Razing Liberty Square

Katja Esson (2023, U.S., 85 min.) + post-film discussion

Despite its eclectic mix of cultures, Miami is one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States. In the 1950s, Liberty Square in the heart of the city became the first segregated public housing project in the south (remnants of the 6-foot-high ‘race wall’ surrounding it are still visible today). Relegated far from the popular beaches, nevertheless even as the infrastructure crumbled over time a vibrant African American community in the surrounding Liberty City grew up around this public housing, forming a cultural hot-spot that drew famous black entertainers and public figures. Barred from the whites-only beach hotels, where they consistently sold out performances, world-class celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne had to stay in Liberty City hotels like the Hampton House. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the first version of his “I Have a Dream” speech there and Malcolm X threw a victory party for Cassius Clay after he beat Sonny Liston in 1965.

Fast forward 60 years. When residents of the Liberty Square public-housing community learn about a public-private $300 million revitalization project in 2015, they know that it is not about helping them out, despite the official line coming from politicians and the development corporation. As their neighborhood is located on the highest-and-driest ground in the city and as the beaches that were once so desirable increasingly are subjected to flooding due to climate change, wealthy white residents and would-be residents want to live in more relative safety — i.e. exactly where Liberty Square was originally built. Thus, even as segregation is supposed to be long over, they now must prepare to fight a new form of racial injustice – climate gentrification. At the same time, many residents are tantalized by the promise that this new project might bring them better quality homes. What should they do–stay and wait until their number is called in the wait for revitalized units within this project? Take voucher offers that will buy them out but ship them off to other communities? Why is it that a project meant to create more housing in a community lacking affordable housing only makes the problems worse, not better?

Only one thing is clear: if they want to envision better possibilities, they’ll have to stick together and work as a community.

Following the film, we will feature a panel discussion with experts on affordable housing, climate change and human displacement, and histories of segregation.

Scheduled speakers are:

• Marc Miller
• Clarissa Albrecht