In October of 2022, the Miami City Commission replaced the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park Trust. On November 12, 2022, roughly 100 people held a symbolic wade-in to protest the overturn of the park's trust to local city officials. The event, sponsored by the Sierra Club and NAACP, urged the community to take action to in honor of Miami's Black trailblazers. Before being disbanded, the Park Trust was establishing a museum for those who worked to designate Virginia Key Beach for the Black community during segregation in the United States.
These photographs are part of a larger project titled "Broken Promises" by the Miami Herald Editorial Board, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2023.
Photos and video by Sydney Walsh / Miami Herald
