LTC 262-2023 Motion by the Human Rights CommitteeM IAM I BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
LTC # 262-2023 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission
Rafael E. Granado, City Clerk J1cf
June 8, 2023
Motion by the Human Rights Committee
RECEIVED
JUN 08 2023
CITY OF MIAM I BEA CH
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
The purpose of this Letter to Commission (L TC) is to inform the Mayor and the Commission of a
motion made by the Human Rights Committee at their meeting on May 8, 2023.
MOTION: At the May 8, 2023, Human Rights Committee meeting, the committee passed a motion
to commemorate the historic visit of Nelson Mandela to Miami Beach on June 27-
28th, 1990, by proclaiming June 28th as Nelson Mandela Day.
The Human Rights Committee of the City of Miami Beach is charged with the mission
to further the City's Human Rights Ordinance, which is mandated with furthering
equality and fighting prejudice, through information, research, and pointed
investigation. Race and color are the first categories listed in the City's ordinance.
Miami Beach was in the past a sundown town, where people of color could not reside,
and the ordinance seeks to, among other missions, redress that past. A way to
overcome that legacy is to highlight positive initiatives for change that propelled us
forw ard.
Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, after 27 years of
incarceration for his leadership in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. He
subsequently toured the United States to give thanks to the people of America for
their support for his cause, and the inspiration that The American Revolution, The
Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement offered to the people of South Africa in their
long struggle for racial equality.
Nelson Mandela's only stop in South Florida was in Miami Beach. Miami Beach had
at the time a cosmopolitan population that recognized his stature and put politics aside
to welcome him. Thousands of people of all races lined the street, most of them in
admiration and support, with Jewish organizations coming together with the NAA CP.
His speech was historic. He demanded Democracy for All and said that democracy is
the bedrock of modern-day civil society, and only its protection could usher freedom.
The Human Rights Committee respectfully requests the City of Miami Beach to
redress that omission posthumously and do this at this time, when Democracy is in
peril, and the advances in racial equality ushered by the Civil Rights Movement may
be being hushed up. Miami Beach welcoming Nelson Mandela in 1990 should be a
motive for pride for the city of tolerance, diversity, and respect that we all embrace.
We ask that the City of Miami Beach recognize June 28th, as Nelson Mandela Day.
M em bers in attendance on M ay 8, 2023:
• A m anda Kn app - Ch ai r
• Dale Stine - V ice Chair
• Donald Goldberg
• Heidi Tandy, Esq.
• Ariana Hern and ez-Reguant
• Sunny W eber
• Gail Harris
• Cindy M attson
The Hum an Rights Com m ittee unanim ously voted in support of this m otion.