of Long Island. Where I lived.
I’m familiar w/ this b/c it’s happened in many areas of Long Island. Where I lived.
If you need context as to how some white residents were taking the news of Black people finding homes...look no further than the @MiamiHerald on August 6, 1967.
As you can imagine, Brownsville dealt with civil unrest, racism, and frequent visits from the K*K.
Despite that, Brownsville’s residents held plans to build & manage their own factories, residential boards, and a plan to create their own welfare system.
Organized.
Despite that, Brownsville’s residents held plans to build & manage their own factories, residential boards, and a plan to create their own welfare system.
Organized.
And Brownsville would go on to gather the surrounding areas edges...here’s Gwendolyn Cherry, an attorney, speaking with The Miami Herald in 1968.
Brownsville had the gems. There was Georgette’s Tea Room. An establishment started by a former New Yorker. It was a guest house and meeting spot for Black entertainers and community activists. Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole stayed there.
And then there’s the Hampton House where the protagonists from #OneNightInMiami stayed. It’s listed in Victor Green’s Green Book and some of the most “influential entertainers, athletes, and Civil Rights leaders visited, performed, and made history there.”
stayed. It’s listed in Victor Green’s Green Book and some of the most “influential entertainers, athletes, and Civil Rights leaders visited, performed, and made history there.”
Like: Cannonball Adderley, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and more.
