There was lots of skills and talent in the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sunday—and not just on the football field. Just imagine: there were some 50,000 people there, in attendance, who are college-educated, in college, planning to go, have already been. They were all there for the Orange Bowl Classic between Florida A & M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee and Jackson State University (JSU) in Mississippi, two well-known Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). And everybody—the cheerleaders, the bandmembers, the audience—seemed skilled, talented, smart. And interesting. And fun. On both sides. The other thing that was common? Lots of big ole black girl booties and lots of nappy hair! All carried and worn with pride. Naturally! And, again: on both sides, FAMU and JSU, on and off the field. Loved it!
Yep. Thanks to passage this Session by the Florida Legislature–including Senator Bobby Powell, whose District 30 includes most of Palm Beach County. It started in 2010 with a Back-to-School sales tax holiday but has now expanded to include Disaster Preparedness, which helps since June 1 starts hurricane season, and Freedom Week, which seeks to energize participation in outdoor activities and entertainment. The holidays are annual events during which the state Department of Revenue allows certain items to be purchased sales-tax-free at any participating retailer in the state. Click here to read an article that includes date periods. Or, just contact Senator Powell: 561-650-6880 or by email here.
Palm Beach County (PBC)’s Department of Community Services has been on it. The Department, which is led by Director James E. Green, has been gathering, sharing, providing information to the community since the pandemic hit last year. From free food to free testing to financial support and, now, vaccines. And because we know everyone around the world is talking about the pandemic, we don’t want to. But, thanks to PBC, we do want to share the vaccine-site locations around the County. The sites can be accessed by a variety of people—including K-12 school employees and law enforcement and fire officials—at a variety of locations, both public and private.
Read the flyer. Here’s the list; just click on the location to get there:
We are entering the second week of national Black History Month, a recognition that began in 1976 thanks to then-President Gerald R. Ford who said to his fellow Americans at the time to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
His push followed Negro History Week, which began in 1925 thanks to Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a son of two former slaves who would go on to earn a doctorate in history in 1912 from Harvard University. The historian and author chose the second week in February because it was the birthday week of two men whose work Dr. Woodson felt had been crucial to the achievement of his people: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
The Man Behind Black History Month.
February is indeed about national black history but, thanks to Debrah S. Hall-McCullon, this month is also about Riviera Beach. That’s because the third edition of her all-things-Riviera Beach book, Riviera Beach Moments, has just published. What began in 2017 as periodic posts on social media has now become a best-selling book series. And underneath it all: her love—and knowledge—of her city. The longtime City employee was born and raised in the coastal community, which is where the knowledge comes from of telling the stories of the city’s people, places and history. The books contain all aspects of the city, including both its east- and west-side communities, but it also highlights those who live primarily on the west: the people of color.
Her city, its story, their book.
The books are being sold on Amazon; click here to check them out. Mrs. McCullon’s work was also highlighted in WPEC Channel 12’s Faces of Black History series—check it out here—and she was the featured guest last week on our 30-minute, every-Wednesday talk show, cocochats, on the young, Caribbean-themed radio station, SupaJamz 103.7 FM. Click here to listen.
“It is important for people to know and preserve history because it gives them a better understanding of the world, and the city, in which they live,” Mrs. McCullon said, “And not just in February.”
To learn more about Black History Month from the government that created it, click here. And, in Palm Beach County (PBC), the PBC Historical Society has a few pages on its website with lots of information about people of color locally. Click here to check it out. Before the end of this month, we’ll have someone on cocochats from the historical society to share.
As for Mrs. McCullon, one big question. Why?
“It was important to me to tell my City’s story,” she said, “and it was fun!”
Today is the national holiday remembering the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and it happens each year on January’s third Monday. The recognition began in 1983 and that keeps his name—and his work—before us. Indeed, even though he died in 1963, Dr. King remains in the news: one of the two Georgia candidates elected to the U.S. Senate on January 5 in a nationally watched runoff, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, is today, pastor of Dr. King’s famed Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, which Dr. King led until his death.
Georgia Senator-elect Rev. Raphael Warnock, current pastor of MLK’s church.
Thanks to you know what, there aren’t nearly as many events this year celebrating the civil rights icon, neither around the country nor here. Nearly everything is, well, virtual. Or, drive throughs. In the case of what would have been the City of Riviera Beach’s 37th annual MLK Parade, for example, it instead had a community drive-through event with City leaders and police and fire officials in a caravan through City neighborhoods.
And, of course, the Martin Luther King Coordinating Committee of Palm Beach County (MLKCCPBC) is also hosting some changed events. Founded in 1971, the community-focused nonprofit has created a hugely successful, month-long celebration that, this year, began last week. One of those events is its biggest, the annual MLK Scholarship Breakfast which will, this year, be primarily virtual. Of course. It will be held Monday and it’s keynote speaker will be a nationally known journalist who hails from Riviera Beach. She is Yvette Miley, a senior vice president for NBCU News Group, which includes NBC and MSNBC. Learn more about her here.
To learn more about Riviera Beach’s long list of events, click here, and about the MLKCCPBC, what and why it does what it does, here. The site also has a full list of related events throughout this year.
NuAge Medical just opened in October and is a new medical marijuana clinic in the City of Riviera Beach, the only such facility owned and operated by people of color in Palm Beach County.
Fritz Pamphile and Leon Martin, the owners of NuAge Medical, stand in front of the new medical marijuana clinic.
