In this episode the Dunn Brothers revisit, through black eyes, “The Negro Fort”, that many historians say was the largest community of freed slaves in North America at the time. Dr. Marvin Dunn tells how this haven for escaped slaves and freedmen fell to the deadliest cannon shot in U.S. history. Hear Dr. Dunn’s account of why this historic fort built in 1814 was rebuilt in 1818 and named Fort Gadsden.

The Dunn brothers give a historical account of the Black Seminoles of Red Bays, Nassau Bahamas, The Indian Removal Act of 1830, the migration of the Seminole Tribe to the Florida everglades and the little understood relationship between Blacks held as slaves by the Seminoles and tribal members known as Black Seminoles.

Doctors Marvin and Raymond Dunn open the new season with a powerful episode about the history of the Black Seminole Indians. The brothers provide answers to questions you always wanted to ask about this little-known part of Black history. Dr. Marvin Dunn, a Florida historian and expert on the Black Seminoles, discuss the legend of the “Buffalo Soldiers” and the origin of the Seminole Tribe. Dr. Raymond Dunn raises the question, what is the difference between an escaped slave and a Black Seminole? The answer may surprise you. The discussion continues with; Black Seminole leaders like Abraham and John Horse and their impact on history and how former President Andrew Jackson and Major Francis L. Dade helped in the U.S. Indian Removal Act of 1830. We know our listeners will find this season opener very interesting and informative and we are excited to have the Dunn brother present it through black eyes.

S1, Episode 4 of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered is back with its final episode, Part 2 of The Civil Rights Movement in Miami, Tallahassee, and St. Augustine, Florida, featuring our podcast stars and brothers, Doctors Marvin Dunn and Raymond Dunn, Sr., along with moderator, Tomeka Napper. Episode 6 also introduces two new guests: Mrs. Delores Davis Hills– who joins us in the studio, and Mrs. Carolyn Reed Abrams— who joins us by phone, to add more to the conversation by sharing their stories of activism during the movement in the 1960s in Tallahassee, Florida.

The episode begins with the historical background of the beginning of the “modern” civil rights movement in Miami in 1946, which lead to beach wade-ins that lead to the establishment of the first negro beach and more. As according to Dr. Marvin Dunn, the “modern” civil rights movement actually began in Miami in 1946 when a group of blacks, mostly World War II Veterans, held a wade-in the all-white Virginia Key public beach each to force Dade County to open a beach for Negroes to swim. This beach is now famously known as Virginia Key Beach, in Miami, FL. Dr. Marvin Dunn, goes on to share that even before the student sit-ins in North Carolina that “supposedly” began the movement (which is a “mistaken view”), in Miami, the first training camps for non-violent civil rights demonstrators were being conducted by a group called “Congress on Racial Equality” also formally known as “CORE”. Core was first established in 1942, in Chicago IL by James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, George Houser, Bernice Fisher. Also, in Miami, we discuss civil rights legends, Father Theodore Gibson, who led the wade-in to establish Virginia Key Beach; Miami Times Newspaper Publisher Garth Reeves; M. Nathalie Range, the first black women to be elected to the Miami City Commission; Virgil Hawkins, who was the first black attorney who took his case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court; and more who were instrumental in helping blacks in Miami be treated fairly and equally.

Moreover, as the movement in Florida bloomed in the early 1960s two cities in the state of Florida: Tallahassee and St Augustine, experienced the most wide-spread demonstrations. Those activities were led by Rev. C.K. Steele, and college students (i.e. Sisters Patricia Stephens Due and Priscilla Stephens Kruize, John Due, and others, etc.) particularly from Florida A&M University (i.e. FAMU) in Tallahassee. Our very own, Dr. Raymond Dunn, along with his classmates: Delores Davis Hills and Carol Reed-Abrams, were arrested during those activities and share their moving experiences with us. Their recollections of those events, particularly of how one incident where hundreds of arrested students, organized themselves and survived under such stressful conditions during those egregious times, is a highlight our audience does not want to miss.

As the conversation turns to the civil rights movement in St. Augustine, we discuss the heroic efforts of Dr. Robert Haylings who, along with Rev/Dr. Martin Luther King were instrumental in staging public demonstrations with children, and wade-ins at public beaches and at the infamous Monson Motor Lodge pool, which was operated by Robert “Jimmy” Brock who poured acid in the pool. In addition, the Dunn Brothers share the significance of St. Augustine in terms of being the oldest city in the United States of America, and its long history with being a free establishment for blacks, going all the way back to the late 1500s.

Stay tuned to the conclusion of Season 1, Episode 6 and to hear directly from Dr. Marvin  and Dr. Raymond, as to why they choose to end our first season of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered with The Civil Rights Movement in Florida.

It has been our pleasure.

