On this Wednesday, February 23, edition of Sundial:
Critical race theory
More and more states are considering legislation that would govern how history is taught in classrooms. In Florida, there are several bills that concern individual freedoms or parents' rights in education.
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One of them moving through the legislature this session is House Bill 7. This bill, if it passes, would ban discussions in corporate training and in public classrooms regarding a list of what the proposal refers to as "principles of individual freedom."
This follows Governor Ron DeSantis's legislative priority to “Stop W.O.K.E. Activism and Critical Race Theory in Schools and Corporations.”
Leonard Pitts Jr. is a national opinion columnist. He joined Sundial to discuss the debate surrounding Critical Race Theory and Black History.
He wrote a column in the Miami Herald earlier this month about critical race theory. Read it here.
SOBE food festival attempts more diversity
The South Beach Wine and Food Festival is an opportunity to celebrate the many tastes of the region. But, some local foodies argued — it really wasn’t.
The festival has been criticized over its lack of diversity in voices and foods.
For this year’s event, organizers worked to change things, so it will look and taste very different.
“Certainly the conversations about diversity lack thereof, the importance thereof and the need to make, let's say, purposeful attempts at working towards a more diverse talent base really amped up in the last couple of years,” said Larry Carrino, who is part of the publicity team for the food festival.
The South Beach Wine and Food Festival starts Thursday. Find more details here.
Small Island Big Song
Small Island Big Song is a music and film project featuring musicians from across island nations of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
It’s a region that seems far away for us in South Florida. But it’s much closer than you might think.
The climate crisis, sea-level rise, displacement of people — it’s top of mind for them, as it is for us.
“Whenever we have inundation, these are king tides so high, sea-level rise that comes and floods our island. These waves rise all the way up to our sea walls and crashes over them and into our houses,” said Selina Leem, a climate warrior and poet from the Marshall Islands. “They usually say, go inland or go find refuge … So our schools, like churches, they usually open their doors and my family and I would usually go and sleep overnight in these in these safe places.”
Leem is one of the artists who are part of the Small Island Big Song project. They are performing in Miami Beach Friday night, along with Caribbean artists as guest musicians.
“The day after we landed in Miami, we had a big jam with Caribbean artists in Miami-Dade College and that really just makes us feel home,” said Bao Bao Chen, the manager and co-founder of the project.
“We haven't really had a lot of chance to meet with Islander musicians from this side of the planet. So it was very special to be able to play music and just talk music with all these Caribbean artists.”
The concert is part of a local initiative from Live Arts Miami called EcoCultura. Find more details about the show and tickets here.
