Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Miami's Liberty City: 9 Shot, 2 Dead




Nine people, according to CNN, were shot Tuesday morning, St. John's Day, June 24, 2014, in the Liberty City section of Miami.

Five people were taken to the hospital. Two people died in the shooting, Miami Police spokeswoman Frederica Burden said.

One of the victims was a teenage girl, CBS4 reports.

The shooting happened around 2:00 a.m. outside an apartment complex in the Liberty City neighborhood, about 6 miles north of downtown Miami, at Northwest 12th Avenue and 65th Street (pictured above), according to CNN and the Miami Herald.

This Miami neighborhood is home to one of the largest concentrations of African Americans in South Florida, as of the 2000 Census. Although often referred to as "Model City" both historically and by the City of Miami government, the neighborhood is more commonly referred to as "Liberty City" by local residents and the media.



Liberty Square and Compass Freedom Pin

President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the construction of the Liberty Square housing project in 1933, the first of its kind in the southern United States. Construction on the initial housing project began in 1934 and opened in 1937.

The Masonic origins of the Liberty Tree to Liberty Square concept is quite apparent, and appears to be part of the history of this Liberty Square, as well as those traditionally linked to the Freemasonry origins of the Revolutionary War.

The Liberty City of the 1940s-1960s was the home of Kelsey Pharr, M. Athalie Range (the first African American to elected serve on the Miami city commission) and boxer Muhammad Ali.

Into the 1990s and 2000s, the region's music that gained popularity grew to reflect the area with locals such as Luther Campbell of the 2 Live Crew pioneering the Miami bass genre, which dominated Southern hip hop music during the decade. Other music and sports talents rose to national prominence from the area such as rappers Trina and Trick Daddy and NFL players Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson, Terry Bridgewater, and Willis McGahee.

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