Marjory Stoneman Douglas Would Have Been Proud of Parkland’s Students

This week, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High returned to school — to the hallways and classrooms where they had watched people die, where many of them thought they, too, would probably die. It’s impossible to imagine what that place must feel like to them now, once an average part of everyday life, now something wholly different.

Why Aren’t We Marching for Gun Reform?

After Donald Trump was elected to the presidency, Americans planned and executed one of the largest public demonstrations since the Vietnam War. When the White House tried to enforce a racist travel ban, Americans  gathered with signs and chants in airports. When unarmed people of color are murdered by police officers…

Dear Coastal States: Yes, Florida’s Beaches Are Better Than Yours

There’s nothing wrong when other states say they’re proud of their beaches or they want to protect them from the dangers of offshore drilling. But when they start saying their beaches are the same as Florida’s beaches and saying there’s nothing about our beaches that makes them more special, somebody needs to tell those people it’s time to go to bed — because our beaches are better.

Five Scumbags Florida Was Glad to See Leave in 2017

This year was, thankfully, a year in which America’s most sexually rapacious scumbags finally started to get their comeuppances. And guess what? Florida is filled with complete scumbags. You’re not surprised? Literally everyone has known this since Florida was first incorporated? Okay, fine. But — hey — at least we…

What It’s Like to Be Korean in Miami

“Do you know kimchi? Do you know bulgogi? Do you know Gangnam Style? Do you know Psy?” The Korean pop star Psy himself raps those lyrics in a distorted deep voice on the song “Fact Assault,” a collaboration with G-Dragon. Psy, of course, became a viral phenomenon in 2012 with…

Why Does FM Radio in South Florida Suck?

Why is South Florida, the eighth largest radio market in the country not providing a listenable station anywhere on the FM dial? When was the last time anyone came to you and said, “Hey, I just heard the greatest set of music on W???-FM?” Never! It just doesn’t happen in…

Dear White People: Black Women Need You to Grow Up

I’m in grad school in a critical theory class. My professor — a bald, white, intellectual man — looks poised for something. He wants to start a discussion about an excerpt we read, and he seems to be treading carefully. We — six or seven white students at a prestigious art school in Chicago — listen intently.

Confronting the Emotional Toll of Hurricane Irma

The word hurricane is rich with symbolism that evolves from indigenous Caribbean mythology and even deeper roots in Mayan culture. There are various accounts about the origin of the word, but most agree that Spanish explorers in the 16th Century spelled it phonetically as juracán (“wind of center”), the word Taíno natives…

Frank Artiles’ Nine Most Abhorrent Moments as a Politician

Both Republicans and Democrats are now glad former State Senator Frank Artiles is gone. Democrats hated him for being an outright bigot, and Republicans mostly just hated him because he made them look bad. But, either way, after dropping the N-word in front of a black colleague and becoming a…

Quick, Somebody “Saaave” Miami From Estrella Insurance’s Sexist Ads!

“Miami is an ass town.” Years ago, an American expat in Miami used that phrase to point out what I, a Cuban-American Miami native, hadn’t seen with my own eyes. ¿Que se se habrá creído el gringo comemierda este? I thought he was full of shit. But he was right. And Estrella Insurance’s ongoing sexist ad campaign is the latest in a long line of proof.

Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami’s Top Prosecutor, Is a Disgrace

Miami-Dade County has had the same prosecutor since Bill Clinton was president. Beginning in 1993, through the Clinton, Bush, Obama, and now Trump eras, she has not once charged a police officer for an on-duty killing. What Katherine Fernandez Rundle, age 67, has done instead is make decades’ worth of excuses for public officials accused of corruption and murder.

Hey, Florida, It’s Time to Stop Blindly Adoring Publix

If a huge company like Best Buy or Walmart had a history of anti-LGBT accusations, fought Miami Beach’s attempt to ban Styrofoam, had ties to someone donating millions of dollars against medical marijuana, and battled a proposal to raise the minimum wage, protests would rage in the streets of Miami.

Mad About Miami’s Snub From the Whitney Biennial? Blame Politics

Writing in the New York Times earlier this week, Miami-based journalist Brett Sokol interviewed Gean Moreno, one of the three curators for the forthcoming Whitney Biennial, about the lack of local representation in the coveted bi-annual NYC exhibition. Despite being the curator of programming at Miami’s Institute of Contemporary Art…