Before leaving home for college, I didn’t recognize the rarity of having a CVS y Más on street corners. And, besides my shock at the lack of empanadas in the prepared food aisle at Whole Foods, my most significant adjustment to college was greeting without a cheek kiss. At school in Nashville I learned that friends unironically fist bump, and that I have an “accent”-- I am often asked where I am really from.
“I’m from Miami,” I say. Never “Florida.”
Our culture is specific, difficult to describe, and perhaps best captured by Only in Dade. But despite the floor length coats in 65 degrees, use of “dale” as punctuation, and Spanglish in homes, stores, streets, restaurants, and classrooms alike, I seldom considered Miami unusual before leaving; this is simply who we are. I didn’t think Miami could be so unlike other places in the United States; I especially didn’t understand the concept others might have of us and our city.
Certainly, Miami is chaotic--in a way that involves iguanas falling out of trees and symphonies of pots and pans on Calle Ocho after a Heat win. But Miami is not about speed boats, guns, and men in crisp white suits. At least not anymore. I didn’t realize how misunderstood Miami is until my classmates at Vanderbilt began to ask obsessively about my home, mostly its colorful nightlife and drug-ridden party scene.
But we know that is not the real Miami.
We know that our greatest threats are no longer rooted in drug trafficking or street violence. We know that Miami is not a lawless caricature or the liberal oasis in a red Florida; it is the heartbeat of a conservative state. And we know that cops and cocaine won’t take down our city.
We pretend not to know what will.
But when hurricane season comes around, we don’t only feel the strain in our backs from barricading sandbags in the garage to prevent flooding; we feel the pull in our heart.
Miami lives at a mere six foot elevation and is predicted to be 60% submerged in just 35 years. While the climate changes, the people of Miami remain in denial. We justify votes that jeopardize our city’s livability under the guise of protecting the U.S. from the fate of many of our native countries, like Cuba and Venezuela--the Miami Herald notes the influence of “newly embraced conservative themes” and support of “the GOP’s description of Democrats as socialists” on the most recent election.
This fear dictates reality for a city informed by the past of other countries. Miami-Dade has “the highest percentage of immigrants of any county nationwide.” And, still, the danger of sea level rise is not only obvious, but ubiquitous. The threat global warming poses to our city is a fact. Yet we just elected a president who pulled out of the Paris Agreement for the sake of the economy. Here’s another fact: when cities are underwater, they don’t have economies. Wildfires and hurricanes shattered lives and homes in 2024. What makes us think we will be the exception?
I should note that I am a college student who studies English and Business…not Political Science or Climate. I am not particularly passionate about policy nor dedicated to pulling Miami back toward the center. I come from two moderate, hardworking parents. My mother has lived in Miami since she emigrated from Ecuador at 8 years old; my father arrived for school 30 years ago and never left--he now, in fact, teaches at the University of Miami Law School. Mangoes are the currency of my summers, I can spot a Funny Bunny gel manicure (the Miami girl preference) from a mile away, and I say things like “super cute” and “get down from the car.” One day, I hope to raise children of my own in the unique, multicultural landscape which has been the backdrop of my 21 lived years.
Thus, I am forced to confront our city’s future daily. Because I love Miami, I know how desperately we must save it. We must recognize and act on its most pressing needs for Miami to continue to exist. Miami is notoriously alive, green, blue, loud, strange, and special. But when we ignore its reality we do the city, and ourselves, a disservice. When we ignore our reality, we lose our home.
Beautifully written Jenna 💞 A celebration of our city!