‘I remember when...’ Liberty Square community center stories to be shared

Opinion admin October 16, 2026 0 Comments

‘I remember when…’ Liberty Square community center stories to be shared

Back in the late 1940s, growing up in the post-World War II era, there wasn’t much for Black children to do on the weekends.

Oh, we had the Ritz and Modern theaters where, for 9 cents, we could see a double feature on Saturdays that included a cowboy feature, a serial that always had a cliffhanger, a newsreel and Loony Tunes cartoons. We made up our own games, played stick ball in the Overtown streets and played “dolly house” — decorating our play houses with scraps we picked up from our yards.

But Sundays were different. After church and Sunday dinner, my mother gave my brother and me 20 cents roundtrip bus fare – if we were good – to take the No. 21 bus to Liberty City. There, we could fly high on the swings and glide down the slides at the Liberty Square Housing Projects’ playground, the only playground in town for Black children.

Today, all traces of the old Liberty Square Housing Project (dubbed the Pork ‘n Beans Projects in its later years as drugs and drug houses flourished) have been replaced by gleaming white two- and three-story apartment buildings. All that is left of the old project is the Community Center building that still stands on Northwest 65th Street and 14th Avenue.

On Oct. 21-23, during Family History Month, there will be a special celebration called “I remember When…” at the center.

“As we preserve the original Liberty Square Comm Center, we are doing more than restoring an historic building,” said Brother Phillip Tavernier, community liaison manager at the Liberty Square Community Center. “We are preserving the voice, memories and legacy of a community whose contributions deserve to be remembered. Family History Month is the perfect time to do this. Liberty Square Community Center has been a vital part of thousands of families throughout its history.

“The ‘I Remember When…’ project will ensure that the presence of those who have gone on will remain and be immortalized through the preservation of the Liberty Square Community Center,” Tavernier said.

Liberty Square was the first public housing project for Black families in the southeastern United States when it opened in 1937. In 2016, Miami-Dade County and Related Urban, the affordable housing division of the Related Group, partnered to build a nine-phase affordable housing complex, which will include a gym, a health clinic and the community center.

“Since the inception of the new project, about $450 million has been spent to achieve these goals,” said Cedric Dawkins, a special events marketing consultant familiar with the project.

The three-day event will kick off Wednesday Oct. 21 with a ribbon-cutting and preview of the new Jessie Trice Medical Center at 1415 NW 63rd St. On Thursday, Oct. 22, there will be a roundtable discussion where former longtime residents of Liberty Square Housing Project will share their memories of living there. On Friday, Oct. 23, the last day of the celebration, there will be a Youth Art Workshop, where young artists will put memories to canvas. They will also create a time capsule for their work, which will be preserved and displayed in the future.

The Black Archives and 100 Black Men of South Florida are hosting the event. Kamila E. Pritchett, president and CEO of the Black Archives, will facilitate the discussion.

I will also share some of my memories of growing up in the Liberty Square Housing Project. I was 13 when Momma came home from work and found the letter saying we had been accepted as new residents of the Liberty Square Housing Projects. I remember how happy we were to finally have a little place of our own, just for Momma, my brother and me.

Our address was to be 1305 NW 65th St. We would have our own yard — it would be my brother’s job to keep the grass cut. I would clean the house and plant marigolds along the sidewalk leading to the front porch. Momma would continue to be the bread-winner.

We were happy there. Some evenings, Momma, my brother Adam and I would sit around a second-hand desk where we kept family pictures, and sing from the “Favorite Songs and Hymns” hymnal. One of Momma’s favorite songs was, “This World Is Not My Home.”

We loved singing it in harmony, with Momma singing lead. I would chime in with my alto and my brother would fit in wherever he could. We must have sounded pretty good because many evenings people would stand on the sidewalk in front of our apartment just to listen while we sang.

At Christmastime, the city of Miami placed road blocks at Northwest 65th Street and 14th Avenue, and more road blocks at Northwest 13th Avenue and 65th Street. It was our makeshift outdoor skating rink.

News of the “skating rink” spread by word of mouth and early on Christmas morning, kids from throughout Miami Dade County would hitch whatever ride they could to be the first to arrive. Since our apartment was on 65th Street, many of our friends used our porch to rest. We kept jars of cold water in the refrigerator just for them.

Teenage dances and block parties at the Community Center was something we looked forward to. Once, when my date and I were coming home from a movie at the Liberty Theater — dubbed The Shack by us teens — I convinced him to stop by the center, where there was a dance with a live band. We had a few minutes before my curfew, I told him. The music got in my feet, and we started dancing.

The time slipped away and the next thing I knew, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It wasn’t my date. It was Momma. She knew where to find me when I’d missed my curfew. That night, I was so embarrassed, I prayed for the ground to open so I could jump in and pull the dirt over me. It didn’t happen. And I never missed a curfew again.

The years passed and soon we were planning my wedding. It was a simple house wedding, but the women in our neighborhood made it seem like the event of the year. Tina Barry Spann, one of Momma’s dear friends, decorated our living room with an arch made of palm branches and flowers. My uncle Teddy Lawton gave me away, while my brother took a shower — you could hear the water running from the living room.

My dear friend and classmate, the late Richard Dunn Sr., sang and his beautiful tenor voice rang out through the neighborhood. Momma rented chairs from Range Funeral Home for the reception — Range Funeral Home was stamped on the back of the chairs — and they were placed beneath the orchid tree in the front yard.

Momma’s friends from the neighborhood brought pans of fried chicken, potato salad and pigeon peas and rice and buckets of punch for the reception. Later, Jimmy (my husband) and I and some of our friends from the wedding carried the wedding party over to The Hampton House.

What memories.

Honoring a longtime pastor

Warm and heartfelt congratulations to the Rev. Dr. Carol Nash Lester, who will be honored at 11 a.m. Sunday at a special worship service at Bethel Apostolic Temple, 1855 NW 119th St. Nash Lester will be honored for 40 years of leadership at the church, and for 26 years as its pastor. The community is invited. The service, entitled “A Legacy of Faith and Purpose,” will culminate a two-day celebration, which began Saturday with an anniversary dinner.