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Umoja Village

2006 establishments in Florida2007 disestablishments in FloridaHistory of MiamiHousing in FloridaIntentional communities in the United States
Neighborhoods in MiamiPopulated places disestablished in 2007Populated places established in 2006Shanty towns in the United StatesSquats in the United States

The Umoja Village shantytown was founded on October 23, 2006, in the Liberty City section of Miami, Florida, in response to gentrification and a lack of low-income housing in Miami. The name Umoja is Swahili for "unity", hence "Unity Village". After months of planning, a group calling itself Take Back the Land seized control of a vacant lot on the corner of 62nd St. and NW 17th Ave. The lot had been vacant for about eight years after low-income housing there was demolished by the City of Miami. Take Back the Land erected several tents and then built wood-frame shanties in order to provide housing for otherwise homeless people in the area. Police, City of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials were unable to evict the residents or organizers due to the landmark 1996 Pottinger Settlement. After years of arresting homeless people, the city of Miami was sued by the Miami ACLU; they eventually settled. In the settlement, the city agreed that homeless people could not be arrested if they met the following criteria: The individual is homeless; the individual is situated on public land; there are no beds available at homeless shelters in the city; and the individual is engaged in "life sustaining conduct," such as eating, sleeping, bathing, "responding to calls of nature," congregating and building "temporary structures" to protect oneself from the elements. Take Back the Land used the legal settlement to build a shantytown in Miami. By the end of December, the Village housed approximately 50 otherwise homeless people, and made the news in The Miami Herald, the Sun-Sentinel, the Los Angeles Times, Time.com and The New York Times, as well as a number of documentaries and blogs. Residents ran the Village, voting to build, distribute donations, move in new residents and evict others. Umoja Village enjoyed broad support in the community, and, therefore, was able to successfully repel numerous attempts by government officials to evict them.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Umoja Village (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Umoja Village
Northwest 17th Avenue, Miami

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N 25.832 ° E -80.2246 °
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Northwest 17th Avenue 6201
33147 Miami
Florida, United States
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New Covenant Presbyterian Church (Miami, Florida)

The New Covenant Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida. It is significant for being the first Southern congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to break racial barriers. In the 1960s the neighborhood was experiencing a white-to-black overhaul. While many white congregations moved somewhat slowly and reluctantly toward absorbing their black neighbors during the Civil Rights era, New Covenant was the first Miami church to be conceived and organized with the definite purpose of integration. When it was formed in 1965, the congregation adopted the motto: "A church for all people". The church quickly swelled, boasting some 300 worshipers at its peak. Over time, what began as a multicolored mix—including a few Hispanics—remained largely integrated and harmonious, despite the McDuffie race riots and continued white flight—at least until nearly all white members had died or moved away by the 1990s. “It was fully interracial—in the choir and in the organization”, said the Rev. Dr. "Mike" Irvin Elligan, the church’s pastor from 1970 to 1985. “There were white people who were invited to black homes for dinner and vice versa.” Elligan, an African American, had as his associate pastor, the Rev. Dr. Y. Jacqueline Rhoades, a white woman born in France. The church was truly a multi-cultural congregation. New Covenant established the Elizabeth E. Curtis Day Care Center to serve the children of the surrounding community for many years. From 1987 to 1991, Rev. Ronald E. Peters served as pastor and during this time, the church established the Kuumba Project, a summer cultural enrichment program for neighborhood youth, ages 9 through 17 years. The congregation's social justice ministry attracted many young families throughout the city. In 1991, Dr. Peters resigned as pastor when he joined the faculty of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. In the 1990s the membership declined, becoming nearly all black, with one white member and a few Hispanics. Attendance had fallen to less than 40 on any given Sunday. In 1999, the pastor of the congregation retired, following a time of intense conflict. The Rev. Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh chaired an Administrative Commission composed of other pastors and elders to guide the church through a turbulent time. The congregation is once more growing, although it remains a smaller membership church. The Reverend Connie Bright serves as the church's pastor.