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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO THE MIAMI HERALD
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2020
Non-fiction Writer Yanela McLeod Highlights Historical Impact of ‘Miami Times’ Florida A&M University. “What they were pulling off behind the scenes to try to grasp equality was incredible.” Founded in 1923 by Bahamian-born Henry E.S. Reeves, the newspaper financially and editorially supported efforts to desegregate Miami schools, beaches, residential communities, public transportation systems and sports complexes.
Dr. Yanela G. McLeod
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n 1948, a group of black recreational golfers confronted management of the Miami Springs golf course, demanding an end to the segregationist policy that restricted black patrons to playing the public greens only one day a week. Among the fearless objectors was Garth C. Reeves, Sr., then managing editor of the Miami Times. The Miami Times and the Fight for Equality: Race, Sport, and the Black Press, 1948–1958, released by Lexington Books, illuminates the civil rights activism of the newspaper by highlighting its role in the Rice v Arnold legal campaign to abolish the public golf course’s “Monday-only” policy imposed on black golfers. Author Yanela G. McLeod, Ph.D., was a graduate student at Florida State University when she started digging into the legacy of the Miami Times. “The Miami Times is just a representative of so much that the Black Press has done for dignity and equality,” said McLeod, an educator, journalist and social historian who serves as director of Communications and Alumni Relations for the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities at
Its support of the legal challenge is but one example that demonstrates how the newspaper, as a conduit of social change, worked with other Miami community leaders to improve conditions for the city’s Black population. “The study helps inject this iconic newspaper
into the historical narrative of the Civil Rights Movement in Florida,” said McLeod, whose academic research focuses on the Black Press in Florida. “The book demonstrates the value and far reaching impact of the Black Press, an institution that has historically championed the rights of African Americans at the grassroots level.” McLeod, and FAMU alumna, spent her early career as senior reporter and associate editor for the Capital Outlook, a Black newspaper in Tallahassee. For 13 years, she was as assistant professor of journalism at the FAMU School of Journalism and Graphic Communication. McLeod, who earned both a Ph.D. in AfricanAmerican history and a master’s degree in U.S. history from Florida State, said one of her proudest moments was presenting a copy of the book as a gift to Garth C. Reeves Sr., for the celebration of his 100th birthday in February 2019. Reeves died Nov. 25, 2019. “His courage, integrity and selflessness are standards by which we all should strive to achieve,” McLeod said. “His dedication to the fight for equality continues to inspire me to be a voice and advocate for Black community. That is part of his legacy.” In her book’s “Acknowledgments,” McLeod offered a personal message to Reeves: “Our society is a much better place because of your commitment to your community and to improved race relations. God’s continued blessing over your life.” “The Reeves family dedicated their lives to relieving the plight of Miami’s black population,” McLeod shared. “They deserve to have the newspaper’s legacy preserved in its rightful place in American history.” Writer William T. McGee contributed to this story. n
