Neighborkids to Lead Annual Celebration of the Sarasota Beach Caravan
(Sarasota, Florida): Twelve years ago, kids of Central-Cocoanut and fellow neighbors of the greater Newtown community started leading an annual celebration of the 1955 Beach Caravan, a powerful example of the forward-thinking, anti-racist leadership of Newtown neighbors. The kids are now teenagers, and are planning to lead again this year. All members of the broader Sarasota community are invited to participate.
On Saturday, September 26 beginning at 3:00 p.m., neighborkids will lead a caravan to Lido Beach and share the story of the 1955 Beach Caravan as a way of celebrating and honoring the community’s significant civil rights history, and as a way of inspiring forward-thinking leadership and an end to racism today.
Sixty-five years ago, Newtown neighbors made civil rights history when they introduced and championed the idea of fully integrated beaches in Sarasota County, and organized weekly car trips to Lido Beach, as a way of demonstrating that it was high time for all beaches in Sarasota County to be open to all people. This happened before Rosa Parks’ actions led to the Montgomery bus boycott and before many people in the United States had heard of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It established the community of Newtown in Sarasota as one of the earliest hot spots of civil rights activism, both in the state of Florida and in the broader region of the American South.
Neighborkids appreciate this history as one of their important discoveries about the special place that they have called home, and draw upon this history as inspiration for efforts that neighborkids are leading today in their neighborhoods and the broader Sarasota community. As Raniyah Valdes said, “It brings everyone together!” Holly Schwartz created artwork in support of the caravan, noting that that the beach caravan “Shows that people can get along and shake hands as equals.” The caravan will begin as cars line up at the corner of 20th Street and Central Avenue in Sarasota and travel together to Lido Beach at 400 Ben Franklin Drive. Anyone interested in joining the caravan is welcome. Once at the beach, everyone will play, swim, and celebrate together. Kids need to bring a parent or other adult with them. Organizers will bring some food to share, and you are also encouraged to bring along your own picnic or money for the snack bar at Lido. There is no cost to participate, but plan to share stories about people in Newtown and the broader Sarasota community who are fighting against racism, championing civil and human rights, and making a difference like the leaders of the first Beach Caravan did back in 1955
