Latest news with #NakiaBowling
Miami Herald
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
The 44 Percent: Youth mentorship, Kendrick Lamar, A'ja Wilson steps up
Not everyone knows the history of Harry T. Moore and his wife, Harriette Moore. But earlier this week, more than 120 Miami-Dade County Public School students from Miami Edison Senior High, Miami Northwestern Senior High, Miami Jackson Senior High, and William H. Turner Technical Arts High learned a brief history of the Moores and their untimely deaths. The Marshall L. Davis, Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, in partnership with the Miami Herald and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, held a Black History Month event, Courageous Voices: The Moore Legacy, dedicated to learning the Moores' story. Students listened to a discussion from activist and former professor Marvin Dunn about the history of the Moores, civil rights activists in Florida who died in their home from a bomb placed by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1951. The discussion is important as we're seeing increasing efforts to limit how Black history, especially local Black history, is taught in schools and as companies scale back their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts nationwide. One person, Nakia Bowling, is leading the effort in ensuring young Black children know their history through the Art of Transformation after school program, which offers myriad activities for students and 'required reading' books from the likes of Toni Morrison and others. It's likely the programming Black students needed. INSIDE THE 305: This Miami native wants to teach Black students things they might not learn in school Race and culture reporter Raisa Habersham wrote about how Miami native Nakia Bowling is using an after school program to support and educate Black schoolchildren. On a breezy February afternoon, a cacophony of sounds can be heard from the Miami Shores Elementary School with soaring sights to match: Students in the Art of Transformation after school program are busy doing acrobatics from aerial silks, learning dance steps in the bandroom, working on art projects or building sail cars, which are powered by wind, in their STEM class. This is the vision Nakia Bowling has for young Black children in the communities she services. 'I wanted activities you typically don't find in communities of color,' she said. 'A dictatorship of indifference': Haitian priest outraged over treatment of immigrants WLRN reporter Wilkine Brutus wrote about how a Little Haiti priest is concerned about how immigration policies have scared many families into not attending church services. On a recent Sunday morning, the Haitian congregation at the Notre Dame d'Haiti Catholic Church in Miami's Little Haiti, sang the lyrics 'Glory to our God in heaven.' Presiding over the flock of followers was a familiar face: Father Reginald Jean-Mary, well known as Father Reggie, a prominent local Haitian-American Catholic priest. These days Father Reggie is especially worried. He notes that on this particular Sunday that hundreds of fewer parishioners are seated for a second service. And he's sure he knows why the church pews are empty: Many immigrant families are hiding in fear of President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation plan. OUTSIDE THE 305: Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance was far deeper than rap In his Herald opinion piece, Dolphins reporter Omar Kelly described how musician Kendrick Lamar's polarizing Super Bowl halftime show was about much more than rap music. Kendrick Lamar wasn't performing music on the world's biggest stage. He was administering a lecture in code that was aimed at mainstream America. The Pulitzer-winning hip-hop legend delivered a tutorial in song on what it's like to be black in America during his Super Bowl halftime performance on Sunday night. It's a complicated discussion not everyone can digest, but Lamar's performance and show illustrated how being a person of color in America is a game (his set was a Playstation joystick controller) we're all trapped inside, and forced to play. 'The Revolution is about to be televised,' Lamar said after delivering a freestyle of an unreleased song in the first minute of his 15 minute show. 'You picked the right time, but the wrong guy.' A'ja Wilson Debuts Her Long-Awaited Nike Signature Shoe After years of speculation, three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's shoe is coming out very soon. ELLE reporter Adrienne Gaffney spoke to the women's basketball phenom about the details of the shoe and more. A'ja got her shoe. On Monday, the Las Vegas Aces center unveiled her signature Nike A'One in Columbia, South Carolina, the capital city where she both grew up and played her college career. The moment came as the coda to a touching weekend that also saw Wilson return to the University of South Carolina to see her number 22 jersey retired. Fans of the three-time MVP have been eagerly awaiting the shoe—it was so anticipated that when she announced it was in development in May 2024, she wore a sweatshirt that read, 'Of Course I Have A Shoe Dot Com,' a URL that redirected to the announcement on Nike's website. But they are going to have to wait just a bit longer—the shoe will officially be released this May. 'I felt like, for once in my life, I didn't have to just pinpoint one thing. I could literally have it all,' Wilson, a self-described fashion girl, told me during our sit-down backstage at the A'One unveiling. HIGH CULTURE: Rastafari Day and Drum Circle at NoMi Village This Saturday, Rastafari Day and its drum circle will continue the Reggae Month celebrations in South Florida. The free event is from 4-10 p.m. and features live performances from several reggae artists like Big Youth. For good vibes this weekend, visit NoMi Village at 12351 NW Seventh Ave., North Miami. Where does 'The 44 Percent' name come from? Click here to find out how Miami history influenced the newsletter's title.
