Danny Agnew had arrived in Miami more than a decade ago. He had become an especially revered and effective local businessman and activist.
The Roots Collective venture he co-founded in Liberty City has become a vital engine for Black and minority entrepreneurship. The nonprofit Dream Defendersorganization he helped lead is a potent social justice and community organization force. He both improved and raised the profile of a part of Miami that’s too often overlooked.
On June 15, at the age of 34, he lost his life in a car accident on I-95.
On thelatest episode of the South Florida Roundup, WLRN’s Tim Padgett spoke to two of Agnew's friends and colleagues. Valencia Gunder is a leading Miami community activist and is co-founder and treasurer of the nonprofit Black Collective. Emmanuel George is a historian and Black arts activist in Broward County.
Agnew described his work as “artspreneurship” — he’d promote business and culture as a means to uplift the community.
“I felt like he had this magical idea of merging those three things, like preserving history, teaching people how to use that natural skill of creating to actually bring income, to actually bring more economic justice to our communities,” said Gunder.
According to her, Agnew had many ideas to help the community flourish, from creating hubs for community organizations to community fridges, community gardens and summer camps.
“It is so tragic because he had so much more left,” said George. “Danny was someone that, no matter what you were doing, no matter where you were from, he can work with you in any way. You will find ways, his mind was truly limitless.”
Agnew was originally from Chicago. When he made Miami his home, Gunder says he really wanted to get to know and understand the community he was coming into to support its growth.
“He asked questions and he would sit back and learn just as much as he would teach and create," Gunder said. "And I feel like that's what made him so successful at being able to blend completely in, and be able to grow and help us grow as a community here in Miami.”
Gunder says Danny’s legacy is the blueprint for others to continue the work to better themselves and the community.
The Agnew family will be holding a homegoing service at the New Jerusalem Primitive Baptist Church on June 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
