Commissioner Monestime honors the Black Affairs Advisory Board during Black History Month

Commissioner Jean Monestime, the Board of County Commissioners and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava honor the Black Affairs Advisory Board on Feb. 17 (Photo by Ryan Holloway / Miami-Dade County)

MIAMI-DADE – Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jean Monestime sponsored a recognition ceremony with a proclamation declaring February 17, 2021, “Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Day.”

For more than four decades, the Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board members have focused on advocating for professionals who had been locked out of public and private sector employment, struggling families who needed help making ends meet, migrants who needed assistance navigating a system of bureaucracy, access to health-related services, economic development, housing, and much more. Commissioner Monestime’s Board of County Commissioners colleagues and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava jointly presented the proclamation.

“I personally want to thank the board for continuing to host the State of Black Miami forums I initiated during my tenure as Chairman of this board in 2015,” said Commissioner Jean Monestime. “The forums have given a voice to the voiceless and a platform to those whose plight deserves to be heard, highlighted and appreciated.”

The Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board began as the county’s Office of Black Affairs, in 1979, when community activist and former City of Miami Commissioner M. Athalie Range petitioned Miami-Dade County Commissioners to establish an office that would give Black residents equal access to county services. Since its inception, several prominent men and women such as Robert Simms, John Due, Purcell Dixon, Reverend Willie Sims, Jr., Marcia Saunders and Leslie Williams have served as Directors for the Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board.

“I dedicate this honor to Retha Boone-Fye, Director for the Black Affairs Advisory Board, for her 16-years dedication to promoting the causes that are important to #OurCounty’s Black community, and her hard work in order to recognize the citizens who have made extraordinary civic strides with the annual Pillar Awards and Young Pillar scholarship ceremonies, creating and maintaining the Black World Guide, as well as so many other initiatives our Board enacts,” said Stephen Hunter Johnson, Chairman of the Black Affairs Advisory Board.

The Black Affairs Advisory Board is one of the ten advisory boards under the Office of Community Advocacy. For more information about their work, you may contact Retha Boone-Fye at 305-375-4606 or follow the Black Affairs Advisory Board on Facebook @BlackAffairsAB.