Emerge Miami

Bringing Community-Driven Low Power FM to Your Airwaves

Miami seems to consistently stand apart from most municipalities as a system with its own distinct logic and functioning- you have to experience it to understand it. One feature we share with many large municipalities, however, is the predominance of corporate media overseeing radio programming. The cleverly-devised catch phrase for profitable infotainment distribution is “media consolidation”, and your radio dial is most likely to be snatched one of its many grasping tentacles when you scan the airwaves.

So what is a community to do?

Step one is to apply for a spot on the airwaves- and 2013 is Year One for new programming. As the FCC prepares to provide a limited number of licenses to applicants for station allocations, a collection of Miamians are revving up to apply for a position.

Head on over to the new blog, Miami LPFM, to read the latest in our community’s effort to apply for a radio broadcasting license and free up some space on the band for local programming, idea-sharing, and the potential for a break from the material spoon fed to radio listeners.

What do you see as an opportunity for Miami to grow and improve?  The community-engagement project, Neighborland, offers the platform for input, idea-sharing, and promotion. Part social network, part quick-post device , and part bulletin board for big and beautiful notions, Neighborland offers a megaphone for participants to profess their visions for a better city, and to garner support for their initiatives. Jump over, check it out, and start participating- you can bring us all together to make Miami the city of your dreams!

Courtesy of Neighborland, http://www.neighborland.com

2nd Monthly Flagler Nights a Success!

Last Friday saw huge crowds come to the 2nd installment of Flagler Nights Art Walk. Community leaders and organizations including Reclaim Your Power & Equality, Emerge, and others have teamed up with {Barrio} Workshop and local artists to bring out live music and entertainment on a monthly basis to rekindle nightlife in the area while preserving the distinct East Little Havana community. All acts, vendors, and artists are area residents- and more are welcome to join for each Flagler Night on the second Friday of every month.

Check out more pics at Flagler Night’s Facebook. If anyone is interested, event planning meetings are every Monday @ 6:30pm at the {Barrio} Workshop. More volunteers are needed, so if you know students or anyone that wants to donate a few hours of their time once a month, let us know. To get more involved, apply to join the Flagler Nights Google Group. Next months event will feature a Holiday Market. Get in your RSVPs early at Flagler Nights | Art Walk – December 14

Miami Bike Hunt Recap

Last Saturday’s Miami Bike Hunt drew over 200 participants in perfect-degree weather to South Beach. Emergers partnered up with (Best Miami Blog!) Beached Miami to create a unique urban scavenger hunt that sent teams zooming through Lincoln Road and beyond, racking up points and outrageous pictures along the way.

With thousands of #305BikeHunt tweets going out, Twitter actually reached image-uploading limits toward the end of the ride. Despite the hiccup, it was a huge success, everyone stayed safe and had a blast with top prizes including a pair of $400 Republic Bike Gift Cards. Thanks to Jordan for doing a wonderful job! Head on over to Beached Miami for the full rundown: And the winner of the Miami Bike Hunt is …

The Purple Line Launches Blog

The Purple Line (formerly known as Better Block) has a new blog site up! The Purple Line project is a collaborative, community driven pop-up transit station designed to create a dynamic urban space which serves as a community hub while drawing attention to transit issues in Miami. The project is working to fulfill its wish list for materials and time donations. Stop by Lester’s on Saturday starting @ 11:30am until about 1:30pm to meet up and get more involved.

Emerger Elsa Roberts reaches SMART Ride Fundraising Goal

Thanks to all who pitched in and donated to help Elsa make her goal for the Smart Ride!  That means she collected $1200 for AIDS research. She writes:

I am riding in the SMART ride because even though state funding increased for AIDs/HIV treatment and prevention in Florida, there are still people on waiting lists for life saving medication. I am riding because Florida continues to have one of the highest populations with AIDs/HIV, and, of that population, in 2010, 25% of the new cases diagnosed were in Miami. I am riding because 100% of the proceeds from the SMART ride go to local Floridian nonprofits that provide treatment, prevention, and education on HIV/AIDs.

Congratulations Elsa, we are proud of you!

