MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Rolling through the state of Florida for five days, the “Stay Woke” Florida Votercade made stops in Miami-Dade and Broward counties on Thursday and were met by area elected Democrats.
The statewide bus tour aimed at voter registration and community advocacy rolled into Miami Thursday morning as organizers worked to combat education initiatives they say are adversely affecting people of color and the LGBTQ+ population.
According to State Rep. Dotie Joseph, the tour is to encourage people to stay woke and vote.
“We know that the radical right has tried to usurp those terms that originated within Black culture, so that we are aware of the inequities that exist in our system, and we have people like our governor (Ron DeSantis) telling us that Florida is where woke goes to die,” she said.
The 15-city tour is organized by the Transformative Justice Coalition and partnering advocacy organizations, including the Florida NAACP. It kicked off in Jacksonville Monday morning and made its way to the Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, located at 6316 SW 59th Place on Thursday morning.
Key issues the groups were protesting included a new law banning the instruction of critical race theory, decisions to remove certain books from school shelves, regulations prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom and the state’s defunding of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“When they’re talking about ‘stop woke,’ we’re saying ‘no, stay woke,’” State Rep. Ashley Gantt told Local 10 News. “We can start with the Parental Rights and Education Act, which is also called Don’t Say Gay. We can talk about how we have now restricted teachers in what they can and cannot teach in our public education system and higher education. All those policies are the reason why this is important.”
Decked out with photos and quotes honoring Civil Rights leader and late Rep. John Lewis, a Local 10 News crew caught up with the buses as they stopped near South Miami.
Attendees were heard shouting a clear message: “Every vote matters.”
“Their voices are heard at the ballot box. Everything we’ve seen in this past legislative session, the extremism, the racism the xenophobia, the misogyny -- all of that can be changed by voting,” said Gantt.
The tour will head to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday afternoon and finish on Friday.