You are tired and sleepy and can’t wait to lay your weary body down. Finally, you settle down and your mind drifts off into the abyss. You hear a voice in the distance; and you strain to make it out. The voice is faint; yet, telling the unfiltered history of the 1951 murder of Harry T. Moore.

“Who is Harry T. Moore?” you ask yourself, and “Why should I listen to this voice?” But the voice is so commanding, authoritative, knowledgeable, and passionate that you can’t stop listening to what it is saying, and wondering, “What did Moore do?” “What makes his story any different from the hundreds of other Blacks, who were killed or lynched in the south?” Before you can complete your thought, the voice responds, “Harry T. Moore was fighting for the civil rights of Blacks long before The Civil Rights Movement began in Florida.”

The voice continues and by the time it ceases speaking, you know about the racial climate in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s and the historical struggle for voter rights in the state of Florida. You learn why Harry T. Moore was the most “courageous man” in Florida, next to Osceola, Leader of the Seminoles himself, and how he became Florida’s first civil rights martyr. You also learn the roles the KKK and the NAACP played in Moore’s rise and death in 1951. You begin to understand the connection of the former Lake County “High Sheriff,” Willis V. McCall and what former Florida Governor Charlie Crist found in his investigation of the Moore murder, and more. You wonder further, “What happened to his family?” “Did he have a wife and children?” “Not to worry,” the voice says. “Just keep listening.

You awake, suddenly. You raise your head and stretch, as you rub your eyes and think, “Did I dream about the murder of someone I never met or heard of? Was he real? How could I know in such details and facts of Florida’s racial history?” Then you realize, you fell asleep listening to the latest episode of Through Black Eyes; Unfiltered, The Civil Rights Movement in Florida: “Who is Harry T. Moore?” and what has now become of his legacy.

S1, Episode 4 of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered, continues the conversation regarding the Riots of Miami in the 1980s surrounding the aftermath of the McDuffie Riot; its impact economically on businesses in Liberty City and other areas; the anger the community felt over the criminal justice system not holding police officers accountable for serious crimes that they committed against blacks then; and the historic opinion of the Florida Appellate Court that removed the ability to eliminate people from juries based on race, to ensure there would never be another “ALL WHITE JURY,” such as what happened in the McDuffie Case.

In addition, we also discuss two additional riots: The Nevell Johnson Riot in 1982 that resulted after the death of an unarmed teenager playing a video game; and the 1989 Overtown Riot, which erupted after a white police officer shot a black man who was riding his motorcycle with a passenger on board that resulted in their deaths.

Can a community, marred by tragedy and psychologically wounded by the riots of Miami rebuild and heal? We discuss this an more with our amazing experts and brothers, Dr. Marvin Dunn and Dr. Raymond Dunn, Sr., along with our special Guest, Major Lonnie Lawrence, former Police Officer and Public Affairs Spokesperson for the Miami-Dade County Police Department during the Riots of Miami.

S1, Episode 3, Riots of Miami (Part 1) of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered is about the riots that took place in Miami during the early and late 1980s, with special guest, Major Lonnie Lawrence, former Miami-Dade County Police Officer, who was the Public Affairs Spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department.

The Miami Herald’s, front cover on Sunday, May 18, 1980 reads: “Cops Freed In McDuffie Case: Rage At Verdict Erupts Into Violence,” after all four white police officers were found “NOT GUILTY” on Saturday, May 17, 1980.

No one expected these cops to be found “not guilty” of the brutal beating of insurance salesman, Arthur McDuffie, an ex-marine with no criminal record, who was speeding in the early hours of the morning, of December 17, 1979. Three days later, 18 people were dead (10 blacks & 8 whites), with over 400 injured during what is called “The McDuffie” Riot.

Join us to hear first-hand eye-witness accounts from Dr. Marvin Dunn, Major Lonnie Lawrence, and Dr. Raymond Dunn, Sr., after hearing the verdicts, and more on Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered.

S1, Episode 2, Rosewood, of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered is about an all black town, in North Florida, not too far from Gainesville that was burned down in January of 1923, when a white mob attacked, killing several blacks and two whites. This story, told by Dr. Marvin Dunn, is rich in historical events of what happened back then, when white women falsely accused black men, the Klan, and more.

S1, Episode 1 of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered is about the early life of brothers – Dr. Marvin Dunn and Dr. Raymond Dunn, Sr., their family life growing up in rural Florida in the 1950s; and how their strong family values and migrant experiences, along with racism and discrimination shaped who they are today. In addition, the brothers address why they decided to do a podcast titled, Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered and why it is needed, now.

Welcome to Season 1 of “Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered,” an original audio/video podcast from MR2D Media, designed to highlight Florida Civil Rights pioneers, educators, and brothers, Dr. Marvin Dunn and Dr. Raymond Dunn, Sr., moderated by Tomeka Napper.
Listen below to what is in store for listeners and viewers on upcoming episodes of Through Black Eyes: Unfiltered.