Miami Herald
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
This Miami native wants to teach Black students things they might not learn in school
On a breezy February afternoon, a cacophony of sounds can be heard from the Miami Shores Elementary School with soaring sights to match: Students in the Art of Transformation after school program are busy doing acrobatics from aerial silks, learning dance steps in the bandroom, working on art projects or building sail cars, which are powered by wind, in their STEM class. This is the vision Nakia Bowling has for young Black children in the communities she services. 'I wanted activities you typically don't find in communities of color,' she said. Read more: This historian wants you to learn Broward's Black history. His flashcards might help Bowling, the vice president of government affairs, development and family services for Opa-locka nonprofit Ten North Group, oversees their after school program, which shares the name of the nonprofit's annual art activation during Miami Art Week. In the afternoons, Bowling, 49, can be found at one of the three after school program sites: Miami Shores Elementary, Norwood Elementary and Jeremiah Academy in Miami Gardens. Black students comprise nearly 88% of the attendees which serves students in grades fourth through eighth, she said. The idea to incorporate a more artistic after school program came to Bowling during the pandemic, when she noticed students in the nonprofit's after school coding program were not engaged after spending long days in front of the computer. 'We really wanted kids to just develop using their hands and their creativity and movement, and so that's what spawned this,' she said, adding they polled students, parents and funders about what they'd like to see in the program. After receiving a $4.5 million grant spread across five years (or $900,000 per year) from The Children's Trust, the Art of Transformation after school program launched in August serving more than 250 students. Part of Bowling's mission is to help students know their history and see themselves. The program has 'required reading' from authors such as Toni Morrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe for students or their parents. Bowling's efforts come as criticism for diversity, equity and inclusion increases and the state has pushed legislation that limits how Black history is taught in Florida schools. 'We know there has been this systemic effort to kind of erase Black culture, Black history, and we are essentially steeped in that,' she said, 'and we want to be very intentional and go against the grain by having required reading books.' Bowling wants the students in the after school program to have pride in themselves and see themselves reflected in the leadership. That also means hiring staff that look like them. 'I'm very intentional and very vocal about wanting to hire Black artists. I want artists of color to teach children of color, I want to hire Black men to teach Black students and non-Black students.' Bowling pointed to STEM teacher, Thechelet Charles, and dance instructor, Taurean Devoe as examples for the students, noting it's important that Black children see Black men in such roles as they are often bombarded with negative images. 'I think it's equally important when it's non-children of color in the classroom so that they're presented with a first positive of a Black male, so they carry that.' Unafraid of the criticism that comes with hiring a predominantly Black staff, Bowling said, 'They're qualified. I hire the best, and I believe that I can find the best in my community.' As she put it, she 'wants all the smoke.' 'You are worthy' Growing up immersed in the culture of Liberty City, Bowling was raised to have a profound sense of community and appreciation for her Blackness. She described her childhood in a tight-knit community full of Black business owners and doctors, and where your teachers were often your neighbors. 'I grew up seeing greatness,' she said. 'That was my whole block I grew up on – all Black stores, owners.' After starting high school at New World School of the Arts, Bowling transferred to Miami Northwestern, where she said she learned to find her voice. It was her transformative experience as a student at Miami Northwestern that shaped her view of herself, recalling her teacher, Ms. Wallace, sitting her down and educating her on the McDuffie Riots and its importance. 'It broke that shell. I met people who took me out of my comfort zone and forced me to explore beyond my own bubble,' she said. 'They were big on preserving our history, not just preserving it but sharing and making sure what we knew it was important in a school like Miami Northwestern, where only Black kids could go,' she said of the school that was established in 1955 as a vocational school for Black students. Once she graduated high school, Bowling went on to South Carolina State University where she received her journalism degree. From there, she worked at the Miami Times, under late publisher Rachel Reeves. 'She was tough at the time because she's a Black woman publisher,' Bowling said. 'She said you can find your space to make an impact,' Bowling continued, 'That's really what I loved because immediately the Black press was making an impact in the Black community.' Bowling would later switch to public relations working for various nonprofits, including M.O.V.E.R.S., Inc, Camillus House and The Carrie Meek Foundation before working with Ten North Group. Bowling said doing her nonprofit work gives her the same rush she got when writing about Black communities in Miami. 'I get the same euphoria when a child who's never experienced silk aerial gets up on the rope and they're completely blown away,' she said. Ten North Group's education manager LaTasha Bratton says Bowling is a force. 'She pushes the limits of everything,' she said. 'You'll see this greatness that comes out of that.' The two reminisced about their time at Miami Northwestern and what they learned from classes there. 'Black Miami was a whole thing they taught at Northwestern, and you don't, at the time, appreciate it. You're a teenager,' Bowling said. 'Now, living in this climate and seeing children being stripped of that, you realize how precious that is and how valuable that lesson is and how it shaped you.' Bowling's experience during her high school years is what she seeks to create for the students in the after school program, helping them know their worth and understand their history. One way they've done that is by collecting the students' artwork and curating it for a professional exhibit in Opa-locka and holding an art show. Bowling said the children, their teachers and visitors were moved to tears. 'They need to see that. You can't replicate that feeling. They see themselves, and they see someone being proud of them, saying, 'Hey, you matter to me. You are worthy.''