The state of Florida approved use of medical pot in 2016 and its Department of Health has been putting things in place ever since. Fritz Pamphile is the founder of NuAge Medical and the South Florida representative for Minorities 4 Medical Marijuana, an Orlando-based nonprofit that works to ensure minorities get connected to the fast-growing, billion-dollar industry.
NuAge can help clients obtain the necessary state-required medical marijuana cards, sells CBD-related products onsite and pushes awareness about holistic medicines and care. But it doesn’t sell products with THC, the substance that causes the ‘high,’ like the 18 Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers in PBC. There will be a medical doctor onsite.
“We’re here to assist you,” Mr. Pamphile said. “Weed is not all bad and we’re not trying to get you high. These are alternative, holistic medicines that we offer that can make you healthy. Not high.” The products can help with cancer, PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar diseases, aches and pains, arthritis and dementia. Mr. Pamphile said he and his business partner, Leon Martin, plan to open locations in other “underserved urban areas” in PBC.
For more information, call 561-441-9177, send an email to fritz@nuagemedical.com or visit its website here. And, no: they don’t sell weed.
Since the 1920’s, the Edgewater had sat at 316 Gardenia Street in downtown West Palm Beach, serving as a rooming house for area workers. In October, the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (WPBCRA) moved the century-old structure to its new home in the historic Northwest neighborhood, nearly two miles away, an effort that took nearly two days. Well, it actually took nearly four years, considering the planning and approval-seeking processes required of government officials and the property owner to get the project done. Interestingly, the owner had planned to demolish the Edgewater for use as a parking lot but the city pushed back: too much history. So, the structure was donated to the city, which moved it to its new location, 4th Street and Division Avenue. To make the trip, workers had to remove traffic signals, street signs and trim trees. The 40-foot-wide, two-story building had been a 12-unit rooming house but is now to be a bed and breakfast–part of the WPBCRA’s plan to revitalize the neighborhood and create a draw for African-American tourism. What else is in the neighborhood? Lots, including the iconic Sunset Lounge, currently being refurbished. Watch a video of the moving project below.
The work begins…
Click here to read a local news story about the project.
Growing up, I always wanted to be somebody who was considered “a good role model.” I never wanted to use my platform to brag, but to motivate. I wanted to be the person that showed the younger generation behind me that you can be whatever you want to be as long as you work hard and, most importantly, keep God first.
That’s what I do and God has blessed me with the opportunity to obtain a master’s degree at a young age while simultaneously playing football, the sport I love. Going to school taught me a lot but, most importantly, it taught me how to use my platform in a positive manner and how to use more than one of those talents.
So, I did. I recently started a musical pursuit of being a rapper and I tell people all of the time that, if it wasn’t for COVID-19, I probably would have never started because I needed something to fill the void while football was on pause. A lot of people tell me that they are happy I decided to rap because my music makes them feel like I’m talking to them—especially during the inner war that we are fighting as a race; killing each other.
Mr. Marks at a George Floyd-related protest in June in downtown West Palm Beach.
I’ve never been the type of person who sits back and waits on change. Instead, I choose to be the person that takes direct action and uses my voice in the best way I can. With all of the madness going on in today’s world, I think the only thing// that can produce change is planting change.
So I’ve been using my platform to promote change and unity. Awareness must be raised and what better person to raise that awareness than a person with a voice. To the youth and to my fellow people of color I ask that you continue to make a difference and to make change in your community because, without us, the plan for change will not work.
Ke’Tyrus Marks is a trained therapist, musician and athlete. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and earned a master’s degree in Instructional Design in 2019 from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. To learn more about him, click here or here.
Yes, it’s true and it is powered by Jervonte “Tae” Edmonds, founder of Suits for Seniors, a young, hard-working non-profit that provides an eight-week, life-skills training program for high school seniors and, if they complete it successfully, gives each of them a new, crisply tailored suit. Founded in 2015, ‘Suits’ has become hugely popular–to the point that Mr. Edmonds now provides services for even younger students and has lots and lots of corporate sponsors and governmental support. Indeed, that may be why he wrote Adventures of the Rich and Famous, a book that teaches young children that they can be what they want to be, as long as they believe in themselves. The sneakers though? They’re meant to provide support for a college scholarship fund for his students but, when asked about the backstory, Mr. Edmonds was super clear. “I was once told before you leave this earth, you want to make sure you have shared all your gifts with the world,” he said. “First it was a children’s book now it’s a shoe dedicated to our ancestor’s tenacity and perseverance.” The sneakers are in three different styles in three different colors: bloodline (red), midnight (black) and cotton (white) and are available for pre-order here. The official launch of the new ‘brand’ will be later this month. To learn more about the sneakers, about ‘Suits’ and about Tae himself, click here. Or, just check back here on cocowire!
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, August 21st, there will be free pandemic testing on the “Warrior” and the “Scout” mobile clinics at Wells Recreation Center, located just across from City Hall. The testing site is in partnership with the Health Care District of Palm Beach County (PBC), whose team will administer the tests–and operate the Warrior and the Scout. The tests are open to residents in Riviera Beach and in the rest of PBC. Plus:
Appointments aren’t necessary
The tests are free and open to City and PBC residents
Any and all ages–with or without symptoms–can be tested
Attendees can either walk up or drive up
Bring proof of identity, such as a driver’s license or other photo ID
Wear a face mask and practice social distancing
Results will be provided as soon as available
Questions? Call 561-642-1000.
For a list of additional testing site locations, click here.