November 17th – Cranksgiving Miami : Bicycle Food Drive Alleycat Race

Cranksgiving rides on! This years Fourth Installment sends riders back through grocery store checkpoints to purchase non-perishable food items to benefit Camillus House. The number of participants keeps on growing, so reserve a spot on your calendar for this Saturday November 17th at 2pm, starting at Government Center and ending at the Filling Station. For full details, visit the Cranksgiving Miami blog.

RSVP on Facebook.

November 20th – Monthly  Board Game Night

RSVP on Facebook or Meetup.

November 24th – MOvember Mustache Ride

The ‘stache is back! On the 24th of November, Emerge and CG Rotaract Miami bring you the second annual MOvember MIA Mustache Ride. This ride is a fundraiser for Men’s Cancer Awareness through the Movember organization. The route winds from downtown to the Beach then over to Wynwood and back. Prizes for the best mustache! Meet up at Government Center at 10 a.m.

RSVP on Facebook or on Meetup

About 15 Emergers and volunteers came together to make the Pedestrian Safety Walk at Ponce and Miracle Mile a success.  We are hoping to do these regularly, and to grow exponentially.

Our friend Elsa Roberts has just authored a summary at Transit Miami, along with some hard facts about why pedestrian safety in Florida is a critical issue:

Fed Up Miamians March for Pedestrian Safety

Join Emerge Miami, {El Barrio} Workspace, R.Y.P.E., TREEmendous, and numerous other organizations and cultural representatives for a celebration of community-building and love for the Flagler area! Food! Music! Art! Awesomeness!

This will be the first of a monthly series, the second Friday of every month!

Stepping out into the crosswalk is generally a tense and terrifying experience in Miami. Most drivers don’t even look to see if you are there, so you must either wait until they have turned or aggressively get in front of a car that might well run you over. People crossing with children, people who are disabled, and elderly people have an even worse time of it, since often our crosswalk signals are too short to enable people moving slowly to finish crossing the road.

If you’ve ever been a pedestrian you know this sensation. You also know the powerless feeling that comes with being one lone person against a large machine that can kill you, even if the driver isn’t trying to. Every single person driving a car has been a pedestrian at some point, but drivers here aren’t trained to respond to pedestrian’s right of way on crosswalks; its possible that that most pedestrians don’t know what rights they have to cross the road. Pedestrians and drivers need to be aware of when pedestrians have the right of way so that everyone is safe. Until everyone that uses the road is educated and respects everyone else’s rights to it, Florida will continue to lead the country in pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities. Miami-Dade County will continue to have the second highest rate of pedestrian and cyclist injury and death, and we will continue to have rides dedicated to fallen cyclists and angry newspaper editorials about another family struck down while on a sidewalk.

Lots of ink has been spilled on this topic, but now is the time for direct action. On October 20th, 2012, at 1:00 pm, pedestrians are invited to gather to Walk for Pedestrian Safety at Miracle Mile and Ponce De Leon, RSVP on Facebook or Meetup. We will legally make use of the crosswalks at this intersection for an hour, holding informational signs and educating drivers and other pedestrians about how to keep our crosswalks safe. We will be meeting at 12:45, by Starbucks on the corner of Ponce and Miracle Mile, to go over the rules of crossing the street legally. After the walk, we invite you to grab a late lunch at one of the local establishments to demonstrate that a safe and healthy pedestrian culture also promotes good business.

Join us as we work to improve the lives of everyone who lives in Miami; after all we are all pedestrians!

What Can You Do With This Space?

On Friday, October 12th, West Flagler Street around the bridge and 5th Ave will transform into a living experiment in community building. The folks at El Barrio Workspace, Flagler’s hub for culture, creativity, and community engagement, are working in conjunction with local organizations (including Emerge!) and the Little Havana Art Walk to set a new standard for celebrating Miami’s diverse and wonderful personality.

A street-side festival promoting local artists, food, vendors, performers, and community-builders, this special event will be the first in a monthly series of showcases of the details that make Miami fantastic. An open call to artists and musicians, performers and vendors, and all areas of engagement and love for Miami is being offered, welcoming the best of what makes this town an icon.

Anyone interested in contributing their skills for easy promotion with no fee should link over to the Flagler Nights Facebook Page and follow all developments on Twitter @FlaglerNights to find out how to be involved, what attractions will be participating, and what the future of Miami’s remarkable community has in store!

Anyone interested in performing, presenting their work, or vending can contact their friendly local organizers at FlaglerNights@gmail.com.