Author: Carma Henry

     I am so proud and honored to work alongside the remarkable women who serve in departments across the Broward Sheriff’s Office. In recognition of Women’s History Month, I want to take this opportunity to highlight just a few of the extraordinary women of BSO making a difference throughout this community.

     Looking back over nine decades, I’m proud and pleased because secular humanism – the progressive struggle to make life better for everyone – won hundreds of victories during my time.

U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (SC-6), reintroduced the “Enhanced Background Checks Act” in the 117th Congress. This legislation would close the so-called “Charleston Loophole” that currently allows the sale of a firearm to proceed if a background check is not completed within three days. The House is expected to vote on the bill next week. 

The Community Fund of North Miami Dade (CFNMD), a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has been selected by the State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity to administer its Black Business Loan Program. Black women-owned businesses are vital to our economy and are amongst the hardest hit by the impacts of the pandemic. Today, the Community Fund of North Miami Dade is announcing their #SheWinsWeWin Campaign – elevating the visibility of Black female business owners throughout South Florida that are overcoming obstacles to maintain and grow their business, as role models for the community and future generations.

       Yet regardless of gender barriers, quarantine fatigue and unjustified imposter syndrome, women are still winning in 2021, so let us celebrate that! Happy Women’s History Month

     Seeing the needs all around him, Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban donated $1 million to Winter Storm Recovery efforts locally. His efforts were quickly followed by donations from CEO Cynt Marshall, Head Coach Rick Carlisle, players Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Dwight Powell and Tim Hardaway Jr., and members of The Mavs Foundation and the Mavs’ official jersey partner Chime. When it was all said and done, they collected over $1.25 million to donate in emergency grants and relief.

         Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has been chosen by President Joe Biden to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This means that she will become the first Black woman to serve as the agency’s administrator once confirmed by the Senate. The national health insurance program spends almost $600 billion to $700 billion dollars a year on healthcare for it’s members.

     A Fort Lauderdale, Florida, officer who shot a protester in the face with a rubber bullet at a Black Lives Matter protest last year, leaving her with horrific injuries, has been cleared of wrongdoing.

     “Never again should an unarmed individual be murdered or brutalized by someone who is supposed to serve and protect them. Never again should a family have to turn on the TV and watch the murder of their loved one repeatedly.  “Never again should the world be subject to witnessing what we saw happen to George Floyd in the streets in Minnesota.”

Still, those names come with a price because many agree that hate is as American as Apple Pie and baseball. And victims of such hate not only include the once enslaved African American, but America is a country where it once was illegal for all women to vote.