Unpacking

Gaslighting Another Black Community For Fun & Profit

Scratch beneath any story in Coconut Grove and you’ll discover the issue of race lurking. We’ll get to that eventually, but this true fable — with a twist on the race issue — starts with the approval of a Wawa gas station in the City of Coral Gables. So what? Cities approve gas stations all the time. However, this approval didn’t have any public consultation with the community, nor public hearings, both of which would normally have taken place. And, that’s ...

Say Goodbye to the E.W.F. Stirrup House While You Still Can

Right now there’s still a bit of old among the new, but not for long. May 18, 2016 Why was the E.W.F. Stirrup House so important to the community? Read: Happy Birthday ...

The Lovin’ Spoonful ► Monday Musical Appreciation

The first album I ever bought with my own money was The Best of The Lovin’ Spoonful. I played the grooves right off it. I simply adored The Lovin’ Spoonful ...

Writing News With A Union Label ► Throwback Thursday

Gather ’round, kiddies, and I’ll tell you the story of when I was a News Writer for Citytv’s BreakfastTelevision and wrote the perfect news script. I worked at CityPulse for ...

Coconut Grove in Black and White

Francisco J. Garcia of Miami’s Department of Planning and Zoning provided the answers to residents’ questions Community involvement was strong last night in Coconut Grove as more than 200 residents packed ...

Me and Garry Shandling and Patty Duke, But Mostly Me ► Unpacking The Writer

♫ ♪ ♫ Meet Cathy, who’s lived most everywhere… ♪ ♫ ♪ It’s way past due to create another Unpacking The Writer, my almost-monthly behind-the-scenes look at what’s happening here in ...

The Best Laid Plans ► Unpacking The Writer

Toronto’s own Johnnie Lombardi and Me My Go Fund Me campaign: In our last exciting episode of Unpacking The Writer — my monthly look behind the curtain at the Not Now Silly ...

A Civil Rights Champion Born ► Throwback Thursday

Happy Birthday to Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, born on this day in 1913. On December 1, 1955, at the age of 42, Parks refused to give up her seat to ...

Is Ted Nugent Racist? ► Throwback Thursday

For this week’s Throwback Thursday I am — once again — reaching into my vast writing archives. In 2012 I was freelancing for Stones Detroit, a website out of…err…Detroit. This ...

Where We’re At & Where We’re Going ► Unpacking the Writer

Pops and I soon after I moved to Florida 10 years ago. I opened this joint (originally called “Headly Westerfield’s Aunty Em Ericann Blog”) in April of 2012 to publish ...

Endings Mean New Begingings

I already have the right hat As you may, or may not, have heard, the Not Now Silly Newsroom is moving to Canada. My time in Florida is coming to an ...

Interview With District 2’s Ken Russell

Ken Russell, potential Commissioner-elect for District 2 while the Veterans’ Day commemoration gathers to march I originally met potential Commissioner-elect Ken Russell way back when — during Soilgate — when I ...

The Klu Klux Klan Act of 1871 ► Throwback Thursday

It was supposed to be a normal meeting of the Miami Planning and Zoning Board last night. The first 2 items were deferred from last month and there were a ...

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