Category Florida History
#COVID-19: Five reasons Florida leaders appear determined to sacrifice public health for political purposes
Florida’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is at its highest point since mid-April. Yet Florida has just gone to “Phase 2” reopening in 64 of 67 counties including especially hard hit ones like Collier, Lee, Orange and Hillsborough. Enough pulling punches on this website expressing misunderstandings or differing political philosophies in the continued rise […]
#BlackLivesMatter – St Augustine, MLK Jr. and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
With civil disobedience and protests at an apex the last week after the murder of George Floyd, it is timely to recall the critical role Florida played in the passage of Civil Rights legislation- specifically St Augustine which the epicenter of MLK Jr. and SLC activity during the Senate filibuster of the historic Civil Rights […]
Florida’s #COVID-19 first wave never really ended – The ideology of individualism could be leading us to a new peak
A campaign orchestrated by multiple elected officials and activists to reopen Florida in May, ending COVID-19 lockdown restrictions dominated our political conversations in April and early May. Our state begin its reopening in early May, in phases. Governor Ron DeSantis adopted a data-based approach to the phased reopening, which on the surface appeared deliberative and […]
TFS suspending Facebook posting – #QuitFacebook
Following a week where Facebook has failed to take proper action against posts that incite violence and racial hatred nor fact check President Trump’s false claims about mail-in ballots, COVID-19 or the WHO, we are suspending posts on Facebook. If you use Facebook to keep up with our latest posts and commentary please follow us […]
Florida’s history of urban racial riots and MLK Jr. 1964 St Augustine movement
In this special episode of The Florida History podcast, released early this week due to the civil disobedience and protesting going on nationally in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, we look back at Florida’s history with urban racial strife in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The 1980 Miami riots were the worst urban riots in […]
The Floridazation of the American right: #COVID-19, urban protests, WHO and China: Trump’s week, every possible thing he could do wrong, he did wrong.
Protests engulfed urban areas this week as protests over police brutality became the largest civil unrest we’ve seen in this country since 1968. I know many of our readers and supporters were in the streets and those of you who made the effort I salute your patriotism. A week that started with us honoring our […]
Going Ballistic for Profit: Privatizing Major Tom
One of the stellar American achievements of the last half-century has been privatized. It is the latest chapter in the neoliberal transformation that has changed a county with a market economy into a market society. Few things in recent American history captured the imagination and interest of public the way the space race did. At […]
Expressway revolts and toll roads in Florida
Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s activism was fueled by opposition to the building of urban expressways throughout the country. Florida was no different. This week on The Florida History Podcast, we discuss the expressway revolts in Florida as well as the cancelled roads, activism that came from the fights and the eventual fight between Democrats […]
#COVID-19 fallout: International airline service to/from Florida in June (May 24 update)
This week’s update includes sad news about TAME, Ecuador’s state-owned carrier which is being liquidated. Fort Lauderdale was the last destination served in the USA by Tame. Aeroflot Miami- Moscow (SVO) SUSPENDED (normally 4x weekly) Aeromexico Miami-Mexico City Once weekly effective June 15 (normally once daily) Orlando-Mexico City Twice weekly effective June 15 (normally 10x […]
Florida’s War of 1812
The War of 1812 has for whatever reason a certain obscurity in American History. Even more obscure is the so-called “Patriot Rebellion” and American invasion of Spanish Florida in 1812. On this week we discuss this period on The Florida History Podcast. A conflict peripherally connected to the larger war between the United States and […]
The Florida Squeeze 