"More than running:" Black Miami Run Tour brings runners, walkers to Black communities
The group of runners and walkers stretching and taking selfies around the basketball courts at the Belafonte Tacolcy Center looked like a typical Saturday morning meetup for a popular Miami run club — until the history lesson began.
"We're going to run by Liberty Square, the oldest housing project in the United States, built in the 1930s," Ashley Toussaint, Running Edge 305's leader, told the group. "It was one of the first places African Americans could live outside of Overtown."
With the construction of I-95, a lot of African Americans were forced to move north, while others purchased homes in the predominantly white community of Liberty City, he said. "This became the new Black Miami."
Why it matters: Throughout this month, Toussaint's Running Edge 305 is broadening its mission to bring runners and walkers to Black communities around Miami, partnering with lululemon to host the Black Miami Run Tour.
Toussaint's group routinely pops up in Black neighborhoods for its Saturday morning runs but he recently approached Cristina Ramirez, community lead for lululemon, with the idea for the series.
The big picture: The four-part running series is a free morning 5k run or walk that highlights four historically Black neighborhoods — Overtown, Liberty City, Little Haiti and Brownsville — and honors leaders in each community.
What they're saying: "These are the areas I grew up in, they're personal for me," Toussaint told Axios. "Even though they're close to each other, they have their struggles and cultures and I wanted to honor that."
"These communities don't have the best connotation, and I wanted to do something positive," he added.
The intrigue: Every year lululemon selects a theme to honor Black History Month. This year's is "giving Black leaders their flowers," Ramirez said, "and we really took that literally and figuratively."
"My goal is to create awareness and celebrate and amplify Black leaders into this initiative," Ramirez told Axios. "[I] want to build pride around these communities and educate around the history and culture."
The series partnered with De La Fleur Designs, a Black-owned florist shop in Miami, to create small arrangements for participants, given at the end of the run. A larger display is presented to that community's honoree.
The duo also tapped Erace the Hate, a nonprofit media company, to take photos and produce videos, and Skool Milk, a design and fashion company, to create "black on black" printed lululemon shirts with the neighborhood's name.
Bottom line: "It's more than just running," Toussaint told Axios. "It's about finding community and sharing in the richness of that."
If you go: Tomorrow's event begins at 7am at Lakou Miami in Little Haiti.
Next weekend's final run celebrates Brownsville and meets at The Historic Hampton House.